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High Plains Invaders

Canada / Romania 2009
produced by
Ric Nish, Robert Halmi jr (executive), Robert Halmi sr (executive), Irene Litinsky (executive), Michael Prupas (executive) for Muse Entertainment Enterprises, Castel Film/SyFy
directed by K.T.Donaldson (= Kristoffer Tabori)
starring James Marsters, Cindy Sampson, Sebastian Knapp, Sanny Van Heteren, Angus McInnes, Antony Byrne, James Jordan, Adriana Butoi, Sorin Cristea, Dan Bordeianu, Dugald Bruce Lockhart, Constantin Barbulescu
written by Richard Beattie, music by James Gelfand, special effects by Ionel Popa, visual effects by Oblique FX

review by
Mike Haberfelner

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A bunch of alien bugs attack a small village in the Old West, and it falls upon misunderstood outlaw Sam (James Marsters) who was about to be hanged to bring the survivors - including his estranged fiancée (Cindy Sampson), a two-timing female bounty hunter (Sanny Van Heteren) and the cowardly scientist type who has somehow caused everything (Sebastian Knapp) - to safety. Of course, in the course of the proceedings, pretty much everyone dies, especially the female bounty hunter, but once it's found out the aliens feed on uranium which the cowardly scientist has been mining, our heroes build a primitive atom bomb and blow up the aliens and their spaceship for good, which is when the scientist redeems himself by giving his life triggering the bomb by hand. Only Sam in his fiancée survive and decide on re-starting their relationship and walking into a brighter future.

 

Blending the science fiction and the Western genre seems to be a fun idea on paper, but unfortunately, at least since The Phantom Empire back in 1935, hardly anyone got it right, and this film is no exception: Sure, all the plot elements are in the right places, but from here on it goes wrong. Problem is that the script shows remarkable little understanding for the (B-)Western genre, and at the same time fills up its plot with the worst clichés - the outlaw with a heart of gold, the resolute yet helpless fiancée, the tough-as-nails yet two-timing bounty hunter (female variety), the four-eyed and cowardly intellectual whose heart is in the right place - and tries to put a more contemporary spin on the characters, which leads to all of them reflecting about their lives and relationships a lot instead of keeping the plot moving along. That James Marsters doesn't come off too well as tough guy lead doesn't help much either of course.

Of special interest in this film though is the depiction of female roles: There's the bounty hunter who's the fastest draw in the West - but since she has dared to step onto male-dominated territory, she just has to turn evil (according to the film's logic, not mine) and eventually has to die. On the other hand, there's the fiancée: She might be resolute, and her heart is in the right place, but she also needs a fair share of saving, and let's face it, her contributions to the proceedings are mostly of a domestic nature, like caring for the injured and that sort of stuff (I'm almost surprised she isn't shown cooking as well). She's allowed to stay alive of course, and in the end gets the boy, too ...

In all, this is not a good film, but I have to admit I've seen worse, way worse - which is not a good enough reason to watch this one though.

 

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

Amazon

Amazon UK

Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
cuddly toys and
shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

is all of that.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
-
a collection of short stories and mini-plays
ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle, all thought up by
the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

the new anthology by
Michael Haberfelner

 

Out now from
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