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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
With a title like "Undead or Alive," of course this is a zombie western comedy, December 15, 2007
You have to admit, that if you are going to do a zombie western comedy, "Undead or Alive" is pretty much the perfect title to let viewers know what they are in store for when they check out this DVD. Written and directed by "South Park" alumni Glasgow Phillips, this 2007 direct to video movie satisfies your curiosity as to what would have happened if Sergio Leone had made "Shaun of the Dead" as a spaghetti and zombie western. The unlikely heroes are Luke (Chris Kattan), who aspires to being a real cowboy, and Elmer (James Denton), as the laconic stranger. When they end up in jail together in a small town, the boys find they are sharing it with a zombie, the result of Geronimo's "White Man's Curse," which is payback for what has happened to Native American culture (Tommy Smothers once declared that the Native Americans knew what they were doing when they gave the Europeans who arrived on their shore the "gift" of tobacco, and I still think lung cancer has zombies beat all to the hell as far as payback goes).
The boys meet up with Sue (Navi Rawat), a Native American back from growing up in New York City, who provides necessary exposition to go along with a pretty face. I was happily surprised to find that Kattan was not going to go off the deep end with his character, as so many "SNL" cast members tend to be when they get to do a lead in a movie, and Denton seems to be having fun channeling Clint Eastwood. As a zombie western comedy the comedy is better on the western part than it is on the zombie part; an example of a zombie gag is to stab it in the mouth with a knife and the zombie keeps fighting, so we are not talking big laughs here. The best laughs with the zombies have more to do with the ongoing debate over exactly how you kill them (remember, these people grew up without the benefit of George A. Romero or anybody else providing your basic zombie education).
My favorite parts of the movie had nothing to do with the zombies and more with the bickering between Elmer and Sue regarding the clash of Western Civilization with Native American Culture. There they are, looking at the Grand Canyon (which has the Colorado River at the bottom of it), and these two are going back and forth about wheels being the "basic benchmark of civilization" versus smallpox as a cross-species plague. They are going to be high school students watching this movie because they like zombie comedies and suddenly they will be reaching for pen and paper to copy down what Sue has to say about abundant founder crops and big slow ruminants leading to the development of agriculture, riding, and maritime technologies by monkey ancestors. If there is anything in this movie better to know than the back of your hand, then that stuff would have to be it. "Undead or Alive" is okay; it is not going to be anybody's favorite zombie comedy, but it is not likely to grossly offend your sensibilities regarding the genre.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A silly yet fun zombie comedy with a Western bite, February 26, 2008
Undead or Alive is part of a flood of direct-to-dvd zombie movies trying to milk this new golden age of zombie flick resurgence of the past couple years. It stars SNL alum Chris "Corky Romano" Kattan, Desperate Housewives' James Denton and Numb3rs' Navi Rawat. The movie takes the zombie premise and puts it into an Old West setting involving a curse put into motion by Apache warrior and hero, Geronimo. Undead or Alive is not what most would call as an example of film's greatest achievement. The film on the other hand does end up becoming a fun, silly zombie comedy in an Old West setting.
The movie itself doesn't seem to take itself seriously and this shows in the irreverent attitude the actors have. It doesn't mean they sleepwalk through their scenes and just say their lines with rote, but they seem to know how ridiculous a movie they're in and have fun with it. This is especially true with the ever-irreverent Chris Kattan as the weak-link Luke to James Denton's more seasoned Elmer and Rawat's spunky Sue. The dialogue is as silly as the title and the premise with enough Old West cliche in-jokes and out-of-place modern references to make one put their face in their palm and groan with resigned amusement. But this wouldn't be a proper zombie movie if the most important ingredient wasn't mentioned and that would be the gore.
For a direct-to-dvd movie with a cast of barely-known actors Undead or Alive manages to pull off the gore factor quite admirably. Limbs are pulled off and blood splashes against walls. There are times where the effects betray its low-budget roots, but by the time these happen one either has bought into and enjoying Undead or Alive or probably has already turned off the movie and went on to something else.
Undead or Alive won't win many awards and if they do it probably won't be for anything to be proud of. The filmmakers and actors did create a fun little Western zomcom with performances that won't embarrass the viewer for having even seen it. While it's not something to place in one's collection of movies to watch over and over again this little zombie comedy is something that would entertain for a sitting when there's nothing else to do or see.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The first ever Western Zombedy, January 31, 2009
Upon first appearance this looks horrible. It's a cross between a western and a zombie movie, and Chris Kattan is one of the main stars. By normal standards, that's a recipe for disaster. However, all preconceptions should be thrown out. This movie is completely ridiculous, but actually somewhat funny.
As the prologue tells us, before dying Geronimo put an evil spell on the white man. This spell creates zombies that can think, speak, and handle weapons. The result is a zombie-filled wild west, where the characters exchange witty quips filled with contemporary profanity while dodging brain-obsessed cowboy zombies. It's the genesis of a genre: a western zombedy.
The three main characters are nearly perfect. Believe it or not, the cast is pretty good; Elmer (James Denton), the gritty, military deserter who can ride a horse, handle a gun, and spit a mile; Luke (Kattan), the effeminate, incompetent cowboy; and Sue (Navi Rawat) - not to be confused with Sioux - the beautiful descendant of the legendary Apache Geronimo. After engaging in a scuffle at a saloon, the two men become linked as they run from a posse of zombieboys intent on stealing their money and eating their brains. Along the way they run into Sue, whose Indian family was murdered by U.S. soldiers. She now has a vendetta to kill everyone responsible. The mission is Siouxicide. Sorry. Without ruining the "plot", the three eventually battle a plethora of soldier-zombies inside a remote fort inexplicably built on the edge of the Grand Canyon.
There are several great aspects of this movie, not the least of which is the cast's demeanor. No pretenses are made about this being anything other than what it is: ridiculous. The actors almost appear to revel in it, using each opportunity to be as absurd as possible. Scenery-wise, it's fairly spectacular. There are a few shots that I'd put up against any other western...seriously. Last but not least, the musical score is perfect. It's campy as well as typically western. What's best, however, is the faux-Brokeback Mountain guitar riff that accompanies every scene in which the two guys are alone and/or naked. A few negatives: makeup, poorly done gore, no nudity (which is a requirement for this level of horror).
I know it sounds crazy, but this movie is better than you'd expect. Give it one try and you'll probably snicker a few times.
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