The Dead Can't Dance

This was a fun movie, well written, great acting. Loved the character development. I'll definitely watch it again.

I saw this film at the Colorado Springs Indie Spirit Film Festival and had low expectations.  Boy, was I surprised!  This is more than a campy zombie movie that puts you back in a '57 Chevy at the drive-in.  It's a very good natured, well written, tongue-in-cheek buddy film by a clever Native American writer and director who knows how to have harmless fun while relentlessly poking white Americans in the ribs.   This laugh-out-loud zombie romp reminds us that the most important treasures in our lives are the family members and friends who we argue with the most.  Generally, comedy thrillers have 1 or 2 lovable and funny characters, but this has several. Like a Christo art project, this very low budgeted (under $10,000) indie spirit film also manages to get at least 150 Kansas town folks happily involved as extras.   Of the many very good films that I saw at the CS Indie Festival, it is the one I would buy first when it is released on DVD.  It went past the heads of some who rated it, but don't let it go over yours.

The Dead Can't Dance is a clever telling of a zombie thriller in Native American style. The subtext is compelling and you find yourself easily drawn into the lives of the characters. Their journey is really not about surviving this new zombie state of the country, but more about the changing of their own states of mind. With laugh out loud witticisms and thought provoking discussions, you realize that after all that Native American's have survived, the zombies won't stand a chance. The truth of the story offers a poignant and sweetly poetic twist that leaves you feeling content. The inclusion in some scenes of an eloquent Native American language with subtitles makes this a well seasoned feature film that will go a long way towards removing the cloak of invisibility from Native America.

All I'll say is that it's definitely better than I could do on my first try at movie-making.