Dead Kansas is a very low-budget zombie movie. It’s so low budget, in fact, that you might as well call it homemade. However, while the acting is rough around the edges and some of the dialog is uncomfortably awkward, it’s great to see filmmakers out there making an effort. At the very least, what Dead Kansas does is prove that anyone can make a movie these days, provided they have a decent camera, some solid editing software, a script that works, and some loyal friends — and that’s great!
But speaking of that editing… the video editing is fine, but the sound editing is well… let’s just say that in a post-zombie-apocalypse world we shouldn’t be hearing the hum of traffic or police sirens in the distance.
I’m not sure where the filmmakers, Aaron K.Carter and Nicholas A. Denicola, are from, but I have the feeling that they think Kansas is a lot farther south than it is. I say this because some of the accents the characters use are just a little too thick. Also, I’m not black and even I took offense to the Skinny character, who felt like Jim ripped right out of the pages of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. From Skinny’s accent to his overalls with no undershirt to his pitchfork, it all just seemed like late-19th century characterization.
Understanding that there were obvious budget constraints, and perhaps restrictions in the make-up department and in time, but some sort of time-lapse element during the tornado would have helped the movie’s realism, as would some wind damage. Seeing some zombies during the movie would have been nice too, but the work-around was nice for the “surprise” and the zombie make-up reveal, which was actually nice.
On a whole, I think only a select audience, myself included, will enjoy Dead Kansas. The DIY approach and the obvious oversights in production isn’t for everybody, but if you like seeing grassroots film, then you should check out Dead Kansas.
You can watch the movie in five installments in the player above (note that it doesn’t play in the proper sequence), and if you really love it, head on over to deadkansas.com to buy the DVD.
Rock Hard \m/
