Dead in Tombstone [DVD]

Product Information

Weinberg, Scott (October 28, 2013). "FEARNET Movie Review: 'Dead in Tombstone' ". Fearnet . Retrieved July 27, 2014.

It’s interesting to watch Danny Trejo in his later years. Once a real life gang banger, Trejo turned his life around and became an actor, usually portraying some variant of his old lifestyle due to the gang tattoos and rugged physical nature of the Hispanic actor. I’ll forever remember him as the knife wielding assassin in Desperado, and the guy has actually carved out a very nice career for himself ever since the early 90s. The last 15 years or so have been what I call the “downward side of the bell curve” for an actor, as he has been making do with lots and lots of direct to video films. A career choice that many older actors fall into when they’re no longer cast as leading men, or in prolific films. I can’t blame the guy, he’s got a niche and he does quite well in it. Although a low-budget movie the old western town looks great as it did in the first film, so the production is very good & the music is often moody or frantic depending on the scene & usually works fine. I actually like these "Tombstone" films more than Trejo's "Machete" films because these are more serious & gritty adventures without the over silliness & comical moments that his "Machete" films are known for, i like the more natural flow of these films as grim 'n' gritty Supernatural Westerns with a few laughs sprinkled throughout but not over-the-top silliness. The plot just doesn't make much sense to me, why would the devil allow this one guy to have a chance at killing his murderers?. Surely in that age in the west there would be hundreds of deaths at the hands of bad people, does he allow everyone this deal? or was it just for his own amusement because he liked Trejo's character?. I just don't see why the devil would be that bothered about six souls when he probably gets ten times that every day, I guess I'm thinking into this too much. Director Roel Reine isn't exactly a great director. All of his feature films have never made it to the theater. All have been direct-to-video, including a couple of the 'Death Race' sequels and 'The Scorpion King 3'. Not exactly the cream of the crop. His problem is that he doesn't really know how to direct his actors as well as shoot any type of action scene that is thrilling or coherent. And with 'Dead in Tombstone', these are the aspects that make this would be fun-as-hell film fail. Though the screenplay written by Brendan Cowles and Shane Kuhn is pretty standard fair when it comes to the classic plot of a Western revenge film, they do manage to put a twist on the old formula. It also helps that the film was cast not only with three incredible main actors, but also a strong supporting cast that includes Dina Meyer, Richard Dillane, Emil Hostina, Colin Mace, Ovidiu Niculescu, Ronan Summers, Edward Akrout and Radu Andrea Micu, all of whom help to strengthen the film’s dialog that at times could have come off as unintelligent if spoken by actors of a lesser caliber.If the first film already seemed quite cheap and didn't bet so much on quality, this film is even worse and more miserable. They are both niche films, oriented to satisfy a certain part of the public that looks for raw action films, and not that elegant and classic cinema that almost everyone likes. However, I don't know if this was even able to satisfy the audience for which it was intended. The only remotely interesting thing about this film? Rourke plays the devil incarnate. Which, if you've ever seen his 1987 psychological thriller "Angel Heart," is an interesting twist. Unfortunately this film isn't remotely similar to Angel Heart in any other regard, which was one of the best films of the 1980s in this humble critic's opinion; Dead in Tombstone, by contrast, is Dead On Arrival (har, har) and a truly bad film. Notable: Dean McDermott as Dr Goldsworthy who we suspect is something more than human and he tries to have Guerrero reject Lucifer's hold on him. Supernatural, remember? Unrated Cut of the Film: The Blu-ray edition of Dead in Tombstone features two stabs at the film: a 100-minute unrated cut and a 100-minute R-rated cut. It's already a bit redundant to issue both a rated and unrated cut on a direct-to-video release, but with both being the same length, the differences amount to little. The unrated cut is even six seconds shorter.

Dead in Tombstone is a 2013 American direct-to-video horror Western film produced by Universal 1440 Entertainment. It was directed by Roel Reiné and written by Shane Kuhn and Brendan Cowles. The film stars Danny Trejo as Guerrero, a gang leader who gets double-crossed by his fellow gang members. Striking a pact with the Devil after entering Hell, he resurfaces to the earthly world to avenge his own death by killing the men who murdered him. The film was released in home media on October 22, 2013, and was followed by a sequel, Dead Again in Tombstone (2017).He also publicly bad-mouthed writer/director Martin McDonaugh (In Bruges), claiming he wasn't being paid enough by the "creep" to star in the film Seven Psychopaths; he dropped out, and was replaced by Woody Harrelson. The film wasn't a big hit financially, but critics loved it, and it had a huge ensemble cast. Instead of starring in that film, he starred in a straight-to-video movie with Kellen Lutz...if you don't know who that guy is, it's because he was one of the shirtless vampires in Twilight. The first movie, Dead in Tombstone, was fairly okay. Not great but okay. This movie, the second installment, was a bit of a disappointment though. The general idea is a good one. At least it is one I would generally have liked. However, it is really poorly implemented. The acting is good all around, the music is good, the gun fights are well choreographed, but the cinematography is awesome and almost a work of art on their own. Kudos.

