The Dead and the Damned

It's a very cheap, very badly acted waste of time that seems to have been put together by a bunch of Wild West theme park employees during their lunch break. It's not even bad enough to be funny.

1/10 but only because we can't give 0.

When one comes across a movie like this, you tend to lower expectations to a pretty base level. Zombie action, some scares, low budget cheese, and an overall good cheeky time.

The 30,000 dollar budget is apparent, but not as much as you'd think. There's some good bang for the buck, but not nearly enough bang. We'll start with the lead actor. Forgoing all subtlety, he's AWFUL. Most of the laughs in this came from cringes induced by his ridiculous and amateur performance, gun handling, smirks that scream "I look like a cool action hero to myself" only to look idiotic and embarrassing to the audience.

There is some gratuitous nudity that likewise illicit some groans here and there. It's as if the filmmakers did not realize that with the production value they had, a GOOD zombie cowboy movie could have been made. If you're going at it from the view that no matter what you do, the movie will be crap, then at least make it entertaining crap.

There must have been several 15-20 minute stretches in this movie where characters fall victim to the "we must sit down and tell our sad story" syndrome, when due to the level of acting, or lack thereof, a greater focus on the action and horror would have been preferable whereas to not make the audience feel like they've been ripped off in the end.

That said, there are two scenes that come pretty close to showing how this could have been a GOOD little low budget genre mash-up and both of those scenes involve the main actress encountering zombies (a standout being a creepy hide and go seek scene that belongs in a better movie). What both of these scenes have in common? The horrible lead actor is nowhere to be found. Also these two scenes (due to their isolation from his awfulness) seem to have been filmed after the fact (after shooting was completed?) to fill out what is already a pretty short movie.

All in all, don't let the cover fool you. There's not much action to be had here. Just long stretches of characters talking about back story that would have been better left in the subtext in place of what your audience was told to expect: Action.

The good: A few inventive zombie make-ups, a couple genuinely creepy scenes with the main actress escaping zombies, and some nice location photography.

The bad: Most of the performances, the music, pacing, and lack of action.

The ugly: Every time the main actor shows his face or opens his mouth. He really is that bad.

Really, what dd you expect? This was an indie film done by mostly local people with tiny budget. You go into this film without much expectation and it doesn't disappoint. Perez has put together a showcase of his talents as a young filmmaker and this film is merely him cutting his teeth. He shows promise with the action scenes, but the story line is generic. The actors ... well ... let's just say it seems the cast and crew had fun making this. The post-production effects are elementary, the make-up actually inspired (the high point of the film) and the boobs are, well, epic. What can I say; I'm a guy. If your goal it to watch zombie movies, make sure this one is on your list. You can make it fun by having a drinking game related to the anachronisms (I see plywood ... drink!).

Title was changed to cash in on the popular Cowboys and Aliens. Maybe the screenplay as well because the film starts out as a standard bounty hunter tale. The hero has an odd high-pitched voice totally incompatible with his character. Then we throw in a bimbo he "buys" from a wild west pimp, a bit of gratuitous partial nudity which is okay I guess but slows down the action. Its kinda tedious and slow for an action/horror movie. Lame, unconvincing dialog further hampers the entertainment value. Oddly, the costumes, props and set are pretty good. Maybe the extras were real reinactors at some restored historic park. Unless you just love anything about zombies, you might do well to look elsewhere for tonight's entertainment.

I have only watched half of this movie as of the time this review is being written.

according to IMDb, this film was made with a budget of $30,000 (thirty thousand, not million) dollars.

if that is correct- then FANTASTIC results for the money spent.

I agree with most of the other reviewers: C-grade acting, D-grade script, but the film looks and sounds great.

so again, good news: if you have $30K, and if you have a bunch of friends who want to work cheap, and if you are talented enough to tell a good story, then this movie will be an inspiration.

... Hey, even Kevin Smith started with nothing.