DEADLANDS -The HPotD MEMBER REVIEW Thread.

[Bunker65]

Firstly, let me say that I am far from a professional reviewer . I’m just a huge fan of the genre that enjoys all types of zombie movies with the works of George A. Romero being my favorites. With that said, I will attempt to give you my impressions of Deadlands which I was fortunate enough to win in the HPOTD competition. I will not give away any details in terms of the movie. You'll need to get your own copy for that . In my humble opinion, Deadlands is a great film & DJ, LC & everyone involved in making it should be very proud of the film & their efforts in bringing it to fruition. One of the criteria I use in determining if I like a film is “Do I want this to end”. With Deadlands I can tell you that the answer to that question was a resounding “NO”. While there were a few actors in the film that were not that great (which is to be expected from non professionals), I felt that mostly everyone did a great job. The FX & makeup were great. It’s amazing the job that was done with the lack of budget that DJ was working with. Kudos have to go out to those responsible for the FX & makeup. Any of you that have downloaded the soundtrack will be very impressed that the music fit in really well with the film. It blended in nicely & didn’t take anything away from the film which can sometimes happen with soundtracks. Just in case, I'm going to use the spoiler tag here. I don't think it's a spoiler since what's listed below can be seen in the trailer. I just want to make 100% sure that I don't give anything away .   My favorite scenes were at the traffic jam. I loved the far shots of the zombies approaching & the mayhem that they caused when they arrived. Very memorable scenes . I was very, very impressed & have to give everyone that worked on the film a big thumbs up . I highly recommened Deadlands to everyone. Pre-order your copies NOW . Heck, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a sequel already .

[LouCipherr]

Bunker - first, congrats on winning the Deadlands competition! You've got your copy over a month before everyone else ya lucky dog. ...and I want to say thanks for the honest review. The more people that see it, the more good feedback we're getting. Yes, we knew some of the acting would be a sticking point, but such is life when you're as restricted budget-wise as we were. Look, I did my best Keanu Reeves, but not one told me he couldn't act 'till AFTER principal photography was done! (i hope ya'll realize I was kidding about the keanu thing.. lol) Regardless, we appreciate the review and your honesty. I'm glad you enjoyed it - and I'm glad it left you wanting more. Mission accomplished! LC

[DjfunkmasterG]

Bunker - first, congrats on winning the Deadlands competition! You've got your copy over a month before everyone else ya lucky dog. ...and I want to say thanks for the honest review. The more people that see it, the more good feedback we're getting. Yes, we knew some of the acting would be a sticking point, but such is life when you're as restricted budget-wise as we were. Look, I did my best Keanu Reeves, but not one told me he couldn't act 'till AFTER principal photography was done! (i hope ya'll realize I was kidding about the keanu thing.. lol) Regardless, we appreciate the review and your honesty. I'm glad you enjoyed it - and I'm glad it left you wanting more. Mission accomplished! LC Ditto. What Lou Said. In all seriousness, yeah the acting leaves a lot to be desired. I even admit that, but We tried to make up for it with cinematography, lots of action and zombie carnage. The majority of us have never acted before except for Dave Cooperman and a few other people in the film. Unless you include my stint in LAND, but all BS aside, i just wanted to make a zombie film everyone could enjoy and try my best to make it look and feel as cinematic as possible... which is where LD-50 came in. That man deserves mucho credit for DEADLANDS in the cinematography area. Anyway, thanks for the positive review and glad ya liked the film.

