Not content with releasing an album or two a month, The Mars Volta man Omar Rodriguez Lopez is now turning his attention to movies. In yet another surprise move, the tireless guitarist has just announced his directorial debut, The Sentimental Engine Slayer, a film which he also wrote, scored and stars in alongside other members of the Rodriguez Lopez family (brother and Volta member Marcel is credited as “Tap Prostitute 1” on IMDb). And in typical ORL style this isn’t the end of it: there are two more unreleased films in the can – 2001’s A Manual Dexterity and 2003’s Letters From Dystopia – alongside two more films El Divino Influjo De Los Secretos (2008) and Boiling Death Request (2009), both currently in post-production.

Apparently “set against the backdrop of a drug-addled suburban El Paso sometime in the not-too-distant future” and “as much the story of struggling to find one’s essence in a world of stereotypes as it is an indictment of the distorted reality of family life in the disengaged 21st Century” The Sentimental Engine Slayer will see its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on February 4th, 2010. Art or arse? Decide for yourself – the trailer is up now on YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/refusedtv