DEAD KANSAS is a very low budget science fiction horror movie with a post-apocalyptic setting. It was originally released as a series of web episodes which gives the story an episodic feel. Unfortunately, as with most independent fare being made today, the whole thing is too cheap to be taken seriously. The worst thing about the extended filming schedule is that the lead actress changes around the halfway mark, which is pretty much unforgivable in a production like this. Me, I would have given up with it, but instead they recast and soldier on.The good news is that the second actress is better than the first. Otherwise, we're in a world which attempts to mix Romero-style zombie horror with some MAD MAX-style criminal gangs. None of it is very convincing or indeed credible. The performances vary by cast member. It's not the worst film I've seen, but very far from the best.

Aaron K. Carter uses Horror & Humor to tell this Frightfully Wonderful Tale of Human Survival, in the midst of a Zombie Apocalypse ! He doesn't let the flow of the film slow down with minor details; & presents his Story in an engaging manner, filled with Blood, Gore, & mayhem. The Players are well-cast & include a vast array of Talent, with the Biggest Name belonging to IRWIN KEYES, who's appeared in "House of 1000Corpses" & "Black Dynamite", as well as numerous other movies & TV Shows, portraying "Giant" from the Town of Circus-FolK, with BEN WOOLF playing the diminutive Town Leader "Squeak" . The Story revolves around a Father & Daughter trying to survive & Protect each other, while there's destruction all around them, & the Search for "Doctor Emerson", played by DARRYL DICK, to heal the Father . The Father, "Glenn" is Portrayed by AARON GUERRERO & the Daughter "Emma" is handled by a Trio of Talented Ladies, ERIN MIRACLE, ALEXANDRIA LIGHTFORD, & the Young MADISON MENDEZ: & they are All Equally Brilliant in their Roles . MICHAEL CAMP appears to have a Great Time playing the Bandit Leader & All-Around Bad Guy "Jebediah", & he does a Bang-Up job of it ! Rounding out the Cast is JULIETTE DANIELLE as "Rebecca", BRITTANY PASTOR as the "Dart Thrower", & LAURA E. WHITE as a "Bar Patron" . A Special Thank YOU to Beautiful DENISE JOHNS RAYL for bringing Her Obvious Talents to the role of "Busty Bar Patron" ! Thank You, AARON K CARTER & fellow writer NICHOLAS A. DeNICOLA for this Fun, Interesting, & Horror-Filled Film !!!! Well Done; & I'm awaiting the Sequel !!!

Aaron K. Carter's post-zompocalypse film is probably one of the oddest experiences I have had watching indie/homegrown movies. The story focuses on a Father/daughter drama of survival post outbreak, like way post. Very little society is left and most of the "rottens" have rotted away. All that is left is bands of people fighting one another to carve out dominance over the Kansas terrain. Throw in that only daughter seems to be immune from the virus that is blamed by the whole of female society for its destruction, and you have an old school male dominated saga unfolding. First off I want to explain why I said this is one of the oddest viewing experiences I have had. "Dead Kansas" is by no means a strong indie zombie film, nor is it a strong story. There is just so much that noticeably goes wrong in every act- the writing, line delivery, timing, the characters – it all is just a off. And yet, there is some hidden entity that possesses this film's atmosphere and energy that forced me to watch. I found small moments of gold in here that made me highly entertained. Plus some of the cast are nice surprises that legitimize "Dead Kansas". Irwin Keyes, Ben Woolf both add something special to "Dead Kansas". The special effects are almost non existent since most is suggestive and off camera. Even the zombies are never really since except for once. It is a bit of a let down but in a genre over saturated with material already there is really nothing that "Dead Kansas" could have done to add to the situation. Still it would have been nice to see them a bit more. I get why Carter went with the concept that he did. It is creative and artist to place the viewer inside the eyes of the zombie by having the scenes switch to black & white. Plus with the scene that an actual zombie shows up on screen, that moment and how it pertains to the story and characters in the moment aims for profundity. Overall "Dead Kansas" is gonna disappoint a lot of people who set out to watch the film. It is on the lower quality side of indie film making-not sure if they had a budget or not. Didn't look like they did. The story is "been-there-done-that", and the acting really should have been reigned in more on several of these characters. All that said, the oddity of nature that accompanies these characters, the off-tempo line deliveries, and the sound track somehow put off a Fred Olen Ray/Gil Bettman vibe. By the last scene I actually found myself into the surviving characters and excited that they left the story open for a sequel.

I watched Aaron K. Carter's film with a group of friends at an online movie-and-chat site that I moderate, and I'll say right off the bat that the movie was very well received. It caught the attention of our viewers at the very beginning and held it until the very end. I personally consider it one of the best independent films we've ever shown. I really liked the way that Carter handled the zombies ("rottens" as they're called in this movie), showing only glimpses of them until the final sequence. The ending itself was startling and memorable and (thankfully) left the way open to a sequel.The guest actors -- Irwin Keyes ("House of 1000 Corpses"), Ben Woolf ("American Horror Story: Freakshow"), Joe McQueen ("Confessions of a Superhero"), Tony Della Catena ("Colors"), and Juliette Danielle ("The Room")-- were fun to watch (and watch out for), and McQueen in particular was a real asset to the film. The acting overall was first-rate, particularly for an independent film. Carter avoids the clichés of many zombie films, and the emphasis is on story and character rather than on gore. There is none of the amateurish look and feel that characterizes so many independently made horror films. The only "criticism" I heard from our group was that some of our viewers thought that Kevin Beardsley played the part of Rusty too broadly. But none of them picked up on the fact that he also played the character of Zeke. To me, that's good acting when someone plays two roles and no one notices. Also, no one noticed that the actress playing the lead character switched midway through the movie. Another example of good acting (and directing). There are number of clever references to "The Wizard of Oz" (apart from the fact that the movie takes place in Kansas), which gave me an even greater appreciation of the movie. Although initially made as a five-part web series over a period of many months (hence the need to switch lead actresses after the first one got visibly pregnant), the movie has an overall coherence with a logical beginning, middle, and end, and doesn't look like five separate pieces arbitrarily strung together. All in all, I found this to be an impressive first film, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of Carter's work.