Deadlands: The Rising

Let me start by saying this: if you liked this movie, good for you but please don't think that I don't "get it" simply because I didn't like it. No...I get it, and it still sucks out loud.

This film is a rarity for me. It actually made me angry that I sat through all of it. Most bad horror movies I can simply shrug off with a simple "man, that was terrible", but not this one. Even accompanied by a liberal amount of alcohol and a very healthy suspension of disbelief I still think this is truly just an awful movie. Why? Numerous reasons.

First of all, giving some "actors" some white grease paint for their faces and black around the eyes doesn't make a zombie. I realize you do what you can on a small budget, but if your zombies look like they're straight off of a Misfits album cover, just stop there. Hell, leave their faces alone and just smear fake blood on them. Trust me, it's a better effect. And that little disclaimer at the beginning of the film with something about the movie being violent and disturbing...get rid of that. Nobody likes a liar. The only person who would find this disturbing is *maybe* an 8 year old...but kids are so screwed up today even that's a stretch.

Then there's the script, acting, and direction. All well below par for any movie, indie or not. The actors throughout the entire film looked like someone with a shy bladder thinking "don't watch me! I can't do it when you watch me!". I imagine they may have been half way convincing off screen, but as soon as someone said action they just froze and delivered some of the most mundane, bland dialogue I have ever seen. The story was equally flawed...leaving much of the background information out of the film. I suppose I could knock the production values and minor technical crap like that, but it's an indie movie after all and you make do with what you can afford.

The pluses to this movie? It's only 60 minutes long so your suffering will be limited. And...well...that's about it. If you really want to watch a bad zombie movie that's at least funny bad, go watch Death Metal Zombies. Skip this junk.

First it was Pittsburgh, then Louisville, Ky, and now Baltimore, MD has fallen to the army of the dead in Gary Ugarek's Deadlands: The Rising.

When George Romero gave us Night of the Living Dead it was a type of horror movie never seen before, taking the zombie monster and converting it into a cannibalistic killer capable of no emotion or remorse, making it one of the most terrifying monsters in cinema history. Today countless filmmakers have copied or tried to mimic the zombie paradox, some have succeeded and some have flat out failed, but every now and again, in the countless indie zombie horror films, a diamond in the rough that peaks out to grab the attention of zombie film lovers the world over.

Deadlands is that diamond. Although very low budget, and with flaws in hand, it has a great 80's movie vibe with a realistic feel and some nice gore, not too mention scenes building suspense are done quite well and the films score is eerily effective and felt in the vein of John Carpenter's musical styling.

Zombies are what people want and they will eventually get once they progress through the story of Deadlands. The films plays the angle of an average day turning into the nightmare from hell and although the acting leaves a lot to be desired you can easily see the direction Ugarek was taking when constructing the films story. One thing I want too mention as well is how Ugarek shares a similar trait as Romero, they both like to give the audience a little political commentary in their films. Romero's Land of the Dead had a more in your face approach with the political sub plot whereas Ugarek kept his more subtle and he played on the events surrounding not only 9/11 but hurricane Katrina as well.

Deadlands single biggest problem is a very slow start. The first zombie did not appear on screen until the 22:00 mark, but once the dead begin to walk and the blood begins to flow this is where Deadlands takes off and soars. Deadlands is also a little on the short side. The films total running time is about 62:56 seconds, but the actual film and story end at about the 57:00 mark leaving nearly 6 minutes for the closing credits, which has one of the catchiest medleys of the entire films score remixed into one song.

I cannot close of this review without giving props to the make-up department. Deadlands didn't go gore crazy, but what carnage does exist is done effectively and on the meager funds Ugarek mentions in the commentary make-up FX supervisor Stephanie Petagno knows how to make the money stretch.

Deadlands is probably one of the better indie zombie efforts I have seen in a long time and I feel it is up there with the big boys. If the crew of this film can pull this off for less than $20,000 imagine what they could do with $20,000,000.

7 out of 10

I appeared in this zombie film as an extra, and was very excited to see it when the filmmakers finished it. I am happy Gary was able to finish his film, and he was great to work with on set. I know he was constantly bothered by the lack of budget the film had and wanted to do so much more with the movie but couldn't. I think it bothered him and it shows in the finished product.

I was reading the number of votes cast for the movie and I wish i could read the comments of the people whom voted it a ten and the people who voted it a 1. The film is neither, over all it is between a 5 and 7 at best. I personally gave it a 6. I don't say this in a mean or demeaning fashion but there were a lot of areas the movie needed improvement and lot of area the movie succeeded beyond even my expectations.

The opening was a bit long for my taste and the bulk of the movies action doesn't really kick in until the 2nd half of the film. My husband and I were amazed how a movie shot on video looked like it was shot on film, but Gary must of done his homework because we looked at it in disbelief and amazement. Still the movie lacks character until the action starts to kick. Getting through the first 15-20 minutes will be hard for some people, but in the end it will be worth the wait. I was very upset at the unfinished feel the ending had, but Gary always roamed the set stating this would be the first of at least 2-3 movies so that could easily explain the open ending of Deadlands.

This is not a movie you would want to let your children see, there are many moments of language and horror type gore that may scare the little ones. It is safe for probably 14 and above although it could easily qualify as an R rated movie based on the violence and language alone.

For a first time movie it is OK, I guess being a cast member makes me somewhat biased but I felt that I would be fair when writing my little blurb for the film. I am not going to praise it more than I feel it should be and I won't hate it just because it is a small little horror movie made on no money. Hopefully he can do a little better with his next movie.

The video and audio quality is sub-par. To me, it felt like a home video reminiscent of something you'd see taken at the relatives place on Thanksgiving Day.

The acting is amateurish, forced, and seemingly barely rehearsed. The screenplay/dialog is poorly written.

You just know a movie is going to blow when 50% of the opening credits go to special FX techs, the dude who cast "extras" for zombies, and the writer/director/editor is credited with about a half of a dozen other billets.

Usually, I'd say that a movie this horrible is worth watching for the simple entertainment of pointing and laughing at how bad it is... but the whole thing from start to finish is mind numbingly dull.

Being an army brat for so many years had me living all over the world and trust when I say, "I have seen my fair share of bad movies". However, what I don't get is what people hate about this film. Have any of you seen any other low budget independent zombies films? I would assume not or I wouldn't be reading some of the forum comments I have read, nor would I have read the two poor comments/reviews left for the film.

Lets be honest this film isn't a perfect 10, no film really is, but this films is a solid 6/7 all the way. Take into consideration the budget and what was pulled off, this is easily one of the better zombies films to come from the underground in years. It has its moments of being a tad slow, and it has its moments of being spot on.

Before I even watched this I had my doubts, I then read a few reviews, one being from Canada's very own horror-movies.ca. I also read the bad reviews at Cinematical and Bloody-Disgusting, and I can say this easily, the bad reviews don't have a clue. From reading the reviewers comments you can tell the film was slagged off as a waste of their time as they are too busy trying to scoop the next Hollywood horror blockbuster. This is where word of mouth has to come into play, and I will set you all straight. This is a decent zombie project and if you are a true zombie fan you will love it or like it, there is no hate, unless you don't like running zombies.

This was good effort, even if the acting is poor at times, and the film really comes together as it progresses. This is definitely not one of those films where you need to care about characters, it is just a ride along of sorts that honors all the best things there is to honor in the zombie genre.

6.8 out of 10