''Gallowwalkers'' is a 2012 American
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...
written and directed by Andrew Goth, and starring
Wesley Snipes
Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor and martial artist. In a film career spanning more than thirty years, Snipes has appeared in a variety of genres, such as numerous thrillers, dramatic feature films, and comedies, th ...
,
Kevin Howarth
Kevin Howarth is a British film actor, known for his roles as Max in '' The Last Horror Movie'', Peter in '' Summer Scars'' and Viktor in '' The Seasoning House''.
Career
Howarth attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London, f ...
,
Riley Smith
Riley Smith (born April 12, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for his roles on television, such as recurring roles in the series '' 24'', ''Joan of Arcadia'', '' 90210'', ''True Blood'' and '' The Messengers'', and starring roles on the ...
,
Tanit Phoenix
Tanit Phoenix (born 24 September 1980) is a South African fashion model, actress and makeup artist. She is known for her swimwear and lingerie photo shoots after appearing in a '' Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' in 2003 and in '' GQ'' maga ...
,
Patrick Bergin
Patrick Connolly Bergin (born 4 February 1951) is an Irish actor and singer. In 1991, he starred opposite Julia Roberts in '' Sleeping with the Enemy'' and played the title character in ''Robin Hood''. His other roles include terrorist Kevin O' ...
, and
Diamond Dallas Page
}
Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg Jr., April 5, 1956), is an American fitness instructor, actor, and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract, under the ring name Di ...
. Due to Wesley Snipes' tax problems, the film went through many changes and delays and was completed in 2010. It still had no official release until a 2012 screening at the "
Film4 FrightFest
FrightFest, also known as Arrow Video FrightFest is an annual film festival held in London and Glasgow. The festival holds three major events each year: a festival running five days over the UK late August Bank Holiday weekend, a Halloween eve ...
" festival in the United Kingdom. It was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
and
Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
in the United States in 2013, nearly eight years after the film started production in 2006.
Plot
A group of disfigured people gather near a
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
in a desert where they are killed by a mysterious gunslinger named Aman (Wesley Snipes), who also rips out the head and
spine
Spine or spinal may refer to:
Science Biology
* Spinal column, also known as the backbone
* Dendritic spine, a small membranous protrusion from a neuron's dendrite
* Thorns, spines, and prickles, needle-like structures in plants
* Spine (zoology), ...
from one of the dead bodies.
Nearby in the same desert, a group of criminals are waiting to be transported. Aman arrives, kills most of the guards, and frees one criminal called Fabulos (Riley Smith). The rest of the criminals nonetheless end up being transported to a small settlement where they are supposed to be
hanged
Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...
. However, just as they arrive, the settlement is attacked by a bizarre gang led by a skinless man named Kansa (Kevin Howarth), who slaughters most of the inhabitants.
Through
flashbacks, it is revealed that the same gang of outlaws once
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
d Aman's lover. so he went after them and brutally killed them while they were imprisoned and defenseless. While Aman was running away, he was killed. so his mother, who is a
nun
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...
, broke her covenant with
God
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
and sacrificed herself to save him, which in turn cursed him for life. The curse makes all the people killed by Aman come back to life, so all the gang members that Aman had killed returned as
undead
The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if they were alive. A common example of an undead being is a cadaver, corpse reanimated by supernatural forces, by the application of either the deceased's o ...
to seek revenge, except for Kansa's son who remained dead. The undead lose their skin after a week, so they remove the skins from the people they kill to use as replacements. The only way the undead can be killed is by destroying their brains.
While Aman and Fabulos are visiting a woman and child, part of the undead gang attacks. But the four manage to kill all the attackers. However, Fabulos is severely wounded, so Aman kills him in order for him to come back as undead.
Kansa, who has put on a new skin, and his remaining 2 undead followers arrive at a secret temple with the beautiful Angel (Tanit Phoenix) whom they took
hostage
A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...
back in the settlement. Kansa believes that inside the temple they will find a way to resurrect his dead son, but this proves to be false. Aman and the undead Fabulos soon catch up with them, and Aman kills Kansa and his followers. While Aman is leaving with Kansa's head in his hand, Angel seductively approaches Fabulos.
Cast
*
Wesley Snipes
Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor and martial artist. In a film career spanning more than thirty years, Snipes has appeared in a variety of genres, such as numerous thrillers, dramatic feature films, and comedies, th ...
as Aman
*
Kevin Howarth
Kevin Howarth is a British film actor, known for his roles as Max in '' The Last Horror Movie'', Peter in '' Summer Scars'' and Viktor in '' The Seasoning House''.
