''Hero of the Underworld'' is a 2016

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

, inspired by writer/actor/producer

Tom Malloy Thomas John Malloy (born December 8, 1974) is an American actor and filmmaker based in Los Angeles, California. Career Malloy wrote, produced and acted in '' The Alphabet Killer'', a psychological thriller directed by Rob Schmidt and starring E ...

's time working in a New York City hotel. The story centers around hotel manager Dylan Berrick, his desire to help a young woman who is assaulted at the hotel, and his struggles with heroin addiction.

stars alongside

Nicole Fox Nicole Arianna Abuhamada (née Fox, born March 6, 1991) is an American model and actress, best known as the winner of Cycle 13 of ''America's Next Top Model''. Biography Fox graduated from Monarch High School. As of 2009, she was a sophomor ...

Quinton Aaron Quinton Aaron (born August 15, 1984) is an American actor. He made his film debut in Michel Gondry's ''Be Kind Rewind''. His first lead role was as Michael Oher in the 2009 film ''The Blind Side (film), The Blind Side''. Early life Aaron was bo ...

Chris Ashworth Christopher Michael Ashworth (born March 13, 1975, in Farmville, Virginia), better known as simply Chris Ashworth, is an American actor, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Sergei Malatov on ''The Wire''. He commonly plays characters from E ...

Gabriel Jarret Gabriel Jarret (born Gabriel Kronsberg; January 1, 1970, Los Angeles, California) is an American actor. He began his career in 1981. He is best known for his role as the young genius Mitch Taylor in the 1985 comedy film ''Real Genius'' in which h ...

, and David Josh Lawrence, with appearance by

Catherine Mary Stewart Catherine Mary Stewart (; born 22 April 1959) is a Canadian actress. Her film roles include '' The Apple'', ''The Last Starfighter'' and ''Weekend at Bernie's''. She was also the original Kayla Brady in '' Days of our Lives''. Early life Stewar ...

. The film was shot in Rochester, NY and directed by John David Vincent.

Plot

In the film, Dylan Berrick is the overnight manager of the Century Grand Hotel, a high class establishment. On the outside, Dylan seems to be a consummately professional hotel manager. But in reality, he is dealing with heroin addiction. One night, a woman, Holly, is nearly beaten to death in the hotel by her boyfriend, and Dylan finds himself acting as Holly’s savior. This includes not only helping her physically, but also rescuing her from the drug underworld that he is too familiar with. This leads them both on a journey that will help save her as well as his own job, sanity and life.

Cast

as Dylan * Nicole Arianna Fox as Holly *

as Tino *

as Shari *

as Rico * David Josh Lawrence as Jerrod *

as Chris * Krista Kalmus as Candice * Lisa Varga as Linda * Erik Aude as Phillip * Paulo Benedeti as Cesar * Mark Irvingsen as Henry * Dale Wade Davis as Sgt. Baker

Production

Filming of Hero of the Underworld took place in March and April, 2014, in Rochester, NY. Standing in for a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

hotel was Rochester's

Times Square Building The Times Square Building, formerly the Times Building, is a registered landmark building in Seattle, Washington. It was completed in 1916 and housed editorial operations of the ''Seattle Times'' newspaper, which was housed there until 1930. Loca ...

. Because the location is a working office building, the production had to work nights, redressing the lobby each night and returning it to normal each morning. While director John Vincent has experience working with film, in this case he shot in digital format using Black Magic cameras. In speaking about the choice of camera and the location, Vincent said, "We also shot in this amazing art deco building, and we really needed to capture the details of that location."

Release

The film was screened at multiple film festivals, including Atlantic City Cinefest, where Tom Malloy won best actor and John Vincent won best director. The film also screened at Desert Rocks Film and Music Event and Chain NYC Film Festival (winner, best actor, Tom Malloy). Following festivals, Hero of the Underworld was released by

Gravitas Ventures Gravitas Ventures is an independent film distribution company owned by Anthem Sports and Entertainment. The company was founded by Nolan Gallagher in Los Angeles, California in 2006 and moved its headquarters to Cleveland, Ohio in 2019, where it f ...

in February, 2017, to streaming video and Blu-ray disc.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hero of the Underworld 2016 films Drama films based on actual events American independent films 2016 independent films Films shot in New York (state) Films shot in New York City Films set in New York (state) 2016 drama films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films