Bad Men and the Devil

For a film with a budget less than $500, the production quality in “Bad Men and The Devil” is incredible. The props and set may look a little too new for a Wild West saloon, but the sets and art design were well established. The costume design is also well done but may suffer from the same lack of wear typical in modern Westerns. The mood established by the lighting is also very well done – the yellowish tinge and harsh shadows are very reminiscent of modern Westerns and add a lot of production value.

The end credits suggest that the man monologuing is a bounty hunter and the people he killed are wanted men. Aside from the title “Bad Men and The Devil” and a small line about reward money, this is not explicit in the film. It took me two watchings to clearly understand the relationship between the main character and his victims. Were it more explicit, it would have created an interesting moral of the brutality needed to catch or stop brutal men; a tale of a man becoming what he opposes that is prevalent in the Western genre. The lack of clarity, I think, stems from the lack of visual storytelling.

The main actor is believable in costume and demeanor. After the long opening sequence, he dialogs or rather monologs about the death of a man he just killed. This particular monolog would be better portrayed on a stage rather than a screen. On screen, the awkwardly long scene only tells you the story. The constraints of the theater would have excused this, but on film, the audience needs action – visuals that tell the story better than words. Adding some simple cutaway shots of the action taking place would have greatly increased the visual interest of the film.

The reading of the dialog is well done. The actor punctuates many of his phrases with small, breathy snickers that suggest a callousness the man has towards death and killing.

For the microbudget of $500, this is a very well made film. The filmmakers should be proud of what they accomplished.