Wilmer Valderrama in The Dead One (El Muerto) Trailer, Poster

Fez does the Crow. That’s the shorthand description of “El Muerto” I came up with when I first heard about the movie last year. “El Muerto”, aka “The Dead One”, stars Wilmer Valderrama from “That ’70s Show” as a 20-something man who dies and gets resurrected while still wearing a white skull make-up (a “zombie mariachi”, according to the description) to do something. The trailer (below) doesn’t really make it clear what the purpose of the character’s resurrection is, since he was struck by lighting while driving, so it’s not like he has anyone to hunt down and get revenge on. Anyways, the movie is based on the comic called “El Muerto” by Javier Hernandez.

The full plot description from IMDB.com:

Diego de la Muerte (Wilmer Valderrama) is a 21-year-old Latino-American living in East L.A. where the Día de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, celebration is right around the corner. Diego dresses up as a zombie mariachi before going to a party, in the process tattooing an Aztech death symbol onto himself. On the way to the party, his car crashes and he is killed. He is sent to Mictlan, the Land of the Dead, where he is sacrificed to Mictlantecuhtli (Nathan Mussell), the God of Death, who rips Diego’s heart out and seals it in a clay pot, giving him total control over his soul. Diego is then returned to Earth, imprisoned inside of a his dead body, his make-up permanently etched onto his face. Now, endowed with the dark power to restore life or to take it, he must battle against the dark god Mictlantecuhtli for his soul, and for the souls of those he loves.

The film stars Wilmer Valderrama, Angie Cepeda, Joel Moore, Michael Parks, and Tony Plana, and is written and directed by Brian Cox.

I don’t think anyone expected “El Muerto” to reach theaters, and best case scenario is a straight to DVD release sometime soon.

The poster:

The trailer for “El Muerto”: