Director – Sandra Sciberras (Surviving Georgia, Caterpillar Wish)
Starring – Jolene Anderson (Nazi Undead, Harrow), Stef Dawson (7 Guardians of the Tomb, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1), and Richard Davies (Bruce, Offspring)
Release Date – 2019
Rating – 2/5
Since the pandemic began, almost a year ago, I’ve found myself in the mood to watch zombie or infected movies. Poor taste, yes, but something about checking out a new zombie flick with everything going on just seems fitting.
A few weeks ago Umbrella Entertainment announced that they would be releasing the 2019 sci-fi horror film The Dustwalker. It looked like a fitting movie for what everyone in the U.S. is dealing with so I reached out and requested a review copy. They were kind enough to send it over with their Amazing Stories DVD release. Thanks Umbrella!
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a small Australian town that finds itself cut off from the outside world by a fierce dust storm. To make matters worse, some of the people in this small town is infected by something otherworldly and are attacking the residents. Those not infected have to act fast or become another victim in a long line of victims. **Spoiler Alert**
I went in The Dustwalker really fucking excited to see a fun Australian horror flick but it didn’t take long to see that this one was a bit of a dud. I really like the idea behind it but the execution and paper thin story made it a rough watch for an hour and a half.
The acting in this one is the highlight of the film. I really liked the cast and the characters they delivered. A lot of horror movies, especially indie productions, struggles with writing the same character over and over again but giving them different names. Their personalities and so forth are identical which creates a bit of a confusing scene. However, the characters and the cast create their own characters that not only work with the story but stands out. They work and carry the film.
The story for this one is a fun mix of sci-fi and horror with an alien organism infecting humans. Not the most original horror tale with movies like Zombie Town, Night of the Creeps, and so on using similar stories but I like it enough. However, the movie’s plot is literally that. We have no build up, no special twist, and no real action sequences to hold our attention. We have the main point of the film and then just random scenes getting us there. Extremely boring and dull.
Finally, if you want some fun kills then you will be disappointed here. The deaths mostly take place off screen. We get some solid practical effects and decent blood but the film also uses some cheap visual effects that are pretty bad. At one point they use visual effects on one of the infected to make his mouth open wider than humanly possible and it’s one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a long time. Overall, The Dustwalker looked good on paper but it was lost when that was translated to the screen. It’s a forgettable movie that is tough for some to finish. Skip it.
