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Undead Or Alive
Image // R // December 11, 2007
List Price: $26.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
"Undead or Alive" tells us, right there in its title sequence, that it's a "zombedy" - a punny way of calling itself a zombie comedy. I am reminded of the rule that says if a movie has to tell you up front that it's going to be funny, it's not going to be funny.
Of course, we already know it's not going to be funny, as the whole thing starts off with "zany" on-screen text detailing the plot's backstory. In the middle of this opening scroll, the text pauses to mention how audiences don't like reading opening scrolls. Har har. This is as clever as the film gets, and by the way, most of the rest of the film features Chris Kattan.
Yes, kids, Corky Romano himself stars in this "zombedy" set in the Old West, a cheap laffer than aims to be an inventive, over-the-top goofarama but is really just a stale, tiresome affair. You know, the sort of thing you'd expect from a direct-to-video Chris Kattan flick.
Zombiedom arrives in a small Wild West town thanks to Geronimo's "White Man's Curse," which turns ordinary folk into brain-chewing ghouls. Borrowing liberally from such rule-bending titles as "Return of the Living Dead," the zombies in this film keep their intelligence, allowing them to trade one-liners as they outwit our hapless heroes, tough hombre Elmer (James Denton) and clumsy buffoon Luke (Kattan). After running afoul of corrupt Sheriff Claypool (Matt Besser), Elmer and Luke hightail it out of town, eventually joined by Geronimo's niece, Sue (Navi Rawat); the chase ends at a Union army fort, where a now-zombified Claypool leads a crew of the undead against the cowboys.
This sort of genre-bending has potential, but writer/director Glasgow Phillips (previously a staff writer for "South Park" and the mercifully short-lived "Father of the Pride") is content to always go for the cheap, lazy gag instead. One-liners land with a thud, and slapstick earns nothing but groans; in one early scene, the great Brian Posehn, whose comic talents are utterly wasted in a key supporting zombie role, gets his foot stuck in a bucket, after which he steps on a shovel, which promptly whacks into his groin. It seems at first like a parody of awful comedy - as does a later visual shtick showing Kattan moving in fast-speed so he can be closer to the naked Sue - but then the sad realization hits that this is no parody. This is just awful comedy.
(Why wasn't this movie played completely straight, letting the laughs build on their own? The cast spends so much time hamming it up, and the script tries to underline every joke, and the material fizzles. A drier, slyer approach would've helped immensely.)
With all this emphasis on yuks, there's no effort made to make the film scary. Most horror-comedies balance screams and chuckles, but Phillips, apparently uninterested in frights, opts merely to cover his movie in comical amounts of gore. Fake blood spews by the bucketful, but Phillips doesn't have the knack to make this sort of carnage funny. As such, it grows boring all too quickly.
In more capable hands, "Undead or Alive" (even the title is a groaner) would be a winner. Here, however, it cruises along on autopilot, thinking the very idea of mixing the two genres is enough for a punchline. It's not, and no amount of tongue-in-cheek posturing and winking gore-heavy slapstick can rescue it.
The DVD
Video & Audio
Aside from some moderate grain, "Undead or Alive" looks very sharp in this anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) transfer that captures the lush New Mexico landscapes and dusty Old West sets. The Dolby 5.1 soundtrack is equally impressive, cleanly balancing all the elements. Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles are included.
Extras
A commentary track from Phillips, Rawat, Denton, and Kattan is too crowded; I usually enjoy this sort of group commentary, but this time, everyone's talking over each other, and it's all cluttered. Some fun moments pop up in the discussion, but not enough to make the track worth a complete listen.
The disc's two featurettes, both very enjoyable, make up for the commentary's problems. "From South Park to the Wild Wild West" (14:07) is a lengthy interview with Glasgow, with behind-the-scenes footage mixed in. Its title aims to emphasize Phillips' tenure on the Comedy Central cartoon, and while the filmmaker does discuss advice he received from Trey Parker, most of the conversation is instead spent focusing on the many angles of the movie's production, from screenplay development to sets and lighting to cast and crew.
"Geronimonsters: The Zombies That Walked the West" (11:58) is a second helping of Glasgow interview and behind-the-scenes clips, this time focusing entirely on the creation of the movie's monsters. Glasgow goes into great detail discussing the makeup and effects issues; anyone interested in this side of filmmaking will enjoy this chat. Both featurettes are presented in 1.33:1 full frame.
The movie's trailer (1:44) rounds out the set. Previews for other Image releases play as the disc loads.
