Review: GallowWalkers

Wesley Snipes plays Aman, a cursed gunslinger whose lot in life is having to take down a bunch of zombies he helped create. You see, these were the people responsible for the rape and murder of his beloved, and in a bit of righteous justice, he took them down one by one. However, they don’t die, merely re-emerging as zombie-like creatures (led by Kevin Howarth) who need to adopt someone else’s skin to place over their flesh (Howarth chooses the skin of a member of a strange, Albino-like sect of religious people). Now Aman needs to take them all down once more, taking on a young apprentice (Riley Smith) for assistance. Dallas Page plays a henchman named Skullbucket (!), Patrick Bergin turns up briefly as a hellfire and brimstone town Marshal, whilst Steven Elder plays a tenderfoot English preacher.

 

Released in Australia in 2013 and in the US a year earlier, this genre-bender from director Andrew Goth (“Cold and Dark” with Luke Goss and Matt Lucas) and his co-writer Joanne Reay (“Cold and Dark”) hit a bit of a snag with star Wesley Snipes’ legal problems. The film actually began production in 2006 right as the fit was about to hit the shan for the for the fiscally irresponsible actor, and although Snipes was able to complete the film after meeting all of his court commitments a little while later, the film still sat on the shelf for a whopping 6 years before its direct-to-DVD release in the States. I’m not sure why there was such a long wait for its release, but having seen the film I have to say it’s not as bad as its backstory might lead one to believe. In fact, ‘not bad’ is the overall feeling I have about it, it’s probably the best of Snipes’ direct-to-DVD work actually.

 

Faint praise or not, it’s really not bad, even if star Snipes doesn’t appear to want to be there, and it’s clearly not the actor’s voice you hear occasionally narrating the film (The sound-alike isn’t terrible, but noticeable), as it was done when Snipes was temporarily unavailable. It’s a horror-western, a hybrid that doesn’t very often come about, but it’s a pretty interesting mix, with a fair bit borrowed from Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West” in the early scenes (One scene involving horses has dialogue almost entirely lifted right out of the aforementioned film). It’s quite well-shot, with some nice Leone-esque composition. And blood. It’s quite a bloody film at times, and me likey a lot. I’ll never get tired of heads going splat via gunshot.

 

The performances are somewhat variable; Snipes is surprisingly amateurish, while Steven Elder and Tanit Phoenix are completely awful. However, it’s all so fucking weird and interesting that it ends up rather watchable, even if you wish it explained it’s mythology a little more. One henchman in particular looks like someone wanted to combine the costume of The Black Knight with one of the Knights Who Say Ni, from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”. It’s cool and funny at the same time (even if I completely failed to recognise wrestler and DDP Yoga creator ‘Diamond’ Dallas Page in the role), but it’s also kinda WTF at the same time. Chief villain Kevin Howarth isn’t bad, and seeing Snipes painted up like an indigenous Australian to exact a bit of justice is amusing. I just wish the star himself wasn’t so disinterested and playing down to the material. I also wish Patrick Bergin wasn’t just turning up for a one-scene cameo, because he was supplying a whole lot of enjoyable ham for his fleeting moments.

 

It’s not exactly a good film, but I liked more of it than I disliked, even if the parts I disliked I probably felt more strongly about than the parts I did like, if that makes any sense. Basically, it could’ve been something instead of just being kinda something. It’s weird, gory, watchable, and it certainly doesn’t warrant the bemusement with which its main star shows towards it. With a bigger budget, a more motivated Snipes, and more plot clarity this would’ve been an easy recommendation. As is, it’s just shy of one, but certainly a lot better than its reputation.

 

Rating: C+