Tomb Invader

Tomb Invader (also known as Tomb Hunter and The Tomb: Heart of the Dragon) is a 2018 mockbuster based on the Tomb Raider series, made by the American film studio, The Asylum.

Plot
Archaeologists Julie Channing, searches for the mythical Heart of the Dragon in a temple in China. After failing to choose the key, a temple collapse is triggered, and Channing and her team are killed.

20 Years later, Archaeologist Alabama "Ally" Channing, daughter of Julie, discovers a chest in a cave in the Middle East, dodging booby traps in the process, she escapes only to be cornered by armed soldiers. She dispatches the soldiers and heads home.

Ally works as a professor at Emeron University, where she is approached by Isabelle Villeneuve, who gives her a box containing her mother Julie's journal and a phone, which rings. On the other end of the phone is Billionaire Tim Parker who requests that she meet him in China.

Ally and her friends Helena, a fellow archaeologist, and Bennie, a geologist, make the trip to China to meet with Tim who is with Isabelle, and Nathan Carter a freelance treasure hunter who only seeks monetary gain from ancient artefacts, much to Ally's chagrin. Tim explains that he is seeking to finish Ally's mother's work and recover the Heart of the Dragon. Ally and her friends agree to help. That night, their camp is attacked by a band of locals who kill Isabelle and kidnap Nathan. The remaining members of the group give chase.

Nathan is taken to the leader of the local group, Jian, who berates his men for killing Isabelle. The locals tell Jian about a girl who was with Carter's group, and Jian demands to know who she is. Nathan reveals she is Alabama Channing.

Ally and the others track Nathan and the bandits to their location and are eventually ambushed. Bennie is knocked out but Ally dispatches their attacker, and realizes they must be close to Nathan. She heads in alone but is captured. She is taunted by Li Wei, Jian's second in command, however she breaks free of her restraints and fights her captors, before she and Nathan flee regrouping with the others. They are swiftly caught again though and Jian reveals to Ally that he knew her mother.

Jian tells Ally that he seeks the Heart of the Dragon as a means of uniting China, and asks her to help retrieve it. Ally agrees. Tim threatens Nathan telling him to remember who he works for and that Jian is not to get the Heart of the Dragon.

Entering the Temple they travel navigate the corridors, trying to bypass the traps. However Bennie is killed by a poisoned dart and Helena is injured by falling rocks. Tim offers to go ahead to make sure it's safe. Nathan reveals that Tim has no intention of giving the Heart of the Dragon to Jian and seeks it for it's supposed power.

After supposedly finding the Heart of the Dragon, a glowing gemstone, Tim demands Ally hand it over, and the pair fight. Tim gets the upper hand and incapacitates Ally and Nathan, but a stone guardian comes to life knocking Tim to the side and fighting Ally and Nathan. Tim regains consciousness and flees.

Ally and Nathan defeat the guardian which opens a door, revealing a sword, the real Heart of the Dragon. The temple begins to collapse and they make their escape helping the injured Helena. Tim races for an exit and hits a dead end, the ceiling collapses killing him.

Outside, Ally presents Jian with the Heart of the Dragon, he offers her anything she wants for her services and she wryly asks if there are any other hidden relics she can look for.

Back at Emerson University, Ally is teaching her class when a recovered Helena enters the room, and gives her a look suggesting she has another adventure for them to go on. Ally dismisses her class.

Cast

 * Gina Vitori as Alabama "Ally" Channing
 * Samantha as Bowling as Helena
 * Andrew J Katers as Nathan
 * Evan Sloan as Tim Parker
 * Shawn McConnell as Bennie Blum
 * Val Victa as Jian
 * John Wusah as Li Wei
 * Jane Doole as Amy Blum
 * Tammy Klein as Julie Channing
 * Lindsay Sawyer as Isabelle Villeneuve
 * Kate Watson as Michele
 * Jordan Williams as Peter Yapp

Trivia

 * As with most of The Asylum's catalogue, Tomb Invader is a very low budget movie, made within a short period of time, with the intension of exploiting a more anticipated film. Even copying the style and some visual aspects of the film or series it's trying to exploit.
 * On the DVD cover of the movie, the lead character Ally is show wearing short shorts and dual wielding pistols much like older versions of Lara Croft, however this is incredibly misleading as she never wears shorts in the movie, nor does she ever wield a gun, save for a single fight where she uses an assault rifle as a club.
 * On the alternate cover Tomb Hunter, the character is shown in a similar attire, although now with with round lens sunglasses that were frequently associated with older incarnations of Lara Croft.
 * On the alternate cover for The Tomb: Heart of the Dragon, she is shown carrying a similar climbing axe to the DMM Rebel Ice Axe that Lara uses in the survivor Timelie. She also has a bow and a quiver of arrows.
 * Interestingly, this cover is visually similar to the eventually release Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition.
 * Tomb Invader premiered a week before the 2018 Tomb Raider movie.
 * Emerson University which is featured in the film is likely a fictionalized version of Emerson College in Boston.
 * The characters of Ally and Nathan wear almost identical garb to that of Lara Croft and Lu Ren from the 2018 Tomb Raider film.
 * Also Nathan is possibly named after the explorer Nathan Drake from the Uncharted franchise.
 * Despite being predominantly a mockbuster of Tomb Raider, the lead character's name being a U.S. state is likely a reference to the character Indiana Jones, although in Jones' case, it was a self dubbed nickname, not his actual name.