Kill or Be Killed

Greetings again from the darkness - from the Dallas International Film Festival 2015. Co-writers and co-directors Duane Graves (from San Antonio) and Justin Meeks manage to hit all extremes with comedy, violence and drama as they trek across some of the roughest Texas terrain. Tongue-in-cheek westerns are rare, and this one never falls into true parody, but instead uses hyper-dramatic music and dialogue delivery to balance the gun play and hardened outlaw activities.

Mr. Meeks also stars as Claude "Sweet Tooth" Barbee, who is leading his band of outlaws across Texas in an attempt to re-claim the gold from a previously botched train robbery. The character name is from a real life outlaw and the actions are loosely based on real life train robber Sam Bass. Meeks is clearly having a ball playing the type of colorful bad guy that actors dream about.

Screen veteran Pepe Serna has a brief but memorable role, and one that is crucial to story development. He too, seems to relish the chance to play a nasty guy. The rest of the cast, many of whom were present at the screening, all seem to have bought into the vision … whether their character is quickly filled with lead or manages to eke out a line or two or three. Every movie lover will quickly recognize the actor playing the Doc as Michael Berryman from The Hills Have Eyes (1972).

The ringing of a bell, a young ventriloquist, twins, prairie land nightmares, a hooker with an ulterior motive, and family revenge all play a role as this group of outlaws is hunted by more than just the Sheriff as they make their way to the coast. With unusual lines of dialogue such as "Shut that puppet up", and a misleading sign that reads "Lodgers Welcome", Graves and Meeks deliver an unusual look at the old west and those that inhabited this rugged land.

This is a real nice western, if you can get past the fact that we'rent in the 2000's. Then you will do fine, i think its awesome they tried to enact actual gunslinger emotions rather than try out some transformer-"stuff".

I have to say, these guys are on a drama-level.I haven't heard about any of them but i have to say i was pretty impressed with their performances:).

i very much enjoyed the movie!

Hmpf. OK.

Im not gonna give you a poem!

First of, let me say that I really don't understand the ratings any more! How is it possible that a redundant piece of CT... like 'the hateful eight' has a rating of eight while this name worthy spaghetti western only reaches four and a half?

Please, do not believe for a second that this score resembles anything of what the movie really is.

It had me going for the whole nine yards... The actors all fitted more than well for a western. They all did what they had to do and gave (although somewhat clichéd) their characters that distinguished touch.

From the very start it takes you on the ride and never lets you out of its grip. It's rough, bloody, humorous, a dash of mystery and even a little surrealistic touch near the end.

The dialogue never annoyed me because it was always straight to the point and never got out of touch with what was happening.

And hats of for the fact that the whole movie resides around the villains. It's not like I was really connected to them, but still I constantly was curious about what was going to happen next. Maybe you'll think I'm stating the obvious here, but let's be honest, if it was that easy to keep your audience interested, then there would be no bad movies.

They even did a very nice job with the music. No masterpiece, but still giving that spaghetti feeling all the way. It just felt good...

So, if you are in doubt and are reading this humble opinion, then please do not hesitate, just watch it! You will not regret it!

They left one little hole (definitely no pun intended) with that 'fine little whore', but it was nothing that bothered me in the end. I merely got a 'hmm, I wonder why she did this or said that'. Nothing severe though.

And yes, maybe I am overrating it with a nine, but I had to withhold myself for not giving it a ten because the current rating (I know, I'm repeating myself here, but I have to...) is truly despicable and totally unfair toward the makers! To those whom were feeling compelled to give this less than a seven I have only one thing to say: asinine.

There, I spilled my guts and if you watch the film, you'll know why...

A mediocre western with some gore and a 'mystery' that is never explained. The acting was fine, the pacing was good but the editing was choppy. In no way would I classify this movie as a horror other than it had a horrible ending, it was okay up until the last 20-minutes, don't waste your time.

Seriously? 10 Stars? If that's not the film-makers and their buddies trying hard to get noticed, then those are clearly some retarded people.

I'm a big horror fan, and I have nothing against a good western - though it's not a favorite genre of mine, either.

If you're either a horror or a western fan, this would be worth watching - if you don't have anything better to do.

This is a low-budget production, and the film-makers have done a very good job here, considering what they're working with: no-name actors and not much money or high-end special-effects. The effects are TV quality, but the acting is decent enough. Some of the scenes and extras are a bit out of place, not up to the quality you might expect to see - like some of the house roof-tops look a little too modern for the old west. Small things like that detract from the overall effort, but it's easy enough to overlook if you're not being too picky. Decent story and plot. It can be entertaining enough, if you allow it to be. So, while it's obviously not a big-budget studio effort, that doesn't mean it doesn't have its' moments.

This movie is "okay" - definitely closer to rating this a "3" than I would be a "5." If you are not a horror or a western fan, I would try looking at something else before recommending this movie to anyone.