Iconic writer/director Alex Cox (Repo Man, Sid & Nancy) steps in front of the camera for his latest film. He stars as a peculiar drifter named Strindler who weaves through Old West towns with an offer of payment for the names of dead Mexican workers. What’s his plan for the names, and why are they worth money? The answers are in short supply until late in the game, making for a bit of a slow burn peppered with occasional Western violence.
Buy Dead SoulsThe story by Cox and co-writer Gianni Garko is loosely based on Nikolai Gogol’s 19th-century novel of the same name, moving the setting from Russia to the American frontier but keeping the lead character’s money-grubbing scheme fairly intact. As townspeople start getting nosey about Strindler’s intentions for the Mexican names, inevitable conflicts arise, leading to shootouts and gamesmanship as other players attempt to outfox the mastermind.
The film was made on a shoestring, and it shows, not so much in the passable locations and cinematography, but glaringly evident in the shockingly low pool of acting “talent” assembled for the shoot. Cox’s co-stars rarely rise above the level of bumbling community-theater understudies, with hammy line readings straight out of a steampunk cosplay meetup and either overexaggerated or flatline expressions, depending on the player. They’re all clearly game and happy to be putting on a show with little compensation, but that leaves most of the heavy lifting up to Cox. Thankfully, he’s up to the task of flogging his dead horse of a cast across the finish line, contributing a fine performance that keeps viewers invested in learning Strindler’s secrets.
The Blu-ray includes a commentary track by Cox, the theatrical trailer, a peek behind the scenes at the brief but effective VFX creation at Tippett Studio, and a documentary feature by Cox about how he got the film financed. With no studio support and his legendary independent streak firmly intact, he took the film directly to the people, launching a crowdfunding campaign accompanied by videos where he charmingly lifted the curtain on the present-day realities and limitations of indie filmmaking. It’s fascinating to watch his crowdfunding videos, which he has included on the disc, and generates new appreciation for the fact that he was able to do as much as he did here with a budget that was apparently less than $200K. The results are not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, and seemingly act as a coda to Cox’s confounding film career, but it’s still fun to see the old punk riding off into the sunset on his own terms one last time.