Final Thoughts
"Undead or Alive" is a fine idea wasted, and another sign that the current zombie movie trend has gone too far beyond its saturation point. Despite a decent presentation on this disc, serious fans of horror-comedies and casual renters alike should Skip It.
Of course, we already know it's not going to be funny, as the whole thing starts off with "zany" on-screen text detailing the plot's backstory. In the middle of this opening scroll, the text pauses to mention how audiences don't like reading opening scrolls. Har har. This is as clever as the film gets, and by the way, most of the rest of the film features Chris Kattan.
Yes, kids, Corky Romano himself stars in this "zombedy" set in the Old West, a cheap laffer than aims to be an inventive, over-the-top goofarama but is really just a stale, tiresome affair. You know, the sort of thing you'd expect from a direct-to-video Chris Kattan flick.
Zombiedom arrives in a small Wild West town thanks to Geronimo's "White Man's Curse," which turns ordinary folk into brain-chewing ghouls. Borrowing liberally from such rule-bending titles as "Return of the Living Dead," the zombies in this film keep their intelligence, allowing them to trade one-liners as they outwit our hapless heroes, tough hombre Elmer (James Denton) and clumsy buffoon Luke (Kattan). After running afoul of corrupt Sheriff Claypool (Matt Besser), Elmer and Luke hightail it out of town, eventually joined by Geronimo's niece, Sue (Navi Rawat); the chase ends at a Union army fort, where a now-zombified Claypool leads a crew of the undead against the cowboys.
This sort of genre-bending has potential, but writer/director Glasgow Phillips (previously a staff writer for "South Park" and the mercifully short-lived "Father of the Pride") is content to always go for the cheap, lazy gag instead. One-liners land with a thud, and slapstick earns nothing but groans; in one early scene, the great Brian Posehn, whose comic talents are utterly wasted in a key supporting zombie role, gets his foot stuck in a bucket, after which he steps on a shovel, which promptly whacks into his groin. It seems at first like a parody of awful comedy - as does a later visual shtick showing Kattan moving in fast-speed so he can be closer to the naked Sue - but then the sad realization hits that this is no parody. This is just awful comedy.
(Why wasn't this movie played completely straight, letting the laughs build on their own? The cast spends so much time hamming it up, and the script tries to underline every joke, and the material fizzles. A drier, slyer approach would've helped immensely.)
With all this emphasis on yuks, there's no effort made to make the film scary. Most horror-comedies balance screams and chuckles, but Phillips, apparently uninterested in frights, opts merely to cover his movie in comical amounts of gore. Fake blood spews by the bucketful, but Phillips doesn't have the knack to make this sort of carnage funny. As such, it grows boring all too quickly.
In more capable hands, "Undead or Alive" (even the title is a groaner) would be a winner. Here, however, it cruises along on autopilot, thinking the very idea of mixing the two genres is enough for a punchline. It's not, and no amount of tongue-in-cheek posturing and winking gore-heavy slapstick can rescue it.
The DVD
Video & Audio
Aside from some moderate grain, "Undead or Alive" looks very sharp in this anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) transfer that captures the lush New Mexico landscapes and dusty Old West sets. The Dolby 5.1 soundtrack is equally impressive, cleanly balancing all the elements. Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles are included.
Extras
A commentary track from Phillips, Rawat, Denton, and Kattan is too crowded; I usually enjoy this sort of group commentary, but this time, everyone's talking over each other, and it's all cluttered. Some fun moments pop up in the discussion, but not enough to make the track worth a complete listen.
The disc's two featurettes, both very enjoyable, make up for the commentary's problems. "From South Park to the Wild Wild West" (14:07) is a lengthy interview with Glasgow, with behind-the-scenes footage mixed in. Its title aims to emphasize Phillips' tenure on the Comedy Central cartoon, and while the filmmaker does discuss advice he received from Trey Parker, most of the conversation is instead spent focusing on the many angles of the movie's production, from screenplay development to sets and lighting to cast and crew.
"Geronimonsters: The Zombies That Walked the West" (11:58) is a second helping of Glasgow interview and behind-the-scenes clips, this time focusing entirely on the creation of the movie's monsters. Glasgow goes into great detail discussing the makeup and effects issues; anyone interested in this side of filmmaking will enjoy this chat. Both featurettes are presented in 1.33:1 full frame.
The movie's trailer (1:44) rounds out the set. Previews for other Image releases play as the disc loads.
Final Thoughts
"Undead or Alive" is a fine idea wasted, and another sign that the current zombie movie trend has gone too far beyond its saturation point. Despite a decent presentation on this disc, serious fans of horror-comedies and casual renters alike should Skip It.
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