Left for Dead

Not a bad film, unlike other reviews I have seen for it I believe that this film is a perfect example of a B-Film. The story line isn't too deep and the actors are not unbelievably gripping.

This being said the reasons most don't seem to like it are the exact reason it is an okay film, and an excellent example of a b-movie. Like all b-films it can be a mini-cult classic like almost every Bruce Campbell film and a background noise film, entertaining enough to be on in the background and for you to have focus every now and again.

If you want to watch an okay film I would recommend this for the sheer novelty, if you want to insult a b-film I would recommend another one like, erm, I know how many runs you scored last summer.

I'm still going over the film in my head and I've watched the DVD twice as well. No spoilers as I just wanted to comment on the cast. I thought it was refreshing to see real women in a desperate situation unlike so many horror films which feature nubile bikini wearing females in desperate situations. The cast felt like women struggling to survive in the Mexico frontier in 1890. Hard, half daft, angry and frighteningly ruthless. They quite embodied what it must have been like and they also looked like the type that could believably survive. No cutesy starlet bimbo types, but tough, rugged women who look they live through much abuse.

The feminine anger of betrayal and being degraded was etched into each character almost painfully.

I thought the odd speech patterns worked as it revealed damaged minds and souls.

The film wasn't perfect. The special effects could've been better and the action slowed a bit too much in the middle. Very sad and filled with a great helping of pain and grief. I found it riveting and much more enjoyable on the second watching.

Whilst searching for her missing husband Blake (Javier De la Vega), tough, pistol packing babe Clementine (Victoria Maurette) runs across a community of outcast whores who have fled the town of Amnesty after murdering the townsfolk, including its preacher (Andres Bagg) and his pregnant wife. These murderous women are also keen to lay their hands on Blake, for they believe him to be a rapist, but are unwilling to follow him into the deserted town, for this is where the spirit of the preacher patiently waits for revenge...

In my opinion, director Albert Pyun must suffer from severe Hollywooditis, a condition that causes untalented hacks to believe that they are actually successful Hollywood directors. The results are never pretty.

In this instance, poor Mr.Pyun is clearly under the delusion that he is Tony Scott, circa 2004, which explains why his low budget western/horror Left For Dead attempts to mimic Scott's dreadful, self-indulgent movie 'Man on Fire' so closely in style. Unfortunately for Pyun (and his audience), not only is he stricken with the urge to emulate one of Scott's most dire efforts, utilising all of the horrible visual trickery that made that movie such a chore to sit through (flickering imagery, desaturated colours, distressed filters, unnecessary freeze-frames, slow-motion, and even novelty subtitles for both Spanish and English dialogue), but the absence of a mega budget, A-list cast, and, more pointedly, any talent whatsoever behind the camera or in the editing room, makes this project an infinitely more painful viewing experience than anything Scott has ever dished up.

A lengthy prologue attempts to explain the back story to this steaming crap-fest, but is so poorly written that it does little to help viewers' understanding of the movie. The dreadful script, combined with equally awful acting and an over-reliance on absurd visual gimmickry, all go to make this one hell of a bad film which I genuinely believe deserves the lowest rating possible (others have rated this a 'one' to try and counteract the fake positive reviews, whereas I rate it that low simply because I genuinely hated it!).

Still, as much as I have suffered whilst watching this cack, I'm still able to spare a thought for poor old Pyun—if only his affliction had left him thinking he was Scorsese or Spielberg in their prime, things might have been different.

"Left For Dead" has a dreamlike, hauntingly chilling atmosphere from the beginning to the end. There is not too much landscape, there are not too much environmental elements, but the atmosphere is so strong, so hypnotizing that I found myself re-watching "Left for Dead" again and again. "Left for Dead" is a Gothic western about the moments that decide the fates of human beings. I emphasize on "human beings" because the characters here are not only likable but believable. Victoria Maurette makes me the biggest impression, adding layers of depth to her character without even uttering a word, just her facial expressions, the way she moves, the confidence with which she acts is simply brilliant. It is incredible how Pyun achieves to create such memorable scenes. There is in "Left for Dead" one of the best uses of slow-motion (and no-motion) I have ever seen. Slow-motion that captures the darkest, saddest moment, the one thing no one would expect to happen in a western. There is something haunting and sad all over the movie. It has a very intense emotional effect on the viewer. "Left for dead" is a uniquely dark voyage into the brutal reality of human nature. Watching it has been one of the most powerful experiences I've had for a long time. The darkest and most brutal sides of human nature are here present all the time and the things get almost surreal at times. The ending of the film is so harrowingly real it becomes almost unbearable in its sadness and both mental and physical violence. The theme of violence and vengeance remember me the best spaghetti westerns, specially Corbucci's. Only a master like Pyun could break all the conventions and rules of the genre, because this film just wants to be and is so much more. The imagery is stunning for such a tiny budget. So haunting --it becomes almost a surreal element and a very creepy one. The cinematography blows with some great compositions and different angles plus some extreme close ups to make each scene look as powerful as their potential. I Think that "Left for Dead" is one of Pyun's greatest achievements. I'm sure that it will remain. The cinematic magic could not be any more fantastic. This is a 'piece of honest, raw, beautiful, mighty cinema. What we have here, is nothing less than the ultimate essence of the Gothic Western: irony, cruelty, tenderness, beauty, violence, powerful characters... and chaos. Throughout the movie is laced with the anguish of haunted souls. "Left for Dead" comes across as a powerful and beautifully constructed Greek tragedy with a cynical and almost psychological edge bound to it. Pyun's stylishly first-rate direction keeps the film sombre with a brutally inspiring tone in its dramatic images and context. The wonderful use of lighting and composition keep the viewer's attention. The inventive framing also shows the quality and uniqueness of his direction. Even the flashback sequences are positioned in the story accordingly and in a fulfilling style. The story is full of symbolic and uncanny issues. What more can I say ? "Left for dead" is an unmissable, magnificently macabre opera of death.

I don't know how to describe Left for Dead. A western? A horror western? A paranormal western? a Ghosts western? no, just a piece of trash. This movie is a boring non sense from start to finish. Pyun direction is lazy and generic (he made some stylish action movies back in the 90s but here he flops). The script is awful, the acting is near as bad as in Zombieggedon and the worst thing here is the edition. Man!, the editor is an evil hack! All those stop motion scenes, fast motion, image freezing... they wanted to make the movie "cool", this is like a retarded no budget version of Domino(and Domino was indeed retarded). If you like Nemesis or some of those martial arts-sci fi Albert Pyun movies, stay away from this piece of boring, lazy and non sense crap. You will be very disappointed. 2/10