Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, From Dusk Til Dawn) purportedly sold his body to medical science to help finance this, his debut feature that his then 24-year-old self also wrote, photographed and edited. A young mariachi (Carlos Gallardo) arrives in a Mexican border town and is mistaken for a hitman, thrust into the middle of a violent blood war and forced to become a killer simply to stay alive. The breakneck pace, non-stop action and inventive storytelling is exhilaratingly raw and refreshingly unpretentious. Rodriguez's talents were so evident that Columbia promptly signed him to shoot a $6m English sequel that was to become Desperado.