Undead or Alive (2007)

Director:

Glasgow Phillips

Writers (WGA):

Glasgow Phillips (screenplay)
Scott Pourroy (story) ...

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Western

Tagline:

Guns don't kill people. Zombies kill people.

Plot:

Elmer Winslow is a soldier on the run from the Union Army, and Luke Budd is a cowboy with a broken heart. When the two misfits rob the corrupt sheriff of an old west town, they have no idea that a plague of zombies is sweeping the country, or that Geronimo's sexy niece may be their only hope of survival.

Plot Keywords:

Geronimo | Nudity | Zombie With Gun | Native American | Female Nudity

Cast

Chris Kattan	...	Luke
James Denton	...	Elmer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lew Alexander	...	Geronimo
Todd Anderson	...	Kermit
Richard Barela	...	Drunk Zombie
Matt Besser	...	Claypool
Brett Brock	...	Townsman 1
Richard Bucher	...	Townsman
Jeff Chase	...	Zombie
Chris Coppola	...	Cletus
Gino Crognale	...	General Store Owner
Jeffrey J. Dashnaw	...	Townsman (as Jeffrey Dashnaw)
Scott Flick	...	Zombie Soldier
Michelle Greathouse	...	Schoolmarm
Patricia Greer	...	Saloon Girl
Leslie Jordan	...	Padre
Geoffrey C. Martin	...	Trap door zombie
Keola Melhorn	...	Zombie
Tracy Melhorn	...	Zombie
Michael Patrick Metzdorff	...	Gunfighter Zombie / Union Soldier Zombie
Cristin Michele	...	Kate
Christopher Allen Nelson	...	The Captain
T. Jay O'Brien	...	Farlow
Brian Posehn	...	Ben
Navi Rawat	...	Sue
Chloe Russell	...	Ruby
Elizabeth Slagsvol	...	Saloon Girl
Russell Solberg	...	Townsman
Mia Stallard	...	Anna
Ben Zeller	...	Ebeneezer

Also Known As:

Undead or Alive (USA) (new title)
Wanted: Undead or Alive (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for zombie violence and gore, language and brief nudity.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | Australia:M (2007) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Odd Lot Entertainment

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Ben is cut down from the noose of the hanging post you can clearly see his tongue when the priest is over him. Yet earlier in the movie it is explained that Ben has eating his own tongue.

Movie Connections:

References Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Soundtrack:

Danger

Undead won't be coming back to life...

The worst thing about Undead or Alive: A Zombedy is not necessarily the film itself--and it's bad--but all the interviews and marketing plugs I've read or seen with the director, Glasgow Phillips. He continually plugs the film by saying things like "If you're not sold at 'Zombie Western,' then I don't think you're one of our customers" (from an eFilmCritic interview). That's basically a cutesy way of saying the film has nothing of value other than the fact that it happens to be an amalgam of two genres of film.

The wannabe campy slasher film reminds me more of a drunken high school attempt at slurred comedy and oozing gore than an actual feature film of any substance (and b-movies have some sort of substance!). The plot's typical of any zombie film--and that's not necessarily a bad thing. But the delivery is what's really lacking. Chris Kattan (Saturday Night Live) and James Denton (Desperate Housewives) play washed-out characters who don't take their situation, or each other, seriously. The entire film is reminiscent of a bad comedian laughing at his own bad jokes.

After the film, during the Q&A session (SXSW), someone described the film as Blazing Saddles meets Shaun of the Dead. But Blazing Saddles was funny and Shaun of the Dead was decent camp. This film is neither.