1881 Zombies (2009)

Director: Dusty Duprel
Star: James C Burns

The medicine man does his dance and throws up his arms and the dead rise from their graves, their hands neatly silhouetted against a memorable sky. This is 1881 Zombies, yet another short take on the zombie concept. No, there aren't nearly two thousand zombies in this film, it's the year 1881 and we have a hanging coming soon. Apparently ten men went out and one man came back so obviously he's the bad guy, but of course he isn't and we soon discover why. These ten men went out to massacre a tribe of Indians and he stopped them, dead in their tracks. And now they're back to wreak their revenge on the town that sent them.

This is an intriguing little film, well made and with production values that extend beyond the film itself to the credit sequence at the end. It didn't look like it would get there for a while, as the great opening turns into a generic saloon scene that promises nothing more than stereotypes and wooden acting, but it picks up the pace and never lets it go from then on out. These aren't zombies to mess with and we could certainly try to take a lot more of them. This is only a nine minute short and it works well at that length, but could easily be a lot longer. A few subplots, beyond what's hinted at here, could even turn it into a worthy feature.