All Hell Broke Loose (2009 Video) User Reviews

One of the worst I've ever seen

[TahoeKiter · 2/10 · 28 November 2009]

This truly is one of the worst, if not "the" worst westerns I've ever seen for various reasons. I like most westerns and I would likely give some leeway for theatrical mistakes or bad camera work. But this one hits the mark on all things bad. The actors, perhaps with the exception of David Carradine and Jim Hilton, for the most part wouldn't make it in a dog food commercial. The dialog was dry and the deliveries were worse than a "B" rated porno. As for the location scenery, it was very good. But the set design and construction was right up there with current building standards. I did not realize they had plywood and parquet flooring back then. You can even see attic venting made out of aluminum.

As for the main actor (Jim Hilton) being an expert at shooting a long rifle, his ability at the dramatic scene lets the viewer somewhat dumbfounded. Come on, ten shots from 20 feet and not one man drops? The story line is taken from several other "Great" movies and blended with pure amateur high school movie making.

Again, I have to say, don't waste pop corn money on this one.

Are you Sure this is a Western?

[westernNewt · 1/10 · 4 December 2010]

Yes, like many, we fell for the false advertising on the DVD box and paid good money to watch this movie. It takes about 5-10 minutes of watching this movie to realize it should be moved from the 'Western' genre to the comedy category. The movie is more along the lines of a Mel Brooks flick since so much of it is plain laughable!

First, exactly how many sheriffs does this town have? And did fat sheriff #4 not get a horse with his job? Instead we see him huffing and puffing after he WALKED to his friend's ranch to warn the wife of danger - that is when he remembered his lines.

We didn't know that old west towns had Home Depot windows, used a single person to paint all the business signs and favored the color purple. For all the action this town saw it sure had lovely grass-covered streets. We can definitely see why they needed additional security in this movie since the bank's doors look like cardboard painted by 1st grader who could not color between the lines. We loved the miraculous healing of the dead and wounded. Not only do the dead resurrect and the wounds move to different body parts by the next scene, but they are completely healed by the next scene. The only thing we must note is that the death toll in this movie is pretty low since no one can shoot the broad side of the barn.

And finally the hero: the 'sharp' shooter. We are not sure what he was sharp at, but a 'shooter' he was not. We cheered when he finally blew up the pretty little new and blue camp coffee pot from Walmart after going through at least two boxes of shells.

As far as David Carradine, he would have been better casted as the dead body in the coffin. I'm sure his training in the martial arts would have allowed him to hold his breath longer and play dead better then the person that held that role.

And don't forget the mystery of the long lost daughter - did she morph into the spinster who got all the goods in the end?

How not to make a film

[MiragePro · 2/10 · 2 December 2009]

The film is laughable, terrible, but a must if you are starting out as a film maker. This film contains everything you shouldn't do, from the script, cinematography, editing, music score, to set design. I would definably show this in any film class. I can not figure out why David Carradine was even in the movie. You could cut out the few scenes he was in, and it would make the pace much faster. His character was not even an important part of the story. In one scene he even appeared drunk or high, as he stumbled into the scene and slurred his words. It was as if he was doing the producer a favor by making an appearance in his film. The actors dry and appear bored and the scenes are very slow, the editing is choppy, and the music sounds as if it was composed on a child's Casio keyboard. The storyline is about a about a civil war sharpshooter, who is trying to hide his past and start afresh. Why he can't hit anything is a mystery. Check it out, and learn something. I gave this two stars. One for attempting to make a film, and another for completing it. My only hope is that they learn from this attempt and try again with more success.

Worst in the west! Or the East!

[umacooter2 · 1/10 · 18 October 2010]

Possibly the worst video ever made. Who financed this crud? Criminal use of equipment and bozo talent from the director, down. Even Carradine looks bedraggled and embarrassed for the five or so pointless minutes he's in this bomb. The actors are so amateurish as to be embarrassing. The post-production voice dubbing makes characters sound like they're in a recording studio. The script is simply phenomenally and unbearably childish. Even the costumes are bogus...made-in-china versions of a smattering of different periods, mostly Dollar Store. The buildings are cheap facades or obviously your uncle's vacation cabin. Everyone wears biker's vests...no collars! A few of the sidearms are big and bulky, but this pathetic director has made the saddest Leone attempt in history with enough time, gear, money and people to make at least one blade of grass watchable...and nothing is. Some adults should have manned the equipment and allowed a class of first-graders write and act exactly as they pleased and it would have been "Once Upon A Time In The West" in comparison to this donkey. Actually...maybe it was a bunch of first-graders. Even the beards were stupid looking. Message to director Christopher Forbes: you've managed to make every error in the film world and then some. Learn IMMENSE amounts from this or look for another line of work.

