Deadlands: The Rising (2006)

User Rating:

1.6/10   

Director:

Gary Ugarek

Writer:

Gary Ugarek (writer)

Release Date:

23 October 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The world as we know it... Is coming to an end!

Plot:

October 2008. A biochemical weapon explosion causes a freak chain of events and brings the dead back to life. It is up to five people to make a stand for survival against an ever growing army of the Living Dead. |

Plot Keywords:

Cannibalism | Baltimore Maryland | Zombie Uprising | Terror Attack | Invasion

Cast

Dave Cooperman	...	Dave
Gary Ugarek	...	Gary
Michelle Wright	...	Michelle
Brian Wright	...	Brian
Connor Brandt	...	Connor
Melisa Breiner-Sanders	...	Evacuee Woman
Josh Davidson	...	Josh
Jeremy Paris	...	Arguing Man #2
Chris L. Clark	...	Suit Zombie (as Chris Clark)
Nathan Rosen	...	#11 Zombie
Brian Marinelli	...	Private Marinelli
Bruce Morgan	...	Commanding Military Officer
Tom Gambrill	...	Shelter Director (FEMA)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
William Abel	...	National Guardsmen #3
Patty Aiello	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Williams Albers	...	Zombie
Alex Alcaro	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Ray Allen	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Michael Anderson	...	Zombie
Michael Arenas	...	Zombie
Robert Arnold	...	Evacuee
Bartlett Ashley	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Scott Ayles	...	National Guardsmen #5
Angelique Baker	...	Zombie
Julie Bakken	...	Traffic Jam Victim
Rebecca Baranovic	...	Zombie
Johnathan Barringer	...	Zombie
Dylan Bateman	...	Zombie
Judith Bausch	...	Zombie
Johnny Benson	...	Zombie
Anne Bet	...	Zombie
Thomas A. Beveridge	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Duane Bizet	...	Zombie
Allison Booth	...	Zombie
Leslie Bowen	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Tina Boyle	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Lisa Brandt	...	Evacuee
Lena Brisland	...	Shelter assistant
Kiana Brown	...	Evacuee / Zombie
James Bryant	...	Zombie
Tom Buchner	...	Shelter Zombie
Ken Bulcroft	...	National Guardsmen #6
Kurtis Bulk	...	Zombie
Suzanne Busch	...	Zombie
Corie Campbell	...	Teenage girl zombie
Kim Campbell	...	Traffic jam evacuee
Stacie Canterbury	...	Traffic Jam Evacuee
Steve Canterbury	...	Traffic Jam Evacuee
Melanie Canter	...	Traffic Jam Evacuee
Kevin Ceely	...	Zombie
Alan Cervantos	...	Zombie
Anthony Clark	...	Zombie
Jessica Clark	...	Zombie
Julian Comando	...	Zombie
Kate Connell	...	Zombie
Angela Conrad	...	Zombie
Westley Costanzo	...	Evacuee
Katrina Currie	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Sharon Curtis	...	Evacuee
Master June Daguiso	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Dennis David	...	Zombie
Alexa Davidson	...	Child Evacuee
Nicholas Davidson	...	Child Evacuee
Matt Decata	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Jason Deyo	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Pedro Diaz
Julie Dieguez	...	Zombie
Pedro Dieguez	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Brittanie Dighello	...	Zombie
T.J. Dighello	...	Zombie
Troy Dighello	...	House Zombie
Alanna Dillon	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Jessica Dulin	...	Zombie
Brian Dziki	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Brandon Farace	...	Traffic jam evacuee
Greg Ferko	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Heather Ferko	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Kevin Foster	...	National Guardsmen #4
Gary Fuller	...	Zombie
Taylor Gosnell	...	Zombie
Hubert Gray	...	Man on Cell Phone #1
George Hallameyer	...	Zombie
Nicole Hartline	...	Zombie
William Hussey	...	Zombie
Kelly Jackson	...	Zombie
Julian Kelly	...	Zombie girl
Drew Kinohi	...	Zombie
Jacob LeDoux	...	Zombie
Paul Little	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Cindy Marie Martin	...	Throat Tear Victim / Throat Tear Zombie
Lonnie Martin	...	Drooling Zombie
Philip J. Martin	...	National Guardsmen #2
Jay Mason	...	Zombie
Pat McGrudde	...	Zombie
Ashley Merson	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Jessica Miller	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Nikki Lee Miller	...	Arguing Female (SUV)
Kenneth Moli	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Michael Morrison	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Josh Morrow	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Kim Myers	...	Evacuee
Rich Neal	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Clara Pilgrom	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Terry Pilgrom	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Ken Pinto	...	Zombie
Jame 'Matt' Poole	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Christina Potze	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Duane Raynor	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Shauna Raynor	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Courtnie Reynolds	...	Lost girl (traffic Jam)
Mark Reynolds	...	Zombie
Uriah Robins	...	Zombie
Antonio Rodriguez	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Jesse Rommel	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Brian Rowe	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Erika Rukiel	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Patricia Sailia	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Clinton Santos	...	Evacuee / Zombie
Aaron Shirley	...	Traffic Jam Victim
Justin Smith	...	Arguing Man (SUV)
Matthew T. Smith	...	Green Flannel Zombie (as Matthew Smith)
Brooke Stevens	...	Teenage girl zombie
Jesse Terry	...	Traffic Jam Victim
Victoria Terry	...	Lead Female Zombie - Traffic Jam
Jen Tonon	...	Concerned Citizen (Extra)
May Ugarek	...	Evacuee
Jeremy Warman	...	Attack Victim (Pick-up truck)
Ted Weber	...	Zombie
Jeff Wiggington	...	Cowboy Zombie

