Gallow Walkers (2012)
Boundless Pictures; Jack Bowyer Productions
6 / 10
*** Slight Spoilers ***
This is a Dark Fantasy Western and not a Horror as stated, as the writer and director decided to leave terror, fear, and tension to one side, though they keep in the gore. Had they decided to go down the Horror route it may have made the film better. Here you have a man whose love was brutalised, raped, and murdered. When he finally catches up with the killers he takes his revenge out on them. Unfortunately, the dead come back... each time he kills them.
The undead, the Gallow Walkers, are not your usual fodder. They are not Zombies but rather revenants. When they are revived their skin is rotting away or, in one case, flayed off the face by the Anti-hero Aman (portrayed by Wesley Snipes). This means they need to skin people to restore their human features, though they don't last as the flesh keeps rotting. This could have been played on a little more though there is a good bit about half way through the film.
I love the premise of The Gallow Walkers, as I was thinking of a story along similar lines. I just think that it could have been filled out a little more. Though the twist, played nice and subtly, was a good idea and cleared up some of the issues I had with his revenge plan.
The acting was good, especially Wesley Snipes (though he's not at his best), Kevin Howarth, and Hector Hugo. The only average actor in the cast is Riley Smith, who just seemed two-dimensional, and grated on my nerves a couple of times.
The direction is pretty decent and there are some really nice close-up shots of holstered six-shooters, brim shadowed faces and panoramic desert shots; some of these are close to beautiful. For the film to fit the one and a half hour running time the director, Andrew Goth, slow burns the movie. This for some viewers would be enough to dislike the film. I didn't mind it too much as it added a little more atmosphere, There were a couple of times where it was done to create tension, though it fails both times and this lets the film down. When there's going to be a shootout then you need a little tension.
I really liked the way the movie was filmed and wrote to be, in bright sunlight as the location is a North American desert. This is another reason why a Horror film could've been a better choice, there are not too many Horror movies that take place in the full sunshine. Directors like to use the fear of the dark and the shadows to hide some supernatural terror, it's much harder to scare someone in daylight. It would've added to the originality of the film.
If you're a Wesley Snipes fan and there's not too much to do then you could give this a whirl.