How the west was lost!

[Wizard-8 · 22 January 2011]

Normally I love westerns, enough so that I am frequently forgiving of any shortcomings that they may have. However, "All Hell Broke Loose" is so unbelievably awful that I couldn't find any enjoyment out of it. The first clue as to its awfulness is that it's made by Barnholtz Entertainment, who are notorious for making and distributing shabby product. The second clue is that David Carradine was in the movie. In the past he made some entertaining movies, but towards the end of his life he was in one stinker after another, including this one. Though he is top-billed, you should know he's actually just in a minor supporting role. He doesn't seem very enthusiastic, and looking at the rest of the movie you'll soon see why. The photography is often washed out and murky, there's a cheap look to every shot (even those taking place in the wilderness), some of the actors are VERY OBVIOUSLY dubbed, the action is almost non-existent (and boring when there is "action"), the story is confusing, and the movie is so gosh-darned DULL. There is NOTHING of merit in this movie, and the movie's badness is not of the so-bad-it's-good type, so there's no reason to watch this movie, even if you are a Carradine fan.

All hell may have broken loose but it left this broken film in the garbage pile

[dbborroughs · 3/10 · 14 December 2009]

Weak shot on video western feels more like dress up then a real film. The plot has a sharpshooter going west to get away from his past and ending up in with some of the wrong sort of people. David Carradine wanders through as a marshal trying to keep the peace. Set in California but filmed in South Carolina, or so the small amount of the audio commentary on the DVD lead me to believe this is a film where nothing seems real or right. The locations seem most of the buildings seem like they don't belong in the west at the time. The clothing is too perfect and of the wrong era west. The action seems staged and at half speed. Its the sort of thing you might see on stage or at a wild west show. Its made worse by the lack of excitement on the technical end (the shots seem to to have been put together in long languid takes that make nothing seem like its in a hurry even when it should be. The result is a dull unexciting film that only those who must see every western ever made will want to bother with.

Terrible with a capital T

[gorrrr72 · 1/10 · 5 August 2010]

I like westerns and sniper type movies so I was looking forward to this film but I think this was the worst movie I have ever seen. It was so bad it was funny. In fact if the makers said it was made because they were trying to make the worst movie in history I wouldn't be surprised. The script could have been written by a 10 year old and the acting (if you could call it that) was absolutely terrible. Some of the lines were fluffed and they didn't bother re-shooting the scenes. The timing of the lines was none existent and meaningless, they were basically just saying the lines with minimal emotion as if they just learned each line seconds before and had no clue how to deliver them. The editing was terrible and just cut from one scene to the next with no fluidity so it was hard to figure out what was going on. The camera work was horrific, sometimes the picture would tilt slightly and at one point it was on a character and tilted up until he was almost out of the shot and quickly came back down as if the cameraman tripped. The "sharpshooter" couldn't hit a grown man standing in the open from 20 yards with a long scoped rifle. This is a guy who has 1000 yard confirmed kills. He was practicing trying to hit a watering can from 30 yards with the rifle and missing, he could have thrown the rifle at it and hit it from that distance. Avoid this movie unless you have a choice between watching this and being drowned in your own excrement. Actually the excrement drowning is a better option.

Horribly Disappointing

[gt65-799-292643 · 1/10 · 6 May 2012]

Combine a western and David Carradine and you would think you could not lose but this film actually manages to disappoint.

Starting with the video, there is something terribly wrong. It looks like a failed class project at a film school. The transition between shots is rough and occasionally mistimed. The quality itself gives the appearance that main characters were filmed in front of a projection screen rather than on scene.

The audio is horrible. It sounds as if the entire audio track was recorded in a studio and then dubbed onto the film. It does not always appear to coincide with the mouth movements of the actors. The background sounds seem to be missing and just do not sound natural.

The acting is horrible with some characters appearing to simply be reading for a part.

I actually bought the used Blu-Ray for $1.34 thinking I could not lose. I was wrong.

