Movie Review - Gallowwalkers (2007)

Simon Phoenix in Demolition Man. Nino Brown in New Jack City. "Flip" Purify in Jungle Fever. Shadow Henderson in Mo' Better Blues. John Cutter in Passenger 57. The dude that slapped Michael Jackson in the music video "Bad". The unnamed brother towards the end of Waiting to Exhale.  Blade.

These are the roles of the Wesley Snipes I know and love. Granted he's been through the ringer over his taxes and spent 3 years behind bars over them, he still turns in great performances. It was this last role that has given me pause: that of Aman, the main character from the direct-to-DVD movie Gallowwalkers. It's a horror-Western, so bear with me.
The reasonable facsimile of the American West setting is played by the Namib Desert, found in the southwestern African country of Namibia.  It is a very beautiful place, and is part of a country that has no extradition treaty with the United States (which is good so Mr. Snipes can make a movie without federal agents arresting him on site). That said, our story focuses not on taxes, but on a blood debt to be collected by butcher-turned-bounty hunter Aman (Snipes). He hunts the Gallowwalkers: a group of people he once killed in a rage of revenge for the rape of Sueno (Alyssa Pridham), the woman he loved. They have since come back and now wreak havoc on the world, which means one thing, true believers: Aman has to kill them. Again.

WESLEY SNIPES WINS
FATALITY

Aman is somewhat typical for a main character in a horror-Western: he is mysterious, wears a lot of dark colors in the hot ass sun, seems nigh invulnerable, and can do things normal men cannot. For instance, he shows proficiency in surgical procedures not seen since the first Mortal Kombat video game as he rips a Gallowwalker's skull from his body with the spine still attached with his bare hands.

Knowing the they're being hunted by a guy who can do that doesn't stop the other Gallowwalkers from running about and causing trouble. Enter the rest of the gang: Skullbucket (ex-wrestler Diamond Dallas Page), Kisscut (the wide-jawed Simona Brhlikova), and the others led by Kansa (Kevin Howarth).  They have distorted the ideas of law and justice to their own ends, and have marshal Gaza (Patrick Bergin) and his deputies under their thumb to provide access to fresh bodies. It's where we meet the kid Fabulos (Riley Smith) and the whore Angel (the very lovely Tanit Phoenix) about to be sacrificed when they are freed by Aman.  Only Fabulos escapes to partner with Aman in his quest for revenge, while Angel remains captured and will be a sacrifice to resurrect Kansa's dead son (also murdered by Aman).  Not content to suffer Kansa and his crew, Aman and Fabulos fight them to the last and save Angel.  There isn't much after that, as the director Andrew Goth goes for a Kurosawa-style western ending.

"Well, I suppose I have a little while before the
shoot is over and I have to go back to America
and face trial..."

This movie was not going anywhere aside to direct-to-DVD.  It had been in the can since 2007, but due to the tax thing it sat for 5 years or so.  Though the quality of Mr. Snipes' acting is not in question, but the level of technical expertise is inconsistent.  One minute, it's extremely stylized and the next it's on par with Bloodrayne II (hint: not a good movie). It's even interpreted that these Gallowwalkers are akin to skin-walkers, in a very literal sense: they are able to change their shape by killing and then wearing the skin of their victims.  That explains the constant bleeding even when they are not wounded. Visually it's amazing and strangely clear, but in terms of a story telling aspect it's one of a litany of problems in this non-linear tale of revenge and undead outlaws.

I truly wish this were a better movie and that it hadn't been delayed for 5 years, because then I wouldn't have to wait for Expendables 3 to come out to see Wesley Snipes in a mainstream movie.



CHOICE CUTS:

• Albino Christian fundamentalists living in the desert? Sounds like Arizona and New Mexico to me.
• So there's a temple deep in the desert, underground, that houses the Sisters of San Diablo. Go back to the description of nuns that follow the teachings of Saint Devil, and tell me how that makes sense.
• Of special note is Tanit Phoenix, who plays the character Angel. She looks like a mash-up of Olivia Munn, Megan Fox, and Olga Kurylenko--and it is absolutely amazing to behold. Unfortunately for me, she is in a relationship with actor Sharlto Copley.

PRICELESS QUOTES:
The tagline:

Live by the gun. Die by the gun. Come back for more.

After a scene where Skullbucket gets up after being defeated by Aman, Aman's illegitimate child picks up a sling and one-shots Skullbucket with a stone to the back of the head.  Aman's reaction? He says with a smile:

AMAN (smiling)
Kids.

 Fabulos asks for help from Aman in the final scene, and Aman lets him know he has all he needs to continue onward in this last nail in the coffin (pun intended):

FABULOS

Hey man, I don't know how to be dead.

AMAN (walking away)

No one taught you how to live.

So with this, we say good-bye to the lovely Namib Desert, to Wesley Snipes' tax problems, and to the lovely Tanit Phoenix, as Gallowwalkers is DONE. I celebrate this with a single note...WESLEY SNIPES IS BACK, BITCHES!

Gallowwalkers gets a 3 out of 10.