Blue Tiger

A directorial debut which takes a formula, straight-to-video screenplay and gives it a huge shot of adrenaline in the heart. It's the familiar exploitation story of a single mother who takes up arms when her child is killed in a mob shoot-out, but with gleaming cinematography, tight editing and top-notch performances across the board, this is worth a detour. Barba has an eye for detail (a new tattoo bleeding through Madsen's blouse) and a special way with action sequences - could John Woo be replacing David Lynch as the American indies' spiritual mentor for the mid-'90s?