Resurrection Roadfeatures a promising premise: a former slave-turned-Union soldier leading a Black unit ona deadly mission with a bloody and supernatural twist. Unfortunately, however, the film vacillates between tired genre tropes, questionable cinematography, schlock humor and a narrative that flickers with a few surprises. A decent ensemble cast does their best on a low budget and a shockingly short runtime —Resurrection Roadclocks in at a speedy 77 minutes, which includes the credits. It’s over in a flash, when there was enough material here to tell a more complex story.
A violent introduction sees Barabbas (Malcolm Goodwin) remembering the murder of his wife (Leila Scott) as he’s locked up in a jail cell.The fiend (Michael Madsen)who committed this atrocity is forever seared into Barabbas' memory, and his flesh — he was branded as an escaped slave in the conflict. Several years later, his enlistment in the Union Army hasn’t led to proper vengeance, and he’s about to be court-martialed when the regiment’s despicable commanders offer him a deal.
Resurrection Road
General Craven (Jeff Daniel Phillips) and Colonel Havers (Bryan Whorton) present him with a signed pardon, and a promise: Barabbas can escape the noose and get his 40 acres and a mule, but only if he returns to the place of his nightmares. A Confederate fort deep in the Arkansas mountains has decimated Union troops with its heavy guns, and Barabbas' mission will be to take six soldiers from the First Kansas Colored Infantry to sabotage the fort and destroy its weapons.
The men embark, but with serious misgivings. No one has ever come back from the fort — how can they accomplish something that’s killed everyone else who’s tried? The journey begins with an ominous sign at a farm littered with mauled bodies, as a terrified survivor warns of the “bad juju” that comes from the woods at night.
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Writer/director Ashley Cahill (Random Acts of Violence)had a promising idea. His swift first act touches on the soldiers' thorny predicament, while competently establishing their character dynamics through coarse banter. Stevens (Randall J Bacon) believes that God will protect them. Sergeant Abe (Bryan Tarron Jones) has already been through hell with Barabbas, and this won’t be any different. But Washington (Okea Eme-Akwari) has a decidedly different view. It’s suicide to go any further, and he won’t march to guaranteed death. But Washington learns the hard way never to challenge Barabbas.
Resurrection Roaddoes a couple of things right. Cahill doesn’t sugarcoat their options: Barabbas and the soldiers know they’re expendable. All were formerly enslaved, and horrifically treated. Black lives also mean nothing to the Union army, and worse will happen if they are captured by the Confederates. Barabbas is keenly aware of the evil in men’s hearts, but he deserves his 40 acres and a mule, and is willing to kill to get it. Barabbas is the definition of cutthroat, and Goodwin — a veteran actor with decades of screen credits — elevates the character and script with a fierce lead performance.
Cursed Woods
Cahill doesn’t allow racial themes to dominate the plot, however.Resurrection Roadis a horror film with wisps of comedy, and you’ll be able to guess pretty quickly what kind of baddies these soldiers are about to face. Gruesome practical effects are the film’s best technical aspect, and bullet wounds, ripped throats and disemboweled bodies look the part. The gore factor works when needed and gets progressively bloodier, providing a semblance of realism when everything else falls off the rails.
On a less positive note,Resurrection Roadgets downright silly with its score and exaggerated sound effects. The music serves its purpose in the beginning of the film, but then inexplicably becomes a grating cacophony of discordant strings and jarring bangs that deflate the tension like a leaking balloon. What was supposed to bolster the scare factor has the opposite effect, annoying the heck out of the audience with an experience akin to walking through a cheesy haunted house with the speakers blasting.
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The cinematography and lighting also sap the film’s intentions. Shooting at night in dark locations isn’t easy; it takes skill to strike a balance between unseen threats and being able to view the immediate action. Unfortunately,Resurrection Roadis lit up like a Christmas tree. The forest scenes have obvious overhead lighting, making a “full moon” look like a spotlight. This gets exponentially worse when the men infiltrate the fort: The Civil War didn’t have light bulbs, but you can clearly see that the lanterns and candles illuminating the set aren’t flames. One scene in particular has a floodlight visible in the background. That’s inexcusable.
Madsen’s villain is another low point thatResurrection Roadnever recovers from. Why didn’t his character have more exposition? The antagonist has negligible screen time, and vanishes for 90% of the film. It’s as if Madsen was only able to shoot for a day, and the result is that he can’t be taken seriously in this role. As this pivotal character flops,Resurrection Roadsquanders its chance to be better on multiple fronts.
Resurrection Roadis a production of One Dollar Studios and Rebellium Films. It will be available in select theaters, digital and on demand on June 6th from Saban Films.
