The Land of Shadowed Sand
D: Austin Hice; with Hice, Wylie Maercklein, Marta McGonagle, Roland Uribe, and Ken Edwards
Think of it as West Texas Confidential. In what has to be the first gangster noir flick filmed in Marfa, Frank (Maercklein), returning from the Korean War, heads to a desert ghost town in search of a job promised by his childhood buddy, Louis (Hice). Frank's new gig, and his friend, are gone, of course, leaving Frank to deal with the scorned women and pissed-off mob boss Louis left behind. There's more to this mob movie than bootleg hooch, and worse to be found in the shadowy desert than rattle snakes, or even fedora-sporting thugs. – Jeremy Martin10/20, 10pm, Arbor; 10/25, 9:30pm, Drafthouse Lake Creek
