Back in April, we learned that Saban Films had picked up the North American distribution rights to director John Stockwell's sci-fi thriller ARMED RESPONSE (formerly known as TEMPLE). Saban has since announced that they will be releasing the film in theatres and On Demand on August 4th, and along with this announcement comes the trailer, which can be seen below.
Produced by WWE Studios and Gene Simmons' Erebus Pictures, ARMED RESPONSE was written by Matt Savelloni and tells this story:
A team of special forces soldiers approach the designer of a high-tech military compound to investigate the disappearance of another team guarding the facility. The compound, known professionally as a Temple, is an artificial intelligence powered facility designed for interrogating high level prisoners. Upon entering the Temple, the soldiers quickly find the earlier team horrifically slaughtered but no evidence as to who is responsible.
Almost immediately, the crew begins to experience strange and horrific supernatural phenomena as they attempt to uncover who killed the previous team. Soon enough, they find a lone survivor, a dangerous terrorist who may hold the key to who killed the soldiers. But as the story goes on, we’ll learn that there’s more to it than we’ve been told and a dark secret the soldiers share may hold the key to surviving The Temple.
Wesley Snipes, Anne Heche, Dave Annable, and Seth Rollins star.
Previous reports had also indicated that Simmons himself would have an acting role in the film, and when I heard that I immediately imagined the glorious sight of Simmons, sporting his famous hairdo, as one of the special forces soldiers – wearing combat gear, toting heavy firepower, and flashing the devil horns. Unfortunately, Simmons is not one of the soldiers who get trapped in The Temple.
Despite that missed opportunity, ARMED RESPONSE looks interesting enough to me. even though it is a variation on a scenario we've seen time and again. I'm always up to watch Snipes kick his way through a horrific situation, I just hope this will be more satisfying than his encounter with aliens in THE RECALL.