Today’s quick review: Gallowwalkers. Aman (Wesley Snipes) sought revenge against the men who raped his lover, only for them to come back to life after he killed them. Now Aman turns to Fabulos (Riley Smith), a young gunslinger, and Angel (Tanit Phoenix), an imprisoned dancer, to bury Kansa (Kevin Howarth) and his gang for good.
Gallowwalkers is a budget Western action horror movie starring Wesley Snipes. The movie pits a vengeful gunslinger against the crew of outlaws he already killed once. Gallowwalkers aims to be a haunting tale packed with gore and malevolent forces. But its execution falls well short of the mark. Shoddy storytelling, low-budget action, and minimal acting to speak of leave the movie’s modest potential untapped.
Gallowwalkers’ main problem is that it does a poor job of conveying its ideas. The opening is a jumble of out-of-context encounters, flashbacks, and voiceovers that do almost nothing to orient the viewer. While answers come eventually, they are not worth the wait. The movie also has the habit of killing off characters before they have been introduced, turning the story into a jumble of strange ideas that are never given the chance to grow.
Even setting aside its story, Gallowwalkers struggles with the fundamentals. There is gore aplenty, but the villains are so ineffectual that it has no impact. The movie also takes a long time to explain the rules of the undead, meaning most of the early encounters have unclear stakes. Finally, none of the characters have complete arcs, giving Wesley Snipes and the rest of the cast little opportunity to act.
Gallowwalkers may hold some appeal for fans of schlocky, budget horror, but its muddled story and unimpressive action mean that the right audience will be hard to come by. Although there is some merit in its premise, and Snipes has played similar roles to good effect, Gallowwalkers’ execution leaves much to be desired. Most viewers should skip it.
For Wesley Snipes in a better supernatural role, try the Blade trilogy. For a Western action movie with similar elements of the supernatural, try Jonah Hex or BloodRayne: Deliverance. For a Western-themed action horror movie in a sci-fi setting, try Priest. For a superhero action horror movie with Western influences, try Ghost Rider or its sequel. For an unconventional Western with more imagination, try The Warrior’s Way.
[3.6 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0829176/). I give it a 3.5 for weak execution of serviceable premise.