DVD Review - Dead West

RLJ Entertainment;114 minutes; $27.97; Amazon

Arriving today on DVD from RLJ Entertainment is the crime-thriller Dead West. Edited, written and directed by Jeff Ferrell, the film stars Brian Sutherland, Megan Karimi-Nasar, and Jeffery Arrington.

The film centers on a charming outlaw (played by Brian Sutherland) traveling the back roads of Texas searching for his true love. Each time he believes that he has one the right one, he always finds some sort of flaw; disappointed, he ends up killing the woman with a pocket knife.

Unfortunately for the "ladykiller," one of his first victim's brother, Tony (played by Jeffery Arrington), is on the hunt for him, and will do anything it takes to get revenge!



Special Features includes:

• Audio Commentary with Director Jeff Ferrell, Actor Brian Sutherland and Composer Semh Tareen
• The Making of Dead West

Final Thoughts: By both the title and cover alone, I though Dead West would be a modern day western, similar in style with the television series Justified. However, my predictions were off quite a bit, as the film turned out to be a low-budget crime-thriller about a serial killer looking for his true love.

"The Revenge Never Dies" subtitle suggests that there will be at least some action in the movie, but that isn't the case. Yes, there is some violence in it, but I would never call it action. Actually, the "revenge" story is actually a small subplot that seemed pretty pointless.

The acting for the most part was decent, though the Brian Sutherland overacted way too much as the killer. The dialogue felt unreal and a little campy. The music is godawful; almost cringe-worthy.

Overall, Dead West is a forgettable, low-budget crime-thriller with very little thrills. It's worth a watch, and I mean exactly that - one viewing.

*I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.