© FAKESHEMP.NET
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Podcasts
    • Franchised
    • Rewind And Digress >
      • WTF was that? >
        • FakeShemp.Net Podcast
  • MEDIA
    • Videos >
      • Photos
  • GLG
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • About

BULLETS FOR THE DEAD

6/9/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
2016 | DIR. MICHAEL DU-SHANE | REVIEW BY SHAUN CRAWFORD.

Genre mashing can be a tricky thing, and it's obvious why. What works for a romantic drama doesn't necessarily work for a high-octane action flick. It'd be a hard pitch to try and sell 'Con Air meets The Notebook', for instance.
Of course there have been notable successes (From Dusk Till Dawn) as well as some unsung victories (Dead Birds) but they are few and far between. Michael Du-Shane's feature debut, Bullets For The Dead, a western/ comedy/ zombie escapade comes out as one of the winners.

The plot is simple: Bounty hunter James Dalton (Christopher Sommers) snags notorious bank robber Annie Blake (Vanessa Moltzen) and her gang during a heist and en route to collecting his coin the rag-tag group must fend off a zombie apocalypse. That's about it.

The plot's simplicity just makes way for zombie-carnage and jokes. There is, after all, nothing wrong with an oft-told story so long as it's told well. Du-Shane knows this and is wise enough to be playing BFTD with his tongue firmly in his cheek. This isn't a revisionist western, nor is it a heavy meditation on frontier life. This is a film where Cowboys kill fucking zombies in massive numbers and everybody is as cool as ice.

It's not always a success, mind you, but it hits a bullseye more often than it misses; its budget's limitations sometimes gets the better of it (a lot of the costumes are remarkably well pressed and crisp and the production design sometimes looks like it was bought yesterday), some of the supporting characters are merely cannon-fodder and once or twice a two-shot is held a little too long, but when BFTD works it works very well indeed.

A solid script and nifty characterisations make up for many deficiencies and his knack for visual comedy lands as many jokes as the words in his script do. It's also nice to see a low-budget effort that gives its leads some time to emote. All too often films of this ilk lack a confidence in still moments but Du-Shane slows everything down on a number of occasions to simply sit with his characters which gives us a chance to care, and it's refreshing.

Du-Shane is one to watch. Let's see what he does next time with a bigger budget.
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    September 2010
    April 2010

    RSS Feed

© 2018 FakeShemp.Net    All rights reserved.  FakeShemp.Net Illustrations by MJ Barros. 
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Podcasts
    • Franchised
    • Rewind And Digress >
      • WTF was that? >
        • FakeShemp.Net Podcast
  • MEDIA
    • Videos >
      • Photos
  • GLG
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • About
✕