Death After Dusk
Death After Dusk
Death After Dusk can be classified as an American Western film laden with thrilling slashing elements. In the beginning of the film, writer/director Chandler Balli and co-writer Travis Lee Prine show a female character who comes to the bar where her sister Sarah (Katerina Townsend) works, in the town of Buck Creek walking alone through its deserted streets. Once she arrives there, she is approached by a masked man who introduces himself. She exits the bar and he murders her. Over a period of several days, the same unfortunate occurrences take place.
To solve the predicament, Sheriff William (Sammy Wilson) calls in nine bounty hunters. There is a rich reward for whomever among them gets the killer or killers first. Among the hired guns are Skinny (Balli) and his partner Short (Addison Chapman), Mad Dog Matt (Kelly Kidd), Thomas (Joseph Baire), G.K. (Aaron Vargas), Jed (Prine), Blink (Alana Phillips), Brass Parker (Gary Metivier) and Billy (Daniel Douglas). Will these expert guns and hunters of the bush locate the murderer? Was one of them the murderer and is casting suspicion on the rest to escape jail?
The film Death After Dusk runs for 140 minutes and is quite long. That is about 15 minutes or so less than Dune: Part One. As such, there are a couple of pacing issues towards the end as the bounty hunters start pouring into Buck Creek. There is also a more recent book end which is set in either 1964 or 1965. For the conclusion, it does give it a specific kind of punch but these sequences are quite irrelevant and do not help advance the central plot. Also, considering how many bounty hunters there are, it is somewhat frustrating that the only central characters are Skinny, Short and Mad Dog.
Everyone else receives a little backstory shown here as a flashback but nothing passionate or strong that handles the core of their motivation or the plot.
That said, it’s all good looking. There is a $10,000 budget, which is evident in the lighting and film quality, but other than that, the cinematography is excellent. The town looks and feels as though it is part of the wild west in 1899. The shot of the camera peering around a corner of the building at night is scary. In addition, there is a pull-in to the characters looking for the killer on the streets at night what adds some risks. Last but not least, the multiple shootouts and stand-offs are really gripping.
To add on, the ensemble cast of actors from Death After Dusk is very good. Townsend makes the desire to get revenge for her sister quite understandable. Balli and Chapman are great together and most of the dramatic weight is on their awesome muscles. Kidd at the same time is entertaining yet vile. Perhaps Phillips is someone you would describe as a badass even if her character Ain’t doing much. Vargas gets a scene well to show how classy he is.
Sadly, Death After Dusk reaches its 2-hour and 20-minute limit without the need of an intermission. In a few ways however, its limited resources are manifeste. But the actors are great, and there is a palpable sense of danger. Although there are several plots and conflicts revolving around the major twist of revealing the villain and deception, it is not easy to anticipate. The brilliance of cinematography not only complements but creates a remarkable feeling of time and place in the wonderful set and outstanding production design.
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- Genre: horror, Western
- Country: United States
- Director: Chandler Balli
- Cast: Joseph Baire, Chandler Balli, Addison Chapman
