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Overall Rating : 5/10
Directed By : Glasgow Phillips
James Denton (Desparate Housewives (TV)
Chris Kattan (Corky Romano)
Chris Coppola (BloodRayne II: Deliverance)
Navi Rawat (Feast)
Supplied By : Image Entertainment
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : January. 10, 2008
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| PLOT In this unusual take on the Old West, an innocent cowboy, Luke with his reluctant new partner, Elmer fleece a crooked sheriff and attempt to disappear in the desert. Only Geronimo's smart and beautiful niece Sue can help them solve a mysterious Indian curse and escape from Sheriff Zombie's bloodthirsty posse. Will romance between Luke and Sue blossom or will the undead permanently keep them apart? |
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| THE REVIEW Elmer Winslow, a defector from the Union Army, and Luke Budd. a broken-hearted Cowboy, seem like the most unlikely pair - but as fate would have it, they become partners. This would occur only after being jailed for their altercation between one another in Sheriff Claypool's saloon. Shortly after being jailed the two brake out, taking with them some loot belonging to the corrupt Sheriff. It's not long after, that Claypool and his men set out to find them however, and the two men race for safety. It's then when they meet Sue, who is the Niece of the Legendary Native American medicine man, Geronimo. Sue is on a mission of her own, and that is to destroy the US Army, of who she believes to be the decline of her peoples' survival. Sue's plans are put on hold, when Claypool and his men finally show up, except, they aren't themselves anymore - it seems they have been overtaken by a zombie plague that is seemingly taking over the country. The more the plague spreads, the more Sue believes that the outbreak is the result of an age old curse put upon the "white man". by her Uncle. Elmer and Luke along with Sue, seem to be the only one's left - thus they must fight to live. When I reviewed MANTICORE, another film released by IMAGE a couple months ago, the trailer for UNDEAD OR ALIVE was included, and it didn't look half bad. But when reviews started to come in for it, I read quite a few negative reviews, and the film even made some "Worst of 2007" lists. Even with this, when I went into this film, as always I still remained open minded about it as I choose to draw my own conclusion rather than let the opinions of others sway me. Those that are expecting a straight out zombie/Western may be a little disappointed as UNDEAD OR ALIVE is far from a serious film, and displays it's comedic overtones right in the open. But unlike most Horror/Comedies, or even zombie/Comedies in general, I felt that this film didn't try to force it's comedy onto the viewer, sure the story is at some point, out there, but it's comedy isn't so dry and unfunny that it as the resort to being to obvious when attempting to make you laugh. THe plot for UNDEAD OR ALIVE is not too complicated nor complex, it bases itself on the idea that Geronimo, a medicine man cast an eternal curse upon the "white man" thus being the primary cause of the zombie plague that takes over the characters in the film - no matter how weird and far-fetched it may be, I thought it was pretty original. With the abundant string of zombie films that have come out in recent years, I can't say that I have been a fan of most of them....especially not zombie comedies. In many reviews I have stated that I didn't really care for SHAUN OF THE DEAD, although a vast majority of people believe it to be the modern-day blueprint for Horror/Comedy, and since it's release, a number of films have tried to capitalize on it's style. Although UNDEAD OR ALIVE is in the same vein as SHAUN OF THE DEAD, I thought it to be different in some way, and I ended up enjoying it a lot more - but it's still not perfect. At first glance of the cast, I thought it was an odd one, especially with the inclusion of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Chris Kattan as Luke - whom I could've never imagined playing a Cowboy, let alone being in a Western. But sometimes the unimaginable is funny, and seeing Kattan in his Cowboy get-up is pretty funny in itself, but as a bonus we get his comedic presence as well. Honestly there are times that I laughed out loud during this film, due to Chris Kattan's natural approach to comedy. James Denton offers us the character of Elmer, Luke's unlikely ally which is the polar opposite sometimes to Luke, but there are times that Denton himself is funny. The Beautiful Navi Rawat rounds out the film's featured trio as Sue, the niece of Geronimo. Rawat whom has been on a number of TV shows(she is on NUMB3RS currently), caught my eye in the film FEAST in which I loved, continues to show that that she is a great actress, and i'd hope that even more prominent roles will be in her future. Judging from everyone else's reviews, my initial assumption would be that i'd hate this one, not to mention me not being a big zombie fan to begin with. But the truth is, I didn't think UNDEAD OR ALIVE was that bad at all, sure it's not perfect, the plot is a bit quirky, and you could say that not all of the acting is up to par. But in my opinion, there are things to enjoy, like some of the comedy moments, and especially the film's gore content and action. |
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| GORE
METER 4.5/10 We have gunshots, bloody zombie feedings, decapitations and even a head split down the middle. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 3/10 The score is mixed, and ranges from country/western tracks, to tunes that are more up-tempo. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM Overall, UNDEAD OR ALIVE is exactly what I thought it would be....entertaining and fun. The story isn't great, but I thought it was rather entertaining, and not one you should take too seriously. It's definitely not the best zombie film ever but it is better than some. |
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