Before they unleash the much anticipated Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, the team of Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Scott Jeffrey give us their take on the disaster film with an action-filled twist.

A meteorology team led by Dr. Devlin are on the verge of a major breakthrough in technology. One of the team members, Greg, has designed a new device that can manipulate the energies of a tornado and speed it up with its force. However, when the attempt to stop the device after a test run goes awry, Greg is killed by the tornado, but Devlin and assistants Helena and Anna make their escape and decide they need to warn homeowners of the tornado coming their way.

Things get worse when the tornado is ignited after going through a gas station, turning it into a firenado. Meanwhile, Lyle, a local hoodlum, hires Nate and Tommy for a major job knowing a tornado is coming. They plan to rob Pierce Moore, an accountant for mobster Tony Markwell. When Devlin, Anna, and Helena head to Moore’s house, they find themselves in a crossfire, but what will happen if the firenado comes towards them?

You have to hand it to Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Scott Jeffrey. Having made news lately with their upcoming adaptation of Winnie-the-Pooh as a horror film after the original character went into public domain, the duo have had their share of genre films. This included the recent holiday horror film The Killing Tree. It’s interesting to see the duo tackle a different genre this time around in the form of the disaster movie and yet they also delve in the action genre with a major subplot that interconnects with the titular disaster.

The cast of heroes are quite an interesting group. Nicola Wright’s Helena and Sian Altman’s intern Anna are the levelheaded members of the team while Greg, played by Derek Miller, tends to go a little over the top and it is his flaw that causes the eventual firenado as he is warned to turn the device off and he just didn’t listen until it is too late. Now as for Toby Wynn-Davies’s Devlin, he’s sort of an eccentric character. He’s all in when it comes to the device, then helps people out, but a little twist will determine his fate as to whether he made the right decision in even getting involved with the device.

Meanwhile, the other major subplot has a typical over-the-top villain in robber leader Lyle, played by Jamie Robertson. His cohorts consist of the somewhat apprehensive Nate, played by Clint Gordon; and the unhinged Tommy, played by Matthew Marcelis. Dan Godfrey pulls off a pretty worthy performance as Pierce, the potential victim of the robbers who is an anti-hero who after his ordeal admits to Anna, he isn’t exactly a good guy because of his job. However, he does find redemption in some way when he helps the others against the robbers, before the firenado needs to come.

Firenado makes the most of its low budget and it is quite interesting to see a new horror duo tackle something different and make it still worth checking out.

WFG RATING: B-

Uncork’d Entertainment presents a Dark Abyss Productions film. Directors: Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Scott Jeffrey. Producers: Rhys Frake-Waterfield and Scott Jeffrey. Writer: Craig McLearie. Cinematography: Vince Knight. Editing: Maria Galindo.

Cast: Nicola Wright, Sian Altman, Toby Wynn-Davies, Derek Miller, Dan Godfrey, Jamie Robertson, Matthew Marcelis, Clint Gordon, Lean McInnis, Gordon J. Millar.

The film is out on Digital today with a DVD release set for February 14, 2023 from Uncork’d Entertainment