This film was released in America last year under the title of The Dead and the Damned but was given this imaginative new title for its UK release, no doubt trying to jump on the Cowboys & Aliens (2011) bandwagon. Cowboys & Zombies does exactly what the title suggests and if you don’t expect too much from a very low budget B-movie you could actually rather enjoy it.
So, the premise is it is 1849 in Jamestown, our cowboy hero is Mortimer (David A. Lockhart), a rather weak-voiced cowboy at that, and he is a bounty hunter on a mission to make as much money as possible from said hunting. His latest bounty is in the form of Indian Brother Wolf (Rick Mora) who is said to have raped and killed a white girl. As our hero is on his mission a couple of local gold prospectors find a glowing green orb on the outskirts of town, they take it back and break it open with a pickaxe which unleashes a mysterious zombifying green mist. The whole town quickly become zombies and it is up to Mortimer, the Indian and Rhiannon (Camille Montgomery), a young lady Mortimer buys to use as bait to capture the Indian, to kill the zombies and escape with their lives.
It is easy to completely rip apart films like this due to their many flaws and incredibly low production values but there are positive points about Cowboys & Zombies. The zombie special effects were surprisingly good and one particular zombie that Rhiannon is trapped in a house with is suitably creepy and the make-up is extremely well done. The action sequences are well shot and edited and the film has a good pace. I was suitably entertained for the full duration of the film.
Unfortunately the ending of the film, or complete lack of, really lets it down. It ends abruptly and is extremely unsatisfying. Whether this was in order to try and secure a sequel or they just ran out of money I found it disappointing. Also a gold storyline that is mentioned in a ‘heart-to-heart’ moment between our hero and the Indian mysteriously never materialises. But if you can get over this and the stereotypes of the Indian and the German it is a fun film with some great moments.
There are the expected genre conventions from the Western, all saloons and gun-slinging, and the zombie film, although these zombies are fast and strong. The woods become the main location for most of the action which ruins the Western aesthetic and the bright sunlight throughout the film does nothing to add to the supposed atmosphere. There are many gratuitous nude moments with ladies bathing and one of the first victims is conveniently changing when she gets attacked leaving her no choice but to run away topless.
Perhaps one of the strangest elements to the film is the music; it is already weird seeing a low budget Western with zombies and on top of that is the dodgy rock music that accompanies the action. There are a couple of scenes where it works and you can appreciate what the filmmakers were trying to do but a lot of the time I found it rather distracting.
Our protagonists are lucky in that for the most part they only have to deal with one zombie at a time when we all know that zombies like to stick together but the scenes towards the end are suitably swarming. There are a couple of surprise twists and Cowboys and Zombies is certainly not predictable. Overall this is a fun B-movie with some hilarity, both intentional and unintentional, and if you don’t expect much then you’re in for a treat!
As for the DVD the extras are limited with just a UK trailer and a stills gallery and bizarrely the character on the front cover isn’t even in the film, although I would have loved to have seen him in it!
Cowboys & Zombies is out on DVD now.
Writer and Director: Rene Perez
Cast: David A. Lockhart, Camille Montgomery, Rick Mora
Runtime: 82 mins approx.
Country: USA
Film Rating: 