[Danny]

k, dont expect anything mighty proffesional but here goes. deadlands: the rising, reviewed by Danny Smith i got this in the mail, signed, from dj's site this morning and have only just had the chance to whatch it ,so heres my thoughts. when the film begins i was a little dissapointed at first i thought "oh man with all the good i heard its looking kinda cheap", however when you give it a chance and look past the "made by a bunch of buddies with a camera" look to it you realise thats part of the charm and vibe to the movie. the best example i can use is the opneing montage bit, which has a style a LOT like bam margeras directing in the film haggard, they both look and are written in the same kind of way, it doesnt have those kind of "because we have to stand and fight!" kind of lines that most horror films have the dialogue seems a little more real, people falter a little and though some peopel really seemed to have trouble in parts other characters like the guy in the trucker hat for example (ill say no more but youll no him when you see it) realy acted in a believeable way. and thats when you remember "this aint a hollywood mtv teeny-bopper flick and it WAS some freinds with a few cameras and thats why it rocks". you can quote me on that one. and while that doesnt make it look to special it means certain points, like one bit were they drive down a highway look more like a first person view and segments in the car at the start reminded me a little of the film 'a bou de souflle' they were simple shots, simple scripts, but at times this makes it seem a little more...not real exactly but kinda like and episode of cops....with zombies. budget wise its damn impressive since it cost less to make than clerks yet the money was spent in a much wiser way here cus it does look at least on par with something you would see on the horror channel and easily better than the likes of redneck zombies. acting wise i had a few gripes, but hey when you aint acting with drama student pre maddonas you get more freedom so the acting can take a little hit in places ,for example some of the soldiers were a bit overacted, but more in depth characters like the ones played by gary and his...i dunno ,sidekick maybe were pretty good, and a little bit like dante and randal at parts (though i do believe gary IS the evil twin of the bald guy from ghost hunters ). so acting wise and gore wise this film was okay ,in fact in places i really laughed at the bits i dont think were meant to be funny but because they were realistic, case in point. the two male protagonists are about to be accosted by zombies gary makes the statement "master of the obvious", but i really didnt find it a funny joke, then when the zombies appear you hear him, albiet not very well say "**** me runnin'!", and then he tear-arses it back to his car, its the little things like this that get the laughs, some i aint too sure if they were jokes or goofs, another example is when they are shooting bottles near the beginning someone yells a really muffled "jesus christ" when the guns go off, or something like it, so it once again comes back to the whole idea of indie films being made for fun not the moolah and that really shows in this film. while its nothing award winning for a first film its damn good and my only gripe was the fast paced build up and such and abrupt ending but since its without a doubt at least the first of two parts i can let that slide. people may (and since i mean ciritics i use the term "people" very loosely ) bad mouth certain portions of the film because it sounds like a conversation between buddies (and it probably started out that way). but let me say this ,there aint no token black guy, no "oh crap youve been bitten" scene and no "isolation scene" which gives this a much bigger sense of scale than something set in a single cramped location, cus what greater form of isolation is there than being the few people who arent dead for miles around? this is a dvd i plan to show to my freinds on halloween and i do look forward to a ,sequel, adn since this was only his first film i think we can definatly expect to see more from this director. Deadlands: the rising is unusually fast paced for a zombie flick and reminds me a little of 28 days later (yes we've got runnin' zombies here folks) but thats part of its charm its a fun, fast film that really makes you feel like your in the movie with such down to earth charcters, so heres hoping good luck for wetnwildradio films in any future films, and id give it at least 8 out fo ten, probably 9 but i just would have preffered a longer ending myself but hey it makes contagium look like a pile of ****. and thats allways good. Danny smith ,2006

[DjfunkmasterG]

