Cowboys & Zombies (2010)

It's Deadwood... with zombies! Or so the poster tells me. I have no idea what Deadwood is, I asume it's a western. But then again you could fill in any western movie and it would make as much sense. It's The Good the Bad and the Undead... Wow, I should apply for a patent on that one. But this isn't about me or my mind blowing creativity, it's all about Rene Perez' ''Dead and the Damned'' or as I'd rather call it: Cowboys & Zombies.

It's easy to get carried away by a title, and I mean just the title. All of the wild images crossing my mind when hearing the word ''zombie'' and ''cowboy'' in one sentence are to be kept a personal secret, but I'm sure you know what I mean. It's an exciting combination. Though it has been done before. 2006's Quick and the Undead for example, which was a western themed film with some zombies.

It's Perez's first feature film and it comes to show on many occasions. Sure, it's nice to combine two genres, but you'll have to do it in a way that is fun. Personaly, I'm not a big fan of Western. I've tryed quite a few by now and the only one that really grabbed me by the balls was the utterly weird ''El Topo''. So yeah, not a traditional western. And neither is this, so there's some hope.

Sadly that sparkle of hope fades away quite early on. As the first action sequence takes place right from the start, I'm immediatly let down by his approach. There's no 'life' to it, there's no energy nor any creativity. But alright, it's the first scene... let's move on. Though, after a full half hour I'm still questioning if it was a good idea to watch this. But then the zombies came out and played. And they played it cool.

They look great, that's for sure. Though it's often ruined by awful special effects. The actual make-up is done nicely, but the cgi wounds are just horrible. It takes away a lot of the fun. But that might just be personal. Another weak spot is the action itself. There are plenty of possibilities but they rarely take advantage of the crazy plot and funny acting. Is it even ment to be funny? I hope so. Lockhart's death scene is just hilarious.

Camille Montgomery is a nice appereance, there's no doubt. But the entire cast suffers from a lack of charm. So if I add all of these problems together, I should end up with a big pile of poo. And to be honest: it's a big pile of poo. I enjoy, I mean LOVE, my share of low-budget nonsense, but this has been done before and it has been done better. Maybe not as a western-zombie combination, but if that's the only appeal to it...then I'd say skip it and just watch Zombie Drifthood for all your stupid zombie pleasures.

Score: 30/100