Rating: B
Dir: D. Kerry Prior
Star: David Anders, Chris Wylde, Louise Griffiths, Jacy King
Not to be confused, in any way, with the DiCaprio movie of the same name. Though in both cases, the hero goes out into wilderness, and comes back… changed. Ok, I admit, I am stretching. Here, however, the title is accurate enough. Bart Gregory (Anders) is an American soldier, who is killed while on a tour of duty in the Middle East. His body is returned to the US, and buried. Temporarily. For he comes back to life, clawing his way out of the grave – much to the shock of his best friend, Joey (Wylde, who resembles a dime-store version of David Spade). Together, they try and figure out what has become the new undead normal.
The bad news: Bart now needs blood to survive. The good news: he is otherwise very, very hard to kill. With Joey as his sidekick, they become the “Vigilante Gunslingers”, cleaning up the Los Angeles night. Yet there are downsides, such as Bart’s girlfriend Janet (Griffiths), who is most surprised by his unexpected resurrection, and wants to join him in eternal life. There’s also the awkward question of what happens to the people whose blood he drains. And reports on the news of a looming viral epidemic. There’s a lot going on here, and despite approaching two hours long, it does feel some of the elements are underexplored. This could easily be a thirteen episode TV series, with all it has to cram in.
What is fitted into the running-time though, is generally very well executed. It’s foul-mouthed, spectacularly violent and ferociously incorrect in a variety of amusing ways. The ethnic stereotypes on view will certainly offend some – albeit gloriously subverted on occasion, such as when a black convenience store robber starts quoting political philosopher Frantz Fanon. You will also see a vibrator used for a purpose, I sincerely doubt you would ever have imagined. The engine room of the film though, is the friendship between the two leads. This transcends death, with Joey overcoming his (understandable) initial shock at Bart’s return, and putting his own needs aside to help his pal get his non-life back together. The concept here reminded me of zombie buddy cop movie, Dead Heat.
As things progress, they take a darker turn – saying something, considering it began with the death of the main character. There’s dissension in the ranks over how to handle the women in their lives, blowback from the vigilante activities, and the authorities are taking am increasing interest. By the end, we’ve seen cartel chainsaw work, had a Daniel Pearl reference, and watched a head get squashed by heavy construction equipment. How things finish for our duo, make it clear death is not the end. Though seeing the way this closes the book on its characters, you will probably wish it was. Given how assured this is, I’m amazed Prior didn’t direct another feature for a dozen years. And when he did, it was The Blair Rabbit Project – a concept which feels decades past its sell-by date.