Reptileenbu
Did you people see the same film I saw?
Keeley Coleman
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Scarlet
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
timodo
Aaron K. Carter uses Horror & Humor to tell this Frightfully Wonderful Tale of Human Survival, in the midst of a Zombie Apocalypse ! He doesn't let the flow of the film slow down with minor details; & presents his Story in an engaging manner, filled with Blood, Gore, & mayhem. The Players are well-cast & include a vast array of Talent, with the Biggest Name belonging to IRWIN KEYES, who's appeared in "House of 1000Corpses" & "Black Dynamite", as well as numerous other movies & TV Shows, portraying "Giant" from the Town of Circus-FolK, with BEN WOOLF playing the diminutive Town Leader "Squeak" . The Story revolves around a Father & Daughter trying to survive & Protect each other, while there's destruction all around them, & the Search for "Doctor Emerson", played by DARRYL DICK, to heal the Father . The Father, "Glenn" is Portrayed by AARON GUERRERO & the Daughter "Emma" is handled by a Trio of Talented Ladies, ERIN MIRACLE, ALEXANDRIA LIGHTFORD, & the Young MADISON MENDEZ: & they are All Equally Brilliant in their Roles . MICHAEL CAMP appears to have a Great Time playing the Bandit Leader & All-Around Bad Guy "Jebediah", & he does a Bang-Up job of it ! Rounding out the Cast is JULIETTE DANIELLE as "Rebecca", BRITTANY PASTOR as the "Dart Thrower", & LAURA E. WHITE as a "Bar Patron" . A Special Thank YOU to Beautiful DENISE JOHNS RAYL for bringing Her Obvious Talents to the role of "Busty Bar Patron" ! Thank You, AARON K CARTER & fellow writer NICHOLAS A. DeNICOLA for this Fun, Interesting, & Horror-Filled Film !!!! Well Done; & I'm awaiting the Sequel !!!
jimbob spence
I love a Grindhouse movie and this one is close enough to grind house to really like. Joe McQueen does a great job and the rest of the cast is really great to. I would watch it over and over! Really love how they did the zombie thing. It gives a whole new approach for zombie apocalypse movies. Can't wait to see what Aaron Carter is gonna do next. Would really love to see him team up with someone and make a grind house set. I know it would be awesome! Zombie movies done right. Give it a chance and watch it. Don't just knock before you watch. It's B rate but at it's finest. If you like a good B rate movie and grind house movies. Then you will like this one.
hollywoodpsychic
I picked up a DVD copy of Dead Kansas last year because I noticed Irwin Keyes was in it. And I popped it on this weekend after the announcement that he passed away a few days ago. Unfortunately, Irwin's part is so miniscule, it's hardly worth mentioning. It's too bad, really, because he'd have been a far more interesting character to follow than most of the amateur leads.I say "most" because Joe McQueen (the actor who plays "Skinny") is actually quite good and very watchable. Unfortunately, that can't be said about the rest of the main cast, especially in regards to the poorly scripted lead role: Emma. (Note: this character was played by two separate actresses, due to a prolonged shooting schedule brought on by obvious budgetary limitations. It's quite clear that production lurched along in fits and starts, with shooting commencing only when money and scheduling allowed. It should be a surprise to no one that such a disjointed approach to filmmaking would result in a sloppy and inconsistent final product.)Still, I watch no-budget, regional horror not because I expect perfection, but rather because it's always great to stumble upon some unseen diamond in the rough. A good idea or an interesting concept can often transcend the limitations of an amateur cast and crew, or a non-existent budget. (See the works of Richard Griffin, The Zellner Brothers, Adam Wingard, Mark Leake, Zachary Hadden, Kristian Day, Damon Packard, Adam Cooley, Ryan Trecartin, or any number of others doing interesting work with no money.) And, to be fair, the concept behind Dead Kansas does work to a point. Essentially, this is a post-apocalyptic zombie movie loosely structured around a Wizard of Oz story template: A young girl must leave her Kansas farm after a tornado (and a zombie bite) leaves her father injured. She takes to the road with a ragtag group of friends in the hopes of finding a doctor who can help her father.Unfortunately, the Wizard of Oz elements are merely surface deep. So the idea collapses under the weight of a poor script that barely succeeds at delivering the most basic elements of screen writing 101: Plot, Character, Dialogue. (And utterly fails at the more complicated elements of screen writing and storytelling such as Pacing, Conflict, Theme, etc.) And therein lies the film's most crippling problem. It's just not a very good story. Characters barely serve the needs of their badly scripted scenes, let alone the rest of the plot or larger picture. I did enjoy one aspect of the ending, but frankly because I'd given up hope in a fully realized concept by that point and was surprised to see ONE obvious (but oh-so welcomed) story resolution.There are other problems with Dead Kansas beyond the bad writing, amateur acting and choppy filmmaking... the sound mix is uneven, the editing and camera angles are poor, and the low budget doesn't allow for many effect shots at all (so you can forget about seeing the zombies, kills, the tornado, and most of the "action")... but honestly, all of that could be forgiven if the script was better.I wish director Aaron K. Carter the best and I sincerely hope his future efforts benefit from the lessons he learned and the mistakes he made with this one. I'd even watch a sequel to Dead Kansas if it ever happens. But I do hope he works on his screen writing and scrapes up a little bit of money to put a better production together before rolling camera. And I really hope he manages to put his stronger cast front and center, and retires the amateurs to the supporting roles next time.
Woodyanders
Director/co-writer Aaron K. Carter thankfully eschews the expected in-your-face graphic gore in favor of putting a welcome and refreshing emphasis on the human element instead. Indeed, the tender scenes between the sweet Emma (a sturdy and appealing portrayal by Erin Miracle and Alexandria Lightford) and her protective religious fanatic father Glenn (a fine performance by Aaron Guerrero) possess a surprisingly significant amount of substance and poignancy. Moreover, it's Emma's dedication to and concern for her father that in turn gives the narrative its key moving impetus. Carter warrants extra praise for keeping the zombies largely off screen throughout (although there still are a lot of nifty zombie black and white POV shots), with the one lone instance in which the viewer does see a zombie clearly packing a devastating emotional punch due to this commendable sense of restraint. The stark simplicity of Carter's no-frills style eschews fancy fireworks in favor of basic human drama, thereby ensuring that this picture never gets thrown off track by any needlessly flashy razzle-dazzle. The sound acting from the capable cast helps a whole lot: Besides the sterling work by Miracle, Lightford, and Guerrero, there are also spot-on contributions by Michael Camp as antagonistic troublemaker Jebediah, Kevin C. Beardsley as Jeb's scruffy brother Zeke, and Joe McQueen as the helpful and heroic Skinny. Veteran character Irwin Keyes has a nice small part as a kindly giant. The strong underlying theme on loyalty further enhances the overall exceptional quality of this well above average little sleeper.
