Gallowwalkers

John Chard

Dreadful. Tis one of the toughest things in film making to tackle, that of the western/horror hybrid. Here things are further complicated by some sort of attempt to add Gothic leanings and fantastical surrealism. Sadly nothing in the whole film works, it's a collage of botched ideas performed poorly by cast and technical crew alike. Plot, the attempt at one as such, pitches Wesley Snipes' dreadlocks spirit walker type on a revenge mission to eradicate the undead - who once as humans raped his loved one. Lots of strands are dangled within, flashbacks upon flashbacks, time shifts and characterisation distortions, all set to a parched wild west backdrop. There's plenty of blood dripped onto the corn but the corn is still corny, while the whole thing is a misogynists wet dream. Production design is decent, with the slaughterhouse sequences - and the costume design - better than average, and Snipes remains cool even if he surely knows he's in a very poor movie. But ultimately this is very much one to avoid. 2/10