Career
Howarth attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London, f ...
as Kansa
*
Riley Smith
Riley Smith (born April 12, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for his roles on television, such as recurring roles in the series '' 24'', ''Joan of Arcadia'', '' 90210'', ''True Blood'' and '' The Messengers'', and starring roles on the ...
as Fabulos
*
Tanit Phoenix
Tanit Phoenix (born 24 September 1980) is a South African fashion model, actress and makeup artist. She is known for her swimwear and lingerie photo shoots after appearing in a '' Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' in 2003 and in '' GQ'' maga ...
as Angel
*
Patrick Bergin
Patrick Connolly Bergin (born 4 February 1951) is an Irish actor and singer. In 1991, he starred opposite Julia Roberts in '' Sleeping with the Enemy'' and played the title character in ''Robin Hood''. His other roles include terrorist Kevin O' ...
as Marshall Gaza
* Steven Elder as Apollo Jones (Priest)
*
Diamond Dallas Page
}
Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg Jr., April 5, 1956), is an American fitness instructor, actor, and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract, under the ring name Di ...
as Skullbucket
*
Jenny Gago
Jenny Gago is an American actress best known as Maria in ''Knots Landing'' (1984-1986), Maria in '' My Family'' (1995), Anaya in '' The Agency'' (2002-2003), and Det. Ochoa in '' Southland'' (2011).
Life
Gago earned a degree in Theatre Arts f ...
as Mistress
*
Simona Brhlikova
Simona Brhlikova-Roman was born in former Czechoslovakia. From a young age, she appeared in several stage and musical productions.
Graduating from Commerce & Language Academy in Slovakia, Simona moved to London where she perfected her English ...
as Kisscut
* Alyssa Pridham as Sueno
* Alex Avant as Forty Bold
* Hector Hank as Hool
* Jonathan García as Slip Knot
Production
Development
The film first came to general attention in 2005 as ''The Wretched'' with actor
Chow Yun-fat
Chow Yun-fat (born 18 May 1955), previously known as Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility, encompassing action to melodrama and comedy and historical drama, his accolades include three Hong Kong Film Awar ...
set to star as zombie bounty hunter Rellik.
The filming in
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
coincided with
Wesley Snipes' tax problems. The backer, Gary Smith, had ensured there was a
completion bond {{Short description, Form of insurance used in filmmaking
In filmmaking, a completion guarantee (sometimes referred to as a completion bond) is a form of insurance offered by a completion guarantor company (in return for a percentage fee based on th ...
as backup, but Smith declared, "We are happy that he continues to turn up on set each day. If his indictment creates this amount of press it shows he is a star."
In a 2014 interview with ''
Empire
An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
'' Snipes called the film an "absolute disaster".
Release
Home media
Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Lionsgate Studios Corp. (simply known as Lionsgate Studios) is a Canadian-American film and television production and distribution conglomerate, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, and primarily based in Santa Monica, California. It was f ...
released ''Gallowwalkers'' on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
in
Region 1, digital download, and video on demand on August 6, 2013.
Reception
Critical response
Scott Foy of
Dread Central
Dread Central is an American website founded in 2006 that is dedicated to horror news, interviews, and reviews. It covers horror films, comics, novels, and toys. Dread Central has won the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Award for Best Website f ...
rated it 1/5 stars and wrote, "If you've seen the trailer for ''Gallowwalkers'', then not only have you seen pretty much all the best parts, you've actually seen a more lucid version of the movie than the film itself." Scott Weinberg of
Fearnet
Fearnet was an American digital cable television network, website and video on demand service owned by Comcast. The network specialized in horror entertainment programming through a mix of acquired and original series, and feature films.
Backgr ...
wrote, "It would take a team of veteran film critics working around the clock to catalog all the things that are wrong with this outrageously goofy movie
..''GallowWalkers'' is funnier by accident than Adam Sandler is on purpose." Olie Coen of
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman.
History
Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
rated it 1.5/5 stars and wrote, "I can't recommend this movie to anyone, unless you just want to see Snipes pretending he's a cowboy." Andrew Dowler of ''
Now
Now most commonly refers
to the present time.
Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to:
Organizations
* Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization
* National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization
* Na ...
'' wrote, "With some okay action and spectacular scenery, ''Gallowwalkers'' starts strong, sags in the middle, suffers from some narrative incoherence and comes back for a decent finish."
References
External links
*
* {{rotten-tomatoes, galllowwalker
2012 films
2012 horror films
2010s Western (genre) horror films
African-American horror films
African-American Western (genre) films
American Western (genre) horror films
American zombie films
2010s English-language films
Films scored by Stephen Warbeck
Films shot in Namibia
Lionsgate films
American supernatural horror films
American vigilante films
American rape and revenge films
Summit Entertainment films
2010s American films
English-language Western (genre) horror films