k, dont expect anything mighty proffesional but here goes. deadlands: the rising, reviewed by Danny Smith i got this in the mail, signed, from dj's site this morning and have only just had the chance to whatch it ,so heres my thoughts. when the film begins i was a little dissapointed at first i thought "oh man with all the good i heard its looking kinda cheap", however when you give it a chance and look past the "made by a bunch of buddies with a camera" look to it you realise thats part of the charm and vibe to the movie. the best example i can use is the opneing montage bit, which has a style a LOT like bam margeras directing in the film haggard, they both look and are written in the same kind of way, it doesnt have those kind of "because we have to stand and fight!" kind of lines that most horror films have the dialogue seems a little more real, people falter a little and though some peopel really seemed to have trouble in parts other characters like the guy in the trucker hat for example (ill say no more but youll no him when you see it) realy acted in a believeable way. and thats when you remember "this aint a hollywood mtv teeny-bopper flick and it WAS some freinds with a few cameras and thats why it rocks". you can quote me on that one. and while that doesnt make it look to special it means certain points, like one bit were they drive down a highway look more like a first person view and segments in the car at the start reminded me a little of the film 'a bou de souflle' they were simple shots, simple scripts, but at times this makes it seem a little more...not real exactly but kinda like and episode of cops....with zombies. budget wise its damn impressive since it cost less to make than clerks yet the money was spent in a much wiser way here cus it does look at least on par with something you would see on the horror channel and easily better than the likes of redneck zombies. acting wise i had a few gripes, but hey when you aint acting with drama student pre maddonas you get more freedom so the acting can take a little hit in places ,for example some of the soldiers were a bit overacted, but more in depth characters like the ones played by gary and his...i dunno ,sidekick maybe were pretty good, and a little bit like dante and randal at parts (though i do believe gary IS the evil twin of the bald guy from ghost hunters ). so acting wise and gore wise this film was okay ,in fact in places i really laughed at the bits i dont think were meant to be funny but because they were realistic, case in point. the two male protagonists are about to be accosted by zombies gary makes the statement "master of the obvious", but i really didnt find it a funny joke, then when the zombies appear you hear him, albiet not very well say "**** me runnin'!", and then he tear-arses it back to his car, its the little things like this that get the laughs, some i aint too sure if they were jokes or goofs, another example is when they are shooting bottles near the beginning someone yells a really muffled "jesus christ" when the guns go off, or something like it, so it once again comes back to the whole idea of indie films being made for fun not the moolah and that really shows in this film. while its nothing award winning for a first film its damn good and my only gripe was the fast paced build up and such and abrupt ending but since its without a doubt at least the first of two parts i can let that slide. people may (and since i mean ciritics i use the term "people" very loosely ) bad mouth certain portions of the film because it sounds like a conversation between buddies (and it probably started out that way). but let me say this ,there aint no token black guy, no "oh crap youve been bitten" scene and no "isolation scene" which gives this a much bigger sense of scale than something set in a single cramped location, cus what greater form of isolation is there than being the few people who arent dead for miles around? this is a dvd i plan to show to my freinds on halloween and i do look forward to a ,sequel, adn since this was only his first film i think we can definatly expect to see more from this director. Deadlands: the rising is unusually fast paced for a zombie flick and reminds me a little of 28 days later (yes we've got runnin' zombies here folks) but thats part of its charm its a fun, fast film that really makes you feel like your in the movie with such down to earth charcters, so heres hoping good luck for wetnwildradio films in any future films, and id give it at least 8 out fo ten, probably 9 but i just would have preffered a longer ending myself but hey it makes contagium look like a pile of ****. and thats allways good. Danny smith ,2006 Hey Hellsing, thanks for the kind words... We appreciate it and are glad ya liked it. One thing I have to say though... as far as your comment "while its nothing award winning for a first film " Actually DEADLANDS won for BEST ZOMBIE MOVIE at the fright night film festival. Sorry I just had to point that out. Otherwise great review... sorry you felt it looked a little cheap in the beginning. The only scene in the film I feel is very cheap, as far is look, is the cop at the door scene. It is something we were going to re-shoot but never did.

[Danny]

not cheap exactly, it seemed more like a home movie, but i guess thats added realism. and did you have to qote the whole thing?