A Disgrace..

[BastardJack · 1/10 · 17 April 2010]

The only thing I rented this for was because I am a huge David Carradine fan and have been for many years. The movie box misleads the potential renter/buyer into thinking David is the main character..for those of you who didn't look up the synopsis of the movie online first. David would be furious if he saw just how amateurish this movie came across as and I'm thinking had he lived he would have had a few things to say about it. He was great...the rest was a total disgrace. The director, camera work, dialogue, set decor, sound, picture and acting were sub par by professional standards.Poor script, poor delivery of a poor script. David again was "the rock" and steadily delivered as he has always done. One part at the beginning of the movie had the dialogue voiced over (so it had the look of lip syncing - you could see how some of it was not matched/synced well) simply because it was a wider picture of several cowboys in a green field of some kind...and obviously they couldn't afford proper sound equipment to use the original dialogue that was spoken in the scene I.E. a boom mic for starters. Characters seemingly made out of cardboard, emotionless delivery, terrible camera work..I remarked while watching it that if I didn't know better you would think a few acting school graduates had gotten together to make a movie using home video equipment on a shoestring budget. The premise of the movie is excellent - HAD THEY HAD THE BUDGET TO ACHIEVE THEIR LOFTY GOALS. You can't do a grand western on no money...and on the box it compares this movie to The Outlaw Josey Wales..that is laughable. My biggest issue aside from this other crap is the fact that Mr. Carradine has a supporting role and on the box you are led to believe he is the main star of the film. The images are all him in dramatic pose with gun in hand and you think "man this sounds like it could be really good". How many people have been suckered into renting this? Using David's image and name to sell this amateur garbage is the real disgrace..pure and simple. If you want to see a great latter day David Carradine movie, go and rent/buy Son Of The Dragon. You'll be surprised just how good that one is..as you will be/were surprised how terrible this one is/was. I would think they spent most of their movie money on getting David into the film..and then scrimped on everything else. Sorry, this was a total bomb..and I have been a fan of westerns for 30 years. The guy above saying don't listen to the negative reviews is no doubt inspired to say so by personal financial interests in seeing this film succeed.

Forget it, avoid it..at all costs.

My 3 years old son can make a better video movie than this !

[drklabs · 1/10 · 8 January 2010]

This is the scariest movie number 0. If you attempt to watch this film i feel sorry for you .It is a very bad attempt to shoot a western film .After a couple of scenes you can realize that it is unwatchable is the kind of movies that even if they pay you you don't go to watch.I m not gonna refer to the script as there's not any script.This is the kind of movie that everyone in the neighborhood can shoot with a video camera running at the streets filming and everybody will shout go away with your camera stop it !The actors were like they saying go away with your camera stop filming at me! think that some guns were so rusty as they took it for free from the dead grandpa's house decoration above the fireplace and it is impossible to shoot with rusty rifles like this and the guy was holding it like it was a baseball bat.Jesus this is the ugly the ugly and the ugly movie.I am wondering how many different films people from this production made in a single week.If this movie will come as a gift in Christmas i will stop believing in Santa Claus ...

All Talk Breaks Loose

[FightingWesterner · 2/10 · 1 February 2010]

I'll give this a little bit of credit for not being stupid and not being obnoxious, but a film has to have something to offer other than not being stupid or obnoxious to make it worth watching.

I wanted this movie to succeed but the writers seemed to have forgotten one of the first rules of writing a script. Unlike a book that takes place primarily in the character's head, a movie is a story told primarily in pictures.

In other words, All Hell Broke Loose has too much talk and not enough action or interesting visuals.

The performances of David Carradine and lead actor Jim Hilton are decent, but that's about all this has going for it.

What's really and truly sad is that this amateurish production is Carradine's last western appearance, pitiful considering his enjoyable past work in "Kung Fu" and The Long Riders.

Um...Yeah....

[boomeranghandknits · 1/10 · 4 April 2010]

I'm not related to anyone in this movie, I myself wasn't in it, and so nobody should be able to accuse me of bias for this crummy review.

The acting was bad. David Carradine was bad! The writing was something I could have done in high school drama class as a skit; the scenes were choppy and made no sense. There was one point where a "corpse" in a coffin breathed, which just made me laugh. I didn't get some of the shooting scenes. Really, one guy was had a through-and-through shot in the chest, blood spattering everywhere on the wall behind him, and he dropped like a rock, the next scene he's in he's got his arm in a sling and the bullet's in his arm. Those Civil War sharpshooter rifles were meant to be accurate, but if the shooter is no good the best rifle in the world do you any good.

