Muerte en Tombstone

Danny Trejo is an acquired taste. Since being given cult status by the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, fearless Danny has now earned headliner status in movies built around him. Good for Danny, he's paid his dues. That being said, even the iconic presence of Mr. Trejo can't save this direct-to-DVD supernatural western. Trejo has maybe five states of being and facial expression in his acting repertoire. but only two are utilized by the director of this spooky oater. Danny looks grim. Danny looks grimmer. That's all folks. Still he tries, but he's just not cut out for leading man status.

A paper thin plot drags its story out for around 100 minutes here, filling the spaces between the actual story with repetitive gunfights, slow motion death, general mayhem, and an occasional visit to Hell, where the real-life horror show called Mickey Rourke pretends to be Satan (the character is referred to as "The Blacksmith" in the credits). Danny has been betrayed by his homies, the Blackwater Gang. His half brother Red (played by a nearly unrecognizable Anthony Michael Hall) murders him and Danny ends up in Hell. Tortured by Mickey Rourke (in a sleepwalking tour-de-force of acting as Satan), Danny strikes a bargain to win his soul back. Mickey wakes up long enough to accept this bargain using the worst dubbed-in voice for Rourke imaginable. Danny returns to life, and sets out to kill his homies in revenge. End of plot.

This could have been really interesting in the hands of a better director. Unfortunately, no one told the actual director Roel Reiné that he wasn't making a music video. This entire movie is shot in 2-6 second scenes, underlit and too dark to penetrate, too many flashy jumpcuts, etc. If you don't come out of a viewing of this without acquiring epilepsy, lucky you. The end resolution is poorly thought out. Still, the Romanian locations and costumes are worth a look here and earn the first two stars I give. Danny T. gets the other two for really giving his all...I think. Maybe Mickey Monster Rourke slipped Danny one or two of the sleeping pills he must have been gulping down during filming. An interesting/headache inducing flick for those with short attention spans.

Oh Mickey, What a Pity, I just don't understand. Rourke plays second-fiddle to Danny Trejo is this average blend of horror and western revenge. He sleep-walks through his role as the devil, who gives Trejo's assassinated gunfighter a chance to return to Earth to avenge those who betrayed him (led by his half-brother Anthony Michael Hall). It's adequate, with plenty of gunfights that become a bit repetitive and suffer too many short cuts.

Westerns... so hard to find a good one, and mixing evil, I mean the devil, guns and horses… after watching "Gallowwalkers" a deep sense of disappointment made me sight with disapproval, because if I remember well I haven't seen a good one since "Good for Nothing" because "True Grit" was just a remake, so cautiously I started watching "Dead in Tombstone". To begin with, Mickey Rourke is more likable than when he was in his youngest days and Danny Trejo no much to say: always looking tough and mean. Both actors are a good-odd combination; one as Lucifer, and the other one as undead, make this clear, not a zombie!, I could say that this is one of the best performances of Danny Trejo; "Guerrero" fitted him like a ring! This movie has the entire elements to keep you entertained, is believable as a western and visually acceptable with its supernatural theme. The direction and writing is at his best, and considering its budget very well done, the editing keeps the pace of the movie and the soundtrack keeps up with it, it reminded me of those old movies where the actors where "forced" to act, back then when CGI wasn't so imposing. Of course this movie is far to be Silverado, but between choosing to watch the latest entry of "Chucky" or "Dead in Tombstone" I'll stick with the black horse and the long leather trench coats, in a way that I wouldn't mind a sequel as long as the story is as good or better than this one, to tell the truth I like this movie better than I did "Machete" with all its stars. Sometimes, less is better!

To all the fans of this genre or the actors involved in the making of this film; I have this to say, "This one will hurt, and not in a funny way, don't do it to yourselves."

Do yourself a favor and miss this film. It tarnishes the good memories we have of these actors with its lackluster existence.

This films Tombstone should read;

"Killed by the epic mediocrity of Director Roel Reiné."

If you truly love watching Danny Trejo, no matter how bad the film he is in, or seeing Mickey Rourke deliver lines as if he was trying to understand a sign language interpreter; even if Anthony Michael Hall can do no wrong in your heart, this is not something you want to see.

It seriously damaged my respect for just about everyone involved in making it come to life.

I am a film editor, cinematographer and even worked as a Zombie stuntman. So, film, and especially cheesy low budget film is an area of expertise for me. I even have the honor of teaching a film class, "Aesthetics of Editing".

So if you got this far, at least you know now I am not just some film bashing wingnut; some jerk with no idea how film is made, why it is good, bad or meh.

For me dead in tombstone is not a terrible movie. But it is also not that great. Danny trejo being the star is the whole selling point of this movie and without his gruth gun slinging talk it would not be entertaining. Bassically in this movie trejo is the lead of a band of men that gets killed by some bandits. We think he is dead and I thought great now the film will be boring. But not. He wakes up in hell and micky rouke playing a type of devil says he can be alive if he brings the souls of the six men responsible for his death. Then he gets bloody revenge there are some explosions and fire and its alright. Not a great movie altogether. Alright cast but entertaining for what it is.