[LouCipherr]

and did you have to qote the whole thing? Anyway, yes, thank you very much for the review. I love hearing what other people have to say about the film, even if the review isn't "glowing" (believe me, we don't expect people to think this is the next LOTR franchise.. ). Even the negatives I look at as positives because it shows us where we will need to improve for part 2. ...and that means part 2 will be even leaner and meaner than part 1. The way I look at it is, if Dj and crew can pull this off with $9k (the rest of the $15,000 budget went to equipment) then just imagine what part 2 is going to be like. Let's just say I've seen most of the script, and all I can say is...

[DjfunkmasterG]

Anyway, yes, thank you very much for the review. I love hearing what other people have to say about the film, even if the review isn't "glowing" (believe me, we don't expect people to think this is the next LOTR franchise.. ). Even the negatives I look at as positives because it shows us where we will need to improve for part 2. ...and that means part 2 will be even leaner and meaner than part 1. The way I look at it is, if Dj and crew can pull this off with $9k (the rest of the $15,000 budget went to equipment) then just imagine what part 2 is going to be like. Let's just say I've seen most of the script, and all I can say is... I should also note, drooling zombie and Under The Bed Director Lonnie Martin will most likely be doing a polishing of the script for DEADLANDS 2. I have been talking to Lonnie over the weekend via email and we have been sharing notes back and forth over the script. Lonnie is so far enjoying the concept of the new script and will be polishing some of the rougher areas. The main story remains faithfully intact as that is the essence of DEADLANDS 2. Lonnie will most likely begin work on the script in his spare time once I send him my completed 2nd draft. I started re-writing the script for DEADLANDS 2 once I found out who would be returning for sure. So far, Melisa Breiner-Sanders and Dave Cooperman are slated to return in the film. As far as original cast members like myself, Lou, his wife, Movie child and brother are still in debate on how much participation in front of the camera we want to do. I have been very vocal that I only want to return as director and only to do a small cameo/bit part in the 2nd film. Although I am trying to convince Lou to return, I respect his decision if he wants to remain behind the scenes. If we all do return it will probably be on a limited basis and just enough to advance the story to the next level.

[Andy]

i know DJ been after this one so here it is, the Andy review this time. Before i start, i just want to say a few words. Of all the staff here, i am the newest and probally least known within the community, ive only been here about 10 months and generated alot of contraversy with the members for all the changes and such i've brought in with me. even had a spat with DJ at one point. lol, i like to think thats very much behind us and we get on well now, but still, imagine my suprise when he sent me a copy of deadlands and asked me to review it. OK onto the review, i dont get to see many independant movies.. so i was kinda skeptical when i first opened up deadlands: the rising and pressed play, but i was very pleasently suprised. i thoroughly enjoyed this movie and thought it was VERY professionally made. the story is really good and beleivable, the script i thought was well written from the light hearted beginning to the finale which did make me jump. i also loved the ending. but i dont want to go too far into that, for obvious reasons. I love the soundtrack, its perfect for the movie and i thought the acting was really good for the most part, again you can tell these guys arn't professional and some parts are overacted, but its forgiveable. i beleive DJ was working on a very tight budget and i think he's done a excellent job with the resources available, the zombies all look great and the gore scenes are worthy of romero himself, this DVD is definatly worth, what is it, $15 of anybodys money. seriously. you can see the hard work and dedication thats gone into this movie and the award it won was well deserved i thought. i look forward to the sequel. well thats it, sorry if you were expecting some long novel but ive never written a review before, so i kept it short and sweet , if you want a quote, i would call this movie a slice of pure fried gold.

[LouCipherr]

Thank you for the review, Andy, and thanks much for the kind words. We really do appreciate 'em. Dammit, I'm still waiting for the "dear god I can't stand this movie!" review and it STILL hasn't happened. What's wrong with you people? (just kiddin'.. and if ya do it for spite now that I said that, i'm gonna have MinionZombie hunt you down and force-feed you an overdose of HPotD, ya got that!?! )

[Andy]

sorry its so short and didn't really add anything that hasn't been said before. but i couldn't think of anything better to say lol, never written a review before. was a excellent movie though, i really enjoyed it. i rank it alot higher than most "hollywood" movies ive seen lately.