The horses...What can I say? The outlaws' horses looked very well-groomed and well-fed for outlaws' horses. On the up side, they were beautiful horses (aren't they always?).

Yes, this was an independent film. Lots of mistakes are obvious, like the lack of sync on the voice and video tracks. Indie films are usually slightly better than this though. I can't even credit Jim Hilton with a good performance, because it wasn't good in MY opinion.

I'd like to say something good about this movie, so here it is: While not entirely accurate to the period, the costumes and some props were fairly close. And the "bad guys a-comin'" music wasn't entirely awful. Not great, not awful either.

On the whole, don't try it. It's not worth it.

Looking gor a good Western? Keep Looking

[Msroni65 · 1/10 · 12 November 2018]

Ever heard of a B~Movie ? This is a Z. This Movie is so bad. Bad acting, Bad lines, Bad Shooting Scenes. The guns firing even sound toy like.

WOW Bad.

[hutchinsr-631-493635 · 1/10 · 13 September 2022]

I've seen a lot of terrible movies but this takes the cake. High school drama class plays are better acted than this. I can't believe David Carradine let his name be attached to this nonsense.

Bad shooting, bad acting, etc. Some of these people looked like it was the first time they'd held a gun. The cut scenes were dumbfounding and the forced accents were atrocious.

There's a lot of over-pronounced wording going on here, too. It's like they recited the lines just before the scenes and simply recited them without feeling or emotion.

Truely seriously horrible acting.... So much so that, I don't regularly write reviews but, in this case I had to make an exception. My elderly father loves westerns and is normally completely unaware of the bad acting or irregularities in plot or sets and even he found this unwatchable.

Was David Carradine broke???

[JoeSkoal · 1/10 · 13 January 2011]

David Carradine may have appeared in many Classic "B" movies that were enjoyable to watch. A four time nominee for the Golden Globe Award he had to be completely broke to have joined up with Christopher "B flop" Forbes. What a shame after all the good work he did over the years to fizzle out in a wreck of a film.

This is the bottom of the barrel of movie making. no.. better yet, kick the barrel aside a dig underneath is where this high school style acting, ketchup splattering gun shot movie rests.

Christopher "B flop" Forbes wishes he had the talent and style of Ed Wood yet this film proves he is a close runner up to Larry Buchanan (one of the worst filmmakers of all time). "All Hell Broke Loose" was boring and tedious, containing some of the most uninspired acting I've ever seen. It lacks entertainment value despite the fact that a competent director could have probably done a good job with the material. It's a sad fact of life though that directors like Christopher "B flop" Forbes are a necessary evil. If there weren't people doing it wrong, then how would you know who was doing it right?

I think I will go watch a Kill Bill flick to get the taste of this movie out of my head. RIP Mr David "Jack" Carradine

A Shame David Carradine Agreed to Appear in this Film

[writetopcat · 1/10 · 12 August 2015]

The worst movie I have ever seen, of any genre. The dialogue was awful, the acting was awful, and much of it did not make sense. Will Drake, the civil war sniper reputed to be able to hit a man from 1000 yards away, was hired by the owner of a bank to help protect his bank from a gang operating in the area. Will took his rifle out to practice. He set a coffee pot on a stump about 10 yards away and could not hit the thing. When he held the rifle on the target, the muzzle end was swaying all around just before he fired. He is a sniper?!?

The bank owner said he would be situated a long way from the bank, and picking off bank robbers from a distance. He had sought out Will Drake specifically because he was a skilled long range shooter (supposedly). But Will set up his rifle in a hotel room right across the street from the bank. When it came time to shoot, he missed the first 5 times he fired, FROM ACROSS THE STREET!

Even David Carradine's performance in this movie was bad, WAY below the level of acting he delivered in his other work.

The conversations between characters is very hard to watch and listen to. It seems that they filmed one guy speaking his line, then filmed another guy speaking his line, and so on. Later they tried to piece it all together. It is disjointed. The delivery of the lines was awful also.

There are some poorly made films which are nonetheless fun to watch: Plan 9 From Outer Space is one. But this film is just bad. If you have not seen it, don't.