The Review:
By The Butcher Now here is something that you don't see
everyday - a puppet zombie western. Yes, folks, it’s finally
here and I have a sudden urge to ‘hug thy neighbor’ with the
utmost love and affection. I might even stop shitting on
their lawn. Okay, I’m being a tad sarcastic, but honestly,
I’m stoked that this film even exists. We get many inquiries
from filmmakers about featuring their movies here on the KR
site, and I just pass most of them along to my odd but
ass-kicking staff for review without even thinking about it.
But not this one - no fucking way! You couldn’t pry this DVD
from my clammy, dead hands!
As you would assume, the plot for this flick is pretty
simple. Virgil, our hero, is a young man who lives in a
saloon and is constantly picked on by his hometown’s locals
and even his own family. Well, one day, a group of savage
zombies attack the saloon and Virgil must trade his pussy in
for a penis and stark kicking some ass, which indeed he
does. Chainsaw, anyone?
What stood out the most for me about this twenty-minute
zombie bonanza was the production quality. Everything from
the puppets to the sets looks sharp, polished and extremely
detailed. It’s obvious that someone put in some serious TLC
behind the scenes; so much so that with a quick glance, you
just might pass this off mistakenly as CG, but I assure you
- it’s not.
The short is also filled with quirky dialogue and
off-the-wall characters, which makes for a damn fun time.
Thankfully, director Sidsel Hartlev clearly understands why
people are watching his movie and caters to that, which is
nice. I see so many movies where the director thinks of his
or her film as the next ‘Exorcist’, and in reality it
(literally) blows huge chunks more than Linda Blair ever
could have. Those are the fucking worst! But like I said,
Hartlev ‘gets it’ and because of that IT CAME FROM THE WEST
is a very enjoyable experience.
The gore is impressive as well. I would say just within
the twenty-minute running time you'll see more entrails and
blood than in most Lions Gate feature-length releases. But
the best part is that it's all puppets, so it's pretty cool
to see puppet entails flying across the room, or seeing a
puppet being sawed in half. (If only there were nudity, too!
Nothing gets the blood flowin’ south like some overgrown
puppet bush. Maybe next time, guys!)
Overall, the only problem I had with IT CAME FROM THE
WEST was its running time – it’s too fucking short! (Kind of
like the life expectancy of a Happy Meal ordered for Rosie
O’Donnell…) Hopefully, this film will get the attention it
deserves and the filmmakers will be able to expand the
concept into a full-length feature. I know I would buy that
DVD! But if you get the chance, then I highly recommend that
you check this out.
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IT CAME FROM THE WEST
