Dead Kansas

And we're back ladies and gents to another blog. So as you know I just got through Green Lantern and the surprising good time that is Syndicate Smasher. At the request of the director of today's film I think we can give it the once over. Got to tell you, I am a bit overwhelmed at the love this humble blog is getting but we steady the course and keep pushing the silly and informative.

Today's movie hails from director Aaron K. Carter (Dead Kansas and An Hour to Kill) just breaking into the field with some writing and acting as well. Let's see if he can cut the mustard in Romero territory with his own zombie flick. This is Dead Kansas.

Our potluck dinners just don't do well. Huh hun?

We open with a POV shot as a father and daughter duo deals with one of these shamblin' stiffs known later as Rottens. Hey! That's my area. Moving on, a small prayer and a boomstick later we cut right to credits so we are in for a decent pace already.

We touch base with a paramilitary gathering of guys straight of Dawn of the Dead. We've got APCs, bikers, cats lifting weights and just killing time before a dangerous foray into zombie infested regions. Well looks like we got a Governor or Neegan like character Jebiediah (Michael Camp of Dead Kansas and An Hour to Kill) telling his pantheon of men that they are in a position to get everything they need. All they need to do is kidnap a girl and hand her over to the money bags fat cat and they'll have food, supplies and as much ammo as they can carry.

So the guys mount up and prepare to raise a little hell. Emma (Erin Miracle of Perceptio, Dead Kansas and Sweet Caroline) is a teenage girl stuck on a farm during a zombie apocalypse. Hey, we've all been there. Farm chores, popping zombies in the coconut, burying and burning the bodies. That folks, is what we call a rut. Her father Glenn (Aaron Guerrero of Dead Kansas and An Hour to Kill) is attempting to bestow skills and ideas to her and explain just how dangerous it is beyond their house but Emma's bored and has no one to talk to except her dad. Also Dad, she might possibly be interested in boys. 

Just sayin' the beard makes you look like the dude from Wishmaster.

Just his tone says, I'm the mentor character for you, little lady as Jebediah and his posse arrive toting enough firepower for a good skirmish. Glenn's having none of this and smokes a couple of this posse to get his point across when a "rotten" attacks Jeb's baby brother, Zeke (Kevin C. Beardsley of Dead Kansas and An Hour to Kill)

This is the part I am pointing out. Rather than a ton of improvised makeup, we got a POV quick jump cut attack. Yeah! That's astonishing! No boiling hot extras in makeup that is dribbling off of their heads, just a POV camera shot and cut to aftermath of attack. Why haven't we seen something like this before? Aside from POV shakey cam via Sam Raimi's deadite attacks via Evil Dead, you'd think people would have jumped on this idea AGES AGO..

Forced to the fruit cellar because of a tornado, my brain suddenly conjures Z Nation's Zomnado scene in first season. I almost expect to see a rotten gotten down in the cellar with them. Would have been a fun gag. The twister blows over and Glenn goes topside to see how things panned out. Apparently there were more than a few rottens up there as we hear a far amount of gun fire and Glenn looks to be removing a bitten limb. Ho boy. Get the ax.

More POV camera attacks and still have to give credit to a brilliant idea, the twosome head to Shambles due to the house getting slapped around.

Meanwhile, Jeb's having himself a serious moment of amping up the boys to hunt the duo down, pop Glenn and make off with the girl.

Shambles appears to be a farming community with decent enough guarded gates made up from carny folk. Of them is Squeak (the late Ben Woolf of Unlucky Charms, Dead Kansas, American Horror Story and Tales of Halloween) seems to be in charge and his giant known as... well Giant actually (the late Irwin Keyes of The Warriors, House of 1000 Corpses, Intolerable Cruelty, Dark Place, Dream Slashers and Horror High) grabs Glenn as we head back to a small carnival layout with brick walls, steel doors and narrow corridors so you could see how folk might bottleneck and get stuck behind one another.

With the amount of blood loss, Emma fears for her dad and asks the giant if there is anyone can help. Reluctant to tell her for all the danger in the area, he speaks of an older gent name of Doctor Emerson (Darryl Dick of Dead Kansas) and how he might be able to help if he is still alive.

With the aid and guidance of Skinny (Joe McQueen of Zombie Ed, Dead Kansas, Fight or Die and An Hour to Kill) they make their trek of five miles in record time to speak to the only doctor in the area.

Ambushed on the road by Jeb and his boys, it is looking more and more grim for Emma. Skinny and the caretaker must find Emma as she could be even more important they either of them ever imagined.

Okay, this is a micro budget first time attempt at a movie. There are a lot of elements going for it.  We have some fairly impressive performances from folks that clearly have not been in front of a camera before as well as, the name actors they managed to scoop up. This is primarily a cast of unknowns and they get a chance to shine. Juliette Danielle of The Room, 'Til Morning, The Trouble with Barry and Development Hell was part of the flashback sequence.

Yes we could argue no zombies and blood caked against the wall equals not a zombie movie but trust me, as a guy who saw Platoon of the Dead, this film has story, some decent music attached to it and the plot moves along at a decent pace. Frankly, if this is the outcome of what can be made on this tiny budget, I really want to see what can be captured with a larger one.

For an introductory into the making of film, Aaron K. Carter has the potential to really get some films going. I'd suggest more stabilizers for the hand held work. You can build a unipod on the cheap with a PVC pipe, PVC covers and a wing nut and screw and those things balance so well. Also 3M gaffer's tape for a good grip in the middle of the pipe.

For the initial try at bat, not too shabby. 

Later episodes of Captain Kangaroo I just didn't get.