Also Known As:

Deadlands (USA) (working title)
Deadlands Episode #1: The Rising (USA) (informal title)

Runtime:

USA:72 min (theatrical version) | USA:63 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (Remix for video release) | Stereo (original)

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Company:

Wetnwildradio Films

Trivia:

The original production budget started at $5,000 and was originally to be a short film. After filming most of the traffic jam sequences. The director invested another $10,000 to purchase more equipment and secure more locations to expand the story.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During a steadi-cam shot prior to the zombie attack on the traffic jam the camera man is visible in the window of one of the vehicles

Quotes:

[first lines]
Michelle: [narration] Six Months, that's how long it took for the world as we knew it to come to an end. The bible preached the world would end in fire and war. It ended in plauges and hunger. All brought on by the technology built to protect us. Conventional Weapons weren't enough, we built more powerful weapons. Weapons capable of spreading disease, plagues or hunger, weapons designed to do the un-imaginable... and in the end, it took one man with one weapon.

Movie Connections:

References Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Soundtrack:

Closing Credits Medley

Indie horror done right

I recently watched this film after trading a friend my Stink of Flesh DVD for Deadlands: The Rising, and I will admit I received the better deal.

First, Deadlands is no masterpiece of low budget indie cinema, but what it is, is a zombie film which is entertaining, gory, and fun. Indie zombie films get a lot of bad rap, as does indie cinema in general. So many people are used to the polished Hollywood look and feel that when someone attempts a reality based horror film it easily gets looked over. Deadlands is one of those films that takes all the glamour out of film-making and firmly grounds it in reality.

Deadlands is no masterpiece. It's weak spots lie in the acting, an entire unknown cast with little experience, but it is far from horrible. The editing on the film is decent and the soundtrack is superb. The music builds a lot of great tension and fits this film perfectly. Many applause to the composers for the music in the film. The zombies are of the running type, but the film also shows the shambling George Romero type zombies as well and to be honest the mix of fast and slow works well with the film. The zombie attacks are fast and brutal, the best of which is the traffic jam of evacuees swallowed up by hundreds of zombies catching them in every direction they try to escape. That scene is an edge of your seat experience all by itself. Deadlands only other fault is the running time which is just under 70 minutes.

The two other most outstanding things about Deadlands, besides the music, was shot selection and set pieces. You can easily tell the filmmakers were aiming for an epic size film and they pulled it off to an extent.

Don't let the meager budget keep you from checking this out, especially if you are a zombie film fan. This is one for every zombie fans' collection.

7 stars out 0f 10 stars, deducting 3 stars for running time(wish it had been 20 minutes longer) and the acting.