Danny Trejo’s portrayal of the betrayed gunslinger with a modicum of conscience—something that Satan tells him will be the undoing of the deal—may not be much of an acting stretch for Trejo, but he certainly knows how to deliver when it comes to portraying the resurrected killer. Trejo plays the bad ass with just enough tough and mean and empathy that the character is likeable and we desire to see him succeed in his quest to save his soul. Dina Meyer as Calathea Massey The production seems to be about on par with a Sy-Fy channel "original" movie, better than a straight to DVD production but not by much. The sequel is a bit weaker than the first film (not surprising, they usually are), and it really goes a bit too far with ignoring its own rules about Guerrero and his resurrections, as well as the fact that it doesn’t come anywhere NEAR Tombstone this time, but hey. I actually had some fun with it. Trejo plays his tough hardguy role to the T, while Busey hams it almost as much as his legendary father with the role of Boomer (just without some of the insanity that poor Gary is known for). Everyone else is pretty much DTV fodder and has the acting chops that mirror that genre. Deleted Scenes (HD, 21 minutes): Nine deleted scenes -- "It's Time," "Mrs. Massey is Queen," "Death Walks Among Us," "The Name of This Town is Tombstone," "Ramos Visits Guerrero's Grave," "You Know It's a Slaughterhouse," "Guerrero Grabs the Guard," "Thanks Again Guerrero" and "Who Should Be Left to Stand?" -- plus a "Deleted Shots Montage" are included. Directed (and photographed) with gusto by Roel Reine, "Dead in Tombstone" is a fair example of this brand of entertainment. It allows you to put your brain in neutral while delivering a lively smorgasbord of violence. Here is a movie in which bodies don't just fly through the air when pummelled by bullets, they do acrobatics before landing in a heap on the ground. It's fairly gory at times, but even in unrated form, it might not be nasty enough for some tastes. The whole thing looks quite grim and grimy, and features a true rogues' gallery of disagreeable characters.The film revolves around a drifter and gang leader, Guerrero (Danny Trejo), who is betrayed and killed by his own gang. Once in hell, he makes a deal with the Devil (Michey Rourke) to bring him more souls. He is given a time limit, though, so it becomes a race against time for Guerrero. As a result, the film is fast-paced and exciting. There's plenty of shoot-outs, explosions, chase sequences and suspense to keep the adrenaline pumping. Guerrero gets some help this time from Dr. Goldsworthy (Dean McDermott) who resurrects him when he gets killed by Boomer. Boomer joins forces with a local brothel owner named Madame Du Vere (Elizabeth Lavender). That alliance along with this woman's ability to "see the truth" feels a little out of left field. It just happened. Even more awkward was that this prostitute seemed to abruptly become the arch nemesis of Guerrero's daughter. She had a few bad things to say about Alicia but nothing suggesting they would punch it out in the end.

This movie is vastly underrated. Kilmer's performance as Doc Holliday is arguably the greatest interpretation of a real western character in the the history of western filmmaking. It's not to be missed. If you haven't seen the movie, watch it! Even if you're not a fan of the genre, this is as entertaining as a movie can be. It doesn't matter if this is not an accurate account of these real men and women. Just enjoy the ride. Reiné includes plenty of typical shootouts and duels, but also detonates as much dynamite as possible, creating massive explosions, and lets Trejo get his hands dirty in some physical bar fights. Some people Danny’s age are using walkers and sitting lifelessly in front of the television, yet here he is throwing dudes twice his size over a bar. Reiné knows what it takes to make an entertaining shoot em’ up film, and focuses on those moments to drive a ho-hum story along – starting with the casting of Danny Trejo. I am a film editor, cinematographer and even worked as a Zombie stuntman. So, film, and especially cheesy low budget film is an area of expertise for me. I even have the honor of teaching a film class, "Aesthetics of Editing". The plot is pretty similar to 'The Crow' really but lets be frank its a generic commonly used theme in most genres. The best thing about the film is the visuals I guess, it does look quite authentic with good locations and the town of 'Tombstone/Edendale' is actually quite big and impressive looking. It looks like they spent all their budget on the sets and costumes if you ask me. Gun slinging wise the action is crude and a bit hokey really, there is plenty of that old 90's John Woo style nonsense going on with no shortage of explosions...big explosions. Its also a bit too dark at times for me, way too much shadow as they clearly attempt a more dramatic artistic look, hey kudos for trying. Due to the nature of this film, Christians - especially - won't take kindly to the film, who might view it as blasphemous. If you can look past the blasphemy and controversy, though, you will be entertained - if this is your kind of film, of course. As for me, I absolutely loved it!! One should also appreciate the film for how well it is made. The director took great care in making a film that really looks good on screen - thanks to beautiful photography and amazing cinematography.In a town run by crooks, criminals, and miscreants, Anthony Michael Hall (yes, the 1980s teen star) leads a notorious gang of nogoodniks who take control of a gold mining town, each gang member posing a unique threat. There’s the arsonist, the thief, the murderer – every Western baddie is covered with this wild crew. Red Cavanaugh (Hall) remains the most charismatic of the bunch, and is the true villain that our anti-hero Guerrero guns for, but the hunt for each gang member provides that silly, B-Movie type fun, as one by one these criminals see their numbers dwindle, and the body count rise. The film follows on the events of 'Dead in Tombstone'. We learn more about Guerrero's family and meet his daughter and mother, and also realize there was a reason the Devil made a deal with him in the first film. With Roel Reine returning as director, this is another visually stunning treat - visually even better than the original film. The cinematography is STUNNING. The photography and aerial shots are FANTASTIC. There are some films I'll watch again and again for the sake of the cinematography - and this is such a film. It's one amazing shot after the next. Some shots are breathtakingly beautiful. It's the type of photography you expect from big budget productions.