[MinionZombie]

I'm just gonna add in (again) that I loved Deadlands, it's so pure of independent filmmaking heart that it literally brings a smile to my face when I think of it or spy the DVD sitting on my DVD shelves, honestly, it really does, that spirit is so pure and I love that most about the film. Also, indeed, I think I forgot to chit-chat about the music - but yes, it was great, worked really well (and after listening to the commentary, it was confirmed my ears were not kidding me into thinking it sounded reminiscent of Alice In Chains). Also - stick the DVD in your computer, go on PowerDVD, skip to the credits, speed the playing up to 1.5x - it's the dance remix of the themetune! Seriously, go do that and dance a jig, that final track was my favourite (and the dance version is funky too )

[DjfunkmasterG]

I'm just gonna add in (again) that I loved Deadlands, it's so pure of independent filmmaking heart that it literally brings a smile to my face when I think of it or spy the DVD sitting on my DVD shelves, honestly, it really does, that spirit is so pure and I love that most about the film. Also, indeed, I think I forgot to chit-chat about the music - but yes, it was great, worked really well (and after listening to the commentary, it was confirmed my ears were not kidding me into thinking it sounded reminiscent of Alice In Chains). Also - stick the DVD in your computer, go on PowerDVD, skip to the credits, speed the playing up to 1.5x - it's the dance remix of the themetune! Seriously, go do that and dance a jig, that final track was my favourite (and the dance version is funky too ) I just tried it... needs a little more bass, ut yeah you're right it has a dance quality to it. However, my background was a DJ. Plus i wanted it to have a groovy beat because I cover the films 3 major themes in the song.

[cooperzombie]

