The Bad Ass Movie Review from Mediasaurs by Peter Demmon

BLOOD TIES is an independent, raw, beat-‘em-up from filmmaker Kely McClung. The hand to hand combat that this film showcases is a definite strong point. But the plot harnessed underneath it all is also ripped and muscular. It drives the action, beatdown to beatdown, with subtle and not so subtle revelations of what is really propelling the ass-kicking machine known as Jack Davis.

It is no wonder that this film has earned so many awards (Best of Festival at Indie Film Fest and Action Film of the Year at the Action on Film Festival for example). BLOOD TIES is the kind of action film that we need more of. The plot is subtle, but thick, and to follow it, you must pay close attention. Facts are relayed through sharp, jargony dialogue, and the film has deeply embedded twists and turns that demand a second viewing. Full Review

The Short Ends Magazine review and interview by Noralil Ryan Fores

There's a bar of average expectations for low-budget genre films, and it's one filmmaker Kely McClung had no intention of noting. Shot between the States and Thailand, Blood Ties, McClung's feature debut, is easily one wildly ambitious indie action film. After four years, four trips to Thailand, all done on the work of a limited budget, Blood Ties wrapped to hit the festival circuit this year. Told in distinct stylistic chapters, the story follows Jack Davis (Kely McClung), a former federal agent turned rogue, who fights his way into and around Thailand to rescue his brother Jim (Robert Pralgo), kidnapped on behalf of the burgeoning International Security Federation. One part socio-political, the other experimental and emotional, the film at times seems to seek its voice, as if it's playing with many different ideas and refusing to settle on one thematic chord. Full Review

The Cinema ATL cover story by Nathan Flood

Pretend you do have this great idea for a movie (I know it's hard, but try).  You decide to pitch it to a buddy with a little bit of money in hopes he'll jump on board.  You've got this great script and you're ready to go, where at this point your buddy asks, "Where you going to film it?"  And your answer is?

If your answer is Thailand, you're lying (or insane), unless your name happens to be Kely McClung, because that was really his answer.  Throwing independent filmmaking logic out the window, Kely pitched the idea for his film Blood Ties and its halfway-around-the-world bizzaro location to friend Robert Pralgo, and somehow, someway, got him to say yes.

Blood Ties, is an action film set not only in Thailand, but also a few more wallet conducive locations including; Washington, D.C., Miami, Virginia, and, oh yeah, Atlanta. Full Review

The in-depth interview from Poptimal's Cameron Cubbison

Terms like jack-of-all-trades and Renaissance man weren’t coined for Kely McClung, but they might as well have been. Stemming out of necessity and an active refusal to limit himself to one role, Kely makes feature films with high production values on shoestring budgets... Kely has co-opted the original Robert Rodriguez business model. Unlike Rodriguez, however, Kely is using it to make dramatic, character-driven crime thrillers and action sagas...His latest film is the dark, atmospheric and exciting crime thriller Kerberos, which blends action with pathos and character study.Full Interview

Nic Baisley's Film Snobbery Review

From there the story gets a little more complicated, with several of the characters in the movie having many interconnecting storylines that bring them all together at the end for a showdown. Kely paints a vivid picture with his characters, who are all given backstory and a richness that most mainstream studio films tend to ignore. McClung gives each character their moment in the movie...Full Review

"Badass Movie Review" from Mediasaurs' Peter Demmon

KERBEROS, directed by and starring Kely McClung, is the coolest independent crime drama you have never heard of. You will though. This is one of those special films that claws its way to the top and demands respect. With the tagline of “The gates of Hell go one way,” KERBEROS is named for the three-headed dog that guards those very gates. The film drags the viewer to that dog and forces a staredown. It is a protracted, visceral gaze into the abyss executed with devastating precision. Full Review

The Snap Dragon review

These are the heads of Kerberos, guardian of the underworld. The concept of Good Guy – Good Guy never comes into play in the upcoming film Kerberos. And rightfully so, as the hound only has three heads. But also because people are rarely, if ever, capable of being good guy-good guy for longer than a single action or series of interrelated events. Call it cynical if you like, but even saints are capable of cruelty and even sinners are capable of compassion. This recognition by writer/director Kely McClung is one of the more subtle yet engaging qualities about the project. The moral ambiguity gives depth to every character, large or small, both good and bad playing out onscreen as the results of choices made by each character. Ah, the existentialist dream! Since the whole story spans only 36 hours, the consequences of each choice are going to be amplified in the microcosm that the film presents. That means violence. A lot of violence. But this isn’t Quentin’s violence—violence for violence’s sake, gratuitous and shocking just because it can be. This is more meaningful violence that more clearly illustrates the light and dark of each person.