Settlers of the Old West had plenty of hardships to deal with. Now it seems they have to fight off zombies as well. A ragtag band of dedicated local filmmakers have just spent two weekends at the Bow Valley Ranch on the outskirts of Calgary shooting a 10-minute zombie western entitled Dead Walkers.

“Hollywood comes here to shoot their westerns,” says director Spencer Estabrooks. “We have the most beautiful towns, we have trained crews, experienced riders... tons of resources available.” Add to this the popularity of horror films, and you get a combination that makes you wonder why nobody's thought of this before. You don't need star power to make a marketable horror film — in fact, a cast of new faces works much better, because audiences will be less certain of the fate of the characters.

The Dead Walkers team found that things came together quite quickly after they settled on the magic phrase “zombie western.” It's a punchy little two-word description that really captures the imagination. Actors, costumers, stuntmen and other artists offered their services free of charge once they heard about the project. Benefactors were similarly intrigued by the pitch, and provided the production with everything from the zombie sheriff's prosthetic teeth to an incredibly advanced high-definition digital camera called a “red cam.” This impressive piece of technology uses a 35mm lens, and Estabrooks sees it as the camera that Hollywood will be using for feature films in the near future. “All I know is that it makes brilliant pictures, and it's really expensive,” chuckles producer Greg Jeffs.

Both men have an obvious affection for the horror genre. Jeffs plans to start a local production company that makes horror films, and Estabrooks cites acclaimed fantasy and horror director Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy) as his “new hero.” Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg are also held up as examples of talented filmmakers who started their careers with amazing horror films.

Principal photography went smoothly, apart from having to deal with Calgary's notoriously schizophrenic weather. Everybody started the first day huddled around heaters. Actors had to warm up before applying their zombie makeup, or else it would immediately flake off. By midday, temperatures had risen 30 degrees, and the period costumes suddenly felt uncomfortably warm. A heavy fog rolled in at the start of the second day, which would have given the film a nice, eerie look, but wouldn't have matched the previous day's footage. Luckily, it blew off quickly and shooting resumed. (You know what they say; if you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes.)

With all four days' worth of footage in the can, digital special effects are now being added to supplement the numerous physical special effects (zombie makeup, stage blood, blank pistol cartridges, stunts, etc.) that are already in the film. This kind of thing is becoming old hat to Estabrooks. “For the last two years I've been doing the 48-hour filmmaking challenge with the Calgary Underground Film Festival, and I kept ending up with horror or action [as the randomly assigned genre],” he says. “In the last one [Sympathetic Frequencies], me and one of my digital effects guys actually made somebody's head explode! We used nothing but digital blood, as well. We did that in 48 hours!”

The experience not only demonstrated what kind of effects could be achieved quickly and cheaply, but helped to add to the growing list of contacts in Estabrooks' address book. A big part of making low-budget films is having a list of talented friends who can lend a hand. “Ask for help” is Estabrook’s filmmaking motto.

Dead Walkers also has its own group page on Facebook, giving the crew a place to post photos of the production, and allowing potential viewers to keep abreast of the movie's progress. The Dead Walkers group already has well over 300 members, indicating that interest in the film goes beyond the cast and crew. It is here that curious viewers can keep up-to-date on screenings of the film, which will likely get a Calgary release sometime in 2009. Meanwhile, work has begun on a trailer for the film, which will appear before a screening of local director Mike Peterson's new short film, The Corporate Ladder. The Dead Walkers trailer will spread awareness of the project, and will be a good opportunity to use cool footage that might not make it into the finished film.

Was it worth all of the effort? The crew seems jubilant about things, even after suffering through some difficult weather. “True to the indie film scene, everybody pulled their weight, as well as everyone else's, and they did it with a smile on their face,” says Greg Jeffs, beaming. “As producer, I was pulling my hair out, worrying that no one was ever going to work with me again. But they were excited. They were happy. Zombie movies are fun to shoot. I think that's the bottom line. I could have asked them to come out and work for 15 hours straight on a romantic comedy, and I don't think I would have gotten the same response.”