Saturday, 7 September 2024

Dead In Tombstone (4 Stars)


For me Danny Trejo is the ultimate B-Movie actor. He's rough, he's tough, and his gritty face instils fear whenever he walks into the room. Is he a good actor? I don't know, but I don't care. If he were any different he wouldn't be Danny Trejo.

In this film he plays Guerrero de la Cruz, the head of the ruthless Blackwater Gang. The film introduces them with their wanted posters. dead or alive, they're wanted for huge sums of money. They're told about a large amount of gold stored in the bank at Edendale, Colorado. It comes from a newly discovered thick vein, but it's being held until a legal dispute about the ownership is settled. That's not a problem for Guerrero or his men. If it doesn't belong to anyone, they can take it for themselves.

When they break into the bank they get a shock. It's much more gold than they expected, piled up on the floor, too much for them to carry. Guerrero is practical. He says they should pick up as much as they can carry and ride off. His gang mutiny. They don't want to leave any gold behind. Apart from the gold in the bank, the gold mine is still active, so they say they want to stay and take over the town. Guerrero's brother Red appoints himself the new sheriff on the spot. Guerrero protests, so Red and the other gang members shoot him on the spot. The next day they rename the town Tombstone.

So Guerrero is dead? Yes. He wakes up in Hell, where he's being tortured by the Devil, who's played by Mickey Rourke. How many actors have played the Devil? At the moment I can only think of Gabriel Byrne and Will Smith, but there must be many, many more. Guerrero makes a deal with the Devil. He promises to kill all six gang members if the Devil will bring him back to life. The Devil agrees, adding his own conditions. Guerrero comes back to life on the first anniversary of his death, and he has to kill the six men within 24 hours.

Unfortunately, Guerrero isn't equipped with any super strength or immortality. He's just a man, and he can be killed again.

It's a dark, brutal film. It isn't just one man against six. His previous gang members have hired dozens of men to back them up.

The film was released direct-to-video in October 2013. Despite the poor reviews, I think it's a good film. Danny Trejo meets the Devil in the Wild West? What else does anyone want?

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