Dead West

The movie is centered in a town, once used to shoot westerns in, and now western shows are staged in it. Additionally, we follow the hero Johnny Dust doing an interview in a studio, and flashbacks from a movie he played in, with his hero and role model. Besides that, we see him having trouble with his ex-wife, and there is also his daughter, who thinks he is really cool. And there's a big bad conglomerate, that wants to raise the number of dwindling visitors by staging a ghost show during Halloween. The story contains story in story in story, which in itself is an interesting feat. But to do that well, you must have good a script, a good director and good editing. Good actors also help. As all are flawed, it just makes no sense now. The actors presumingly play bad as characters in the show, but unfortunately, they play equally bad in what supposedly is real life. The show stunts are blatantly fake, which is OK in itself, but here too, the "real" action is fake as well. Spectators of the show don't have clue what is real and what isn't. But we do neither. On top of that, a lot of things are not thought through: with a line in front of the ticket office, how much time would people take to chat with the ticket lady? Or, much time would they given by the people waiting in the cue? Would 6-year olds be allowed in a mine, designed as a ghost house? At least one little girl is in tears, one boy gets hurt: I can only imagine the lawsuits.... Even reading about this movie is a waste of time: I am really being kind giving it 2 stars. And that is mainly because of Gloria Valenzuela (actress Angélica Celaya). She is a convincing vampire, worthy of better than this.

Like what was said recently with 'Cowboys vs Dinosaurs', watched 'Cowboys and Vampires' knowing exactly what to expect, with the title (a dead giveaway off the bat) and premise (though the set up was interesting somewhat) the film has. Was expecting it to be ridiculous and not particularly well made. Part of me was hoping though when watching out of curiosity that it would have a little entertainment value and be a small guilty pleasure.

'Cowboys and Vampires' (aka 'Dead West') was more or less what was expected, it is ridiculous and not well made at all. Would also be lying if said it is a good film, it is a long way from that and doesn't have anywhere near enough to make it a guilty pleasure though not unwatchable. There are worse films around, of the genre and overall, and the film at least knows what it's trying to be, not leaving me bored, not insulting my intelligence and having glimpses of a story (the set up is neat and the film starts reasonably decently).

Angelica Celaya is the film's bright spot, being appropriately vampish. The scenery is okay and there is some jauntiness and eeriness in the music when it's memorable (too often it's not).

Sadly, 'Cowboys and Vampires' is drably shot, with it also looking disorganised, and throughout it's incoherently edited, making it difficult to decipher what's going on in particularly the more action-oriented scenes (too few and not exciting or suspenseful).

The rest of the acting is very bad, especially from the conflict that ranges from pantomimic to somnambulist and the male lead was pretty wooden. The characters though in all fairness are not that interesting or easy to get behind, thanks to sketchy development and stupid character behaviours. The effects, make-up etc. are amateurish at best.

Writing is rambling and juvenile, while the direction is fairly characterless and while there is more story than expected it's a ridiculous one as well with very little tension or suspense. Things get over-the-top at the end and the campy silliness is taken to extreme levels that it becomes far-fetched.

On the whole, have seen worse but a pretty lame film. 3/10 Bethany Cox

rarely i've seen such bad movies total waste of time, poor acting, poor script, poor director , in fact its plain garbage. what is more disturbing, is that in times of crisys , someone spends money on such way less than mediocre movies, just because the vampire genre is " popular" i guess if someone made movies with cowboys and aliens, with ninjas and aliens , with vampires and aliens.. why not a cowboys and vampires too? well , the answer is BECAUSE THEY SUCK if you do decide to go see this "masterpiece" be prepared to sleep, have serious brain damage , bite the neck of the one that recommended you this movie or just regret the time and money spent for less than nothing

The movie dragged in places, but I thought it was a fairly good movie. Wade was a great leading man. I hope he gets more roles. The scenery, photography, and especially the soundtrack were all excellent. The script was pretty decent too. I just didn't like parts of the last ten minutes. if you are a fan of western films and have attended Western Film Festivals, it's probably more entertaining than if you haven't. The movie is set in Tucson AZ where western movies were filmed. That's where the breathtaking scenery originates. The Kid looks a lot like Sam Elliot. Wade looks a bit like Peter Fonda. Looks aside, the acting is good. For $10, it's an entertaining film. It isn't The Magnificent Seven, but it's a good film.