I had to, embarrassingly, research the exact years the American Frontier was explored because my historical knowledge is somewhat lacking. Exploration took place from 1607 – 1912, although Revelation Trail looks to take place somewhere between the invention of the Pony Express and the Oklahoma Land Rush. This is particularly interesting because Revelation Trail is one of the only – I really can’t think of any other – zombie films to take place before World War I. For this reason alone, I thought the movie was worth a viewing!
Revelation Trail is written and directed by John P. Gibson with Blake Armstrong and Daniel Van Thomas. Cast members include Daniel Van Thomas, Daniel Britt, Jordan Elizabeth (Knock Knock II), Robert Valentine, Paul Morris (Vamps), Donald R. Fleming, Christopher Vonderschmidt, and Lee Vervoort (The Lashman, The Truck).
“A frontier preacher’s life is destroyed when a gruesome power consumes the land; he now must make the choice to give in to ruin, or find his purpose in the fight against the mysterious undead. Joined by the town lawman (who has entirely different personal demons to confront), the two men learn the extremes they’re willing to go to in order to make it to the next day, as well as the depths people will go to when they truly believe in something.” – IMDB
When I first started watching Revelation Trail, my thought was, “How bad could a zombie apocalypse in the 1800s be?” In hindsight, there were already 38,000,000 people in America in the time period the movie is set in. There’s also not a whole lot going on in terms of communication and transportation. If a zombie outbreak happened right now we’d know instantly and we’d have time to prepare or flee. Back then, it could be weeks before the news got out. It makes for a very interesting concept and a much more dangerous situation. The way this movie unfolds is true and realistic in that there is a lot of blood shed, a lot of not knowing what’s going on. This isn’t “The Walking Dead” where you have machine guns and tanks; weapons back then were a lot simpler and took a lot longer to get ready. Two or three zombies are a much bigger threat in the 1800s than in our current time.
Speaking of “The Walking Dead,” it’s hard to watch any zombie movie lately without drawing comparisons to the movie being reviewed and the AMC hit television series. The Walking Dead comic book series and its companion television show consists of 132 original comics and 51 original episodes that have aired so far. That’s a lot of subject matter to cover and a lot of plot devices that need to be used to progress the story. There are a couple instances in Revelation Trail that remind me of “The Walking Dead.” First and foremost, the dastardly Samuel Beard is obviously The Governor set 200 years in the past. Even something as the lead character’s son, James, getting attacked and killed while playing in the mud near a river reminds me of the death of…whatever her name was in season five. I don’t know if these instances are going to be a positive or negative to most viewers, but I figured they were worth mentioning.
I think what I appreciate about Revelation Trail is, having read the press release, that this title was a completely independent, grassroots effort. The hours of time and effort put into this production is unmeasurable. Hundreds of extras, set builders, costume department, special effects – literally everyone working long hours for the thrill of it all is simply inspiring. Sure, there are a couple moments of bad stunt choreography, but this is a really professional looking zombie western. It looks like they even built an entire city full of houses to use for filming.!It’s so impressive to see the love for real film making still alive, especially with so much CGI shortcuts and faulty ideas that “save time” so commonly used. If anything, I’d go as far as saying Revelation Trail is truly an inspiration to anyone wanting to make their own film without a huge corporate backing. I’m so proud of what they’ve accomplished.
In terms of acting, I think that the lead actor Daniel Van Thomas is by far the standout. He’s convincing, articulate, endearing, and he’s just as expressive with his facial movements as he is with voice and dialogue. He is a real actor. I have no negative critiques for any of the other performers, but Daniel is the standout and I’m glad he was cast as the main character. Now, with that said, my only real problem is that the film introduced the most entertaining characters at the end and had the whole film filled with little walk on spots or people I don’t care too much about. The inclusion of the gun slinging woman and the tomahawk wielding Native America were so great, but then they were hardly used! I would have loved to see more of them! However, if this is the only big negative I can see in this picture, then that says a lot!
I’ll give Revelation Trail an 8 out of 10. Super polished and professional, grassroots and a possible pioneering (see what I did there?) movie in regards to revamping how films are made. It’s got a talented and realistic lead, and lots and lots of zombie blood! I think you’ll enjoy it just as much as I did.
I did not think it was very good. It is really slow and the story is not great. Though, I did think the costumes and settings looked really good and authentic.