k, dont expect anything mighty proffesional but here goes. deadlands: the rising, reviewed by Danny Smith i got this in the mail, signed, from dj's site this morning and have only just had the chance to whatch it ,so heres my thoughts. when the film begins i was a little dissapointed at first i thought "oh man with all the good i heard its looking kinda cheap", however when you give it a chance and look past the "made by a bunch of buddies with a camera" look to it you realise thats part of the charm and vibe to the movie. the best example i can use is the opneing montage bit, which has a style a LOT like bam margeras directing in the film haggard, they both look and are written in the same kind of way, it doesnt have those kind of "because we have to stand and fight!" kind of lines that most horror films have the dialogue seems a little more real, people falter a little and though some peopel really seemed to have trouble in parts other characters like the guy in the trucker hat for example (ill say no more but youll no him when you see it) realy acted in a believeable way. and thats when you remember "this aint a hollywood mtv teeny-bopper flick and it WAS some freinds with a few cameras and thats why it rocks". you can quote me on that one. and while that doesnt make it look to special it means certain points, like one bit were they drive down a highway look more like a first person view and segments in the car at the start reminded me a little of the film 'a bou de souflle' they were simple shots, simple scripts, but at times this makes it seem a little more...not real exactly but kinda like and episode of cops....with zombies. budget wise its damn impressive since it cost less to make than clerks yet the money was spent in a much wiser way here cus it does look at least on par with something you would see on the horror channel and easily better than the likes of redneck zombies. acting wise i had a few gripes, but hey when you aint acting with drama student pre maddonas you get more freedom so the acting can take a little hit in places ,for example some of the soldiers were a bit overacted, but more in depth characters like the ones played by gary and his...i dunno ,sidekick maybe were pretty good, and a little bit like dante and randal at parts (though i do believe gary IS the evil twin of the bald guy from ghost hunters ). so acting wise and gore wise this film was okay ,in fact in places i really laughed at the bits i dont think were meant to be funny but because they were realistic, case in point. the two male protagonists are about to be accosted by zombies gary makes the statement "master of the obvious", but i really didnt find it a funny joke, then when the zombies appear you hear him, albiet not very well say "**** me runnin'!", and then he tear-arses it back to his car, its the little things like this that get the laughs, some i aint too sure if they were jokes or goofs, another example is when they are shooting bottles near the beginning someone yells a really muffled "jesus christ" when the guns go off, or something like it, so it once again comes back to the whole idea of indie films being made for fun not the moolah and that really shows in this film. while its nothing award winning for a first film its damn good and my only gripe was the fast paced build up and such and abrupt ending but since its without a doubt at least the first of two parts i can let that slide. people may (and since i mean ciritics i use the term "people" very loosely ) bad mouth certain portions of the film because it sounds like a conversation between buddies (and it probably started out that way). but let me say this ,there aint no token black guy, no "oh crap youve been bitten" scene and no "isolation scene" which gives this a much bigger sense of scale than something set in a single cramped location, cus what greater form of isolation is there than being the few people who arent dead for miles around? this is a dvd i plan to show to my freinds on halloween and i do look forward to a ,sequel, adn since this was only his first film i think we can definatly expect to see more from this director. Deadlands: the rising is unusually fast paced for a zombie flick and reminds me a little of 28 days later (yes we've got runnin' zombies here folks) but thats part of its charm its a fun, fast film that really makes you feel like your in the movie with such down to earth charcters, so heres hoping good luck for wetnwildradio films in any future films, and id give it at least 8 out fo ten, probably 9 but i just would have preffered a longer ending myself but hey it makes contagium look like a pile of ****. and thats allways good. Danny smith ,2006 Hi Danny, This is Dave Cooperman. I played "the guy in the trucker hat" in "Deadlands: The Rising." Thank you for the favorable comments on my part in the film! I'm especially glad you had a good time watching it. One of my main priorities is to always respect the viewpoint of the audience. It's so important to assure the viewers can believe the characters they're watching. If the audience can escape for an hour or two and get absorbed into a good flick, then the actor's goal is a success. I owe a great deal of thanks to Gary Ugarek, Brian Wright, Thomas Fant and the whole ensemble that made "Deadlands" possible. Gary presented me with a wonderful opportunity to be involved, and the time was right, so things really worked out well for the production. If you were able to get a few laughs, all the better, even if they weren't intended as such. The idea is to put on a show people will enjoy and recommend to their friends. With Halloween right around the corner, the timing couldn't be better for you to share "Deadlands" with your buddies. While you're at it, try to invite some girls over too. I was really impressed with how many girls enjoy the horror/zombie genre, particularly after Gary recruited people to portray zombies. I would say the extras came to an even ratio of men to women, and everyone had an awesome time. For the shelter scene, there must have been about 100 people who came out to donate their time for the sake of the film. That kind of energy and enthusiasm is infectious. I have no doubt the teamwork atmosphere resulted in a much better outcome. The shelter crowd was just super, because I was really losing my voice because they were so loud and obnoxious! After about the fourth or fifth take, my vocal chords were noticably running out of juice which really couldn't have made me happier. Great crowd!!! Gary did a great job of doing what he could within the budget to develop the characters and transition into the action scenes with his own style and vision of a zombie film. The makeup artists were second to none to provide some scary good attacks. Top notch all the way. So thanks again for watching and posting your comments. Don't forget there will be a sequel to the film, so stay on the lookout! DC

[Danny]

i was just happy dj didnt end up making another "trapped in a building" zombie movie, and no "oh crap youve bee bitten" scene, that alone makes it stand out from the ever growing crowd of romero clones. that and the zombies could run, oh what would zombie man say?... yeah i didnt give a gleaming review but im a guy who tells it like it is without any sugar coating, and i gave it a good score in my mind for a good film and i look forward to the second one, my prediction for deadlands to is you trucker hat character either A: goes all rambo ash style with a chainsaw or B: goes nuts and becomes a 'human' enemy like the psycopaths in dead rising. cus the more you stray from the zombie film pack the better it'll get guys.