Bullets for the Dead (2015) - Once Upon a Time in a Western

Bounty hunter James Dalton (Christopher Sommers) is after a gang of bandits led by a pistol-wielding, hatchet-throwing redhead named Annie Blake (Vanessa Moltzen).

And he catches them when they try to rob the bank in Driftwood, crack the safe and find nothing inside but their own wanted posters. Ah, but Dalton’s standing there in the dark, holding a stick of dynamite.

He has the gang members — also including Shotgun Murphy, Norville Sogard and Annie’s younger brother Karl — strip to their underwear and then begins marching them to a train station for transport where he’ll collect his reward.

But when they reach the train, it’s empty save for one car filled with partially dismembered bodies. Empty that is, except for a priest (Hugh Parker) whom Sommers finds hiding in a closet, praying profusely.

The priest joins the small party and they soon discover what happened to the train passengers. A horde of fleshing-eating zombies is on the loose. And the bounty hunters and his captives will have to band together in order to survive.

But where should they flee to get away from the growing army of undead? Back to Driftwood? Perhaps to a nearby convent with which the priest is familiar?

Meanwhile, the priest is hiding a secret. He’s responsible for what’s happening. His wife Caitlin died of consumption. He conjured up spirits to bring her back to life. But something when horribly awry.

Review:

A pretty entertaining mix of zombie film and Spaghetti Western that benefits from a spirited performance by Vanessa Moltzen as Annie Blake and a suitably tormented one from Christopher Sommers as Dalton, the bounty hunter.

He’s a man with his own past, of course. Years earlier, he was trying to make a better life for his wife and their unborn child when he unintentionally led a bandit gang to their home. By the time the shooting ended, his wife was dead and he was left with a horrible wound as a daily reminder of what he’d done.

Ah, but the tone isn’t all somber. For example, there’s a scene in which our “heroes” need some way to pull a wagon. They trick flesh-eating nuns to do so with a piece of human flesh as bait. Now I bet that’s a scene you’ve never witnessed in a Western.

This film was made in Australia by Michael Du-Shane, who four years earlier directed a Western-zombie short film called “26 Bullets Dead.”

Christopher Sommers as James Dalton in Bullets for the Dead (2015)

Vanessa Moltzen as Annie Blake in Bullets for the Dead (2015)

Directed by:
Michael Du-Shane

Cast:
Christopher Sommers … James Dalton
Vanessa Moltzen … Annie Blake
Troy MacKinder … Shotgun Murphy
Renaud Jadin … Norville Sogard
Sebastian Golenko … Karl Blake
Carol Burns … Miss Winnie
Hugh Parker … Alan O’Rourke
Helen Howard … Caitlin O’Rourke
Libby Munro … Jessica

Runtime: 100 min.

Hugh Parker as Alan O’Rourke in Bullets for the Dead (2015)

Troy MacKinder as Shotgun Murphy in Bullets for the Dead (2015)

Memorable lines:

Annie Blake, as the bank robbery commences: “Any refusal to accept or comply with your predicament, which — let me assure you — is incoming and unalterable, would not be acceptable.”
Bank customer to Annie Blake: “Wordy whore.”
Annie, after gunning him down: “Wordy? Maybe. But a harlot? I’m almost offended.”

Alan O’Rourke: “Move on? Really? Seems to me you’re as stuck as the nails in our Lord’s hands.”
James Dalton: “You keep the spiritual snake oil to yourself.”

James Dalton: “We all make mistakes.”
Alan O’Rourke: “And the Lord gives us a life to regret them.”

Sebastian Golenko as Karl Blake in Bullets for the Dead (2015)

Renaud Jadin as Norville Sogard in Bullets for the Dead (2015)

Annie Blake, trying to figure out what the creatures are: “I’ve never heard of leprosy making you eat a horse.”
Norville Sogard: “Very hungry lepers?”

James Dalton, of the sisters at the convent: “And they’ll take scum?”
Alan O’Rourke: “Even bounty hunters, I suspect.”

James Dalton: “You’re such a bitch.”
Annie Blake: “Wanna be my mongrel?”

Annie Blake: “You know, I think we could have been something.”
James Dalton: “I think we are something.”