- Directed by Michael Du-Shane
- November 29, 2015 (Monster Fest) / December 6, 2015 (A Night of Horror International Film Festival) / August 18, 2016 (Sydney) / October 3, 2016 (UK-DVD) / December 14, 2016(Australia-DVD)
A bounty hunter, a gang of captured outlaws, and a preacher must battle their way across the Old West against an ever increasing number of undead.
Making a good Western horror movie seems like a very tough nut to crack. I’ve seen far more bad ones or ones that just don’t click than I have seen anything that makes it to truly good or lands on simply adequate. I do not need to be screaming in terror but give me something that at least looks like the creators are trying to get the viewer to do that! Thus I went into Bullets for the Dead with no great expectations.
Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a good movie! Not great or scary but good. It may have some questionable bits like a shed that though this is the Old West looked a little too modern for the era but beyond that it was a well done and well directed movie. Intentionally or not at points it can be a little derivative. I say that because the problems of the story are caused by an evil magic book with no clear way to shut things off though here the initial spell is not read because they are goofing around like those other films.
We have a religious man named Alan O’Rourke (Hugh Parker) journeying to a convent with his ill wife Caitlin (Helen Howard). That’s a very Catholic place to go but this man has a wife and though dressed like one it must be noted priests don’t have wives. Methinks somebody goofed. As a Catholic that really stuck out to me but maybe the less religious or those just generally less familiar with Catholicism will not pick up on that.
As with so many Westerns-and I’m not complaining-this has a mismatched group of people who come together to fight a greater threat than the initial issues that forced them into their minimal conflict. The characters are interesting and more importantly the actors are not bad. No famous names though that are surprisingly Oscar worthy by nothing that says “Community theater.”
Bounty hunter James Dalton (Christopher Sommers) captures outlaw Annie Blake (Vanessa Moltzen) and her gang. They let you know Dalton has baggage, but he is mostly portrayed as not having time for anybody’s sh!t. Annie gets portrayed as just messed up but not irredeemable. She starts at a little obnoxiously trashy with a kink for killing and guns but eventually evolves into an interesting character who you hope will survive.
They form, well, the romantic core of the story. Not forced but an outgrowth of events. Bullets for the Dead would have worked if they had been simply on the same side. Their screen chemistry adds a little more to the story helping you care about events. This is more than an actioner with undead creatures to be killed. There is character development.
The dialogue can be witty but more importantly it’s well delivered. These may not be famous actors (and for all I know this could have been the high point of their careers), but they give it their all. They treat this with the utmost seriousness. Sommers and company perform so well that when characters die or find themselves in a precarious situation it actually matters to you in a positive way. You’re not just watching to see who dies next as with any horror movies.
The zombies look good and glisten with adequate make up. These are not random undead individuals but they are characters who either populate the foreground or the background of the film when they were human. Most notable being a bank teller (Carol Burns) who was injured by Annie that shows up later as a zombie. Gore when present fits the situation, but it is never excessive or silly looking.
Bullets for the Dead is an exciting movie with some real shocking but not scary moments. The scene at the convent would stack up well in any number of pricier Hollywood originating films. That villain speech just before the chaos was classic! To my surprise it is an Australian indie production. I found no hint of that beyond the Annie character not having an American accent.
This does very naturally what few horror movies can do and that’s the ‘everybody’s screwed’ ending. You think there’s a chance that some may make it out but that’s not the case here though how it finally ends up being so doesn’t feel done for the sake of doing it. Annie and Dalton have clear chemistry and are certainly a couple making their disposition have meaning.
Bullets for the Dead may not be scary, but it’s unsettling and occasionally unnerving. With good performances and quality production values, this manages to be an excellent example of the horror themed Western genre and something I recommend.
