Director: Rene Perez
Year: 2021
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
After surviving a brutal massacre, a woman and her sister-in-law head off with a local lawman to track down a gunfighter to help them seek out the clan of marauding cannibals that initially attacked and killed their family, but as their journey proves more treacherous are forced to dig into untapped resources to stop them.
Review:
There was quite a lot to like with this one. Among the better features here is the strong mixture of Western and Horror elements that are quite fun to see play out. As this starts off immediately with the need to seek revenge on the clan with the aftermath of the house attack, it gets things going nicely at the very start. The Western framework comes through nicely with the setup involving the search for the fabled gunfighter and his skills that could save her from a deadly fate as she sets out for personal retribution. Given that all of this is the beginning stages of his storyline about the incident being the kickstart he needed to overcome his own struggles and accept responsibility for his family’s trauma which are usually featured in these kinds of films, there’s a lot to like her with this setup. On top of the fine Action here including several fun Western-style shootouts and gunplay, this comes off rather well overall.
When it comes to the Horror aspects here, there’s just as much to like. Focusing on the creepy vibe and look of the intruders with their flesh masks, crude weaponry, and general savageness through just their deformed appearance and animalistic growling, the film works with a creepy main villain. Their slashing antics are just as much fun, as the group attacking an outpost settlement attacking the citizens and dragging their victims away is a nice short sequence with some nice bit of gore as well. It all leads to the fun fight at their compound which features a lot of stalking around the holding grounds picking off the other members featuring shootouts, brawling, and even managing to mix in a suspenseful rescue of captives kept there that adds some emotional resonance to everything. Given the fun indie-style gore that comes about here with the gunshot wounds as well as the aftermath of their decayed and dismembered victims, this one manages to have a lot that holds it up overall.
There isn’t a whole lot wrong here, but it does have some issues. The main feature here is that, despite the brisk tempo and running time, there are some filler scenes here that don’t really belong. A bizarre meeting with a random widow and her son to prove that her presumed-missing husband, who we never meet, is dead through other means serves no point since we never see or interact with them anymore. As well, the two carrying on a philosophical discussion about their purpose on the mission carries on too long as it easily could’ve been done with some more life speaking at a faster pace. The other factor featured here that holds it back is a slightly underwhelming finale that has a lot of action but some confusing actions here letting the creature escape without chasing him down to ensure the whole clan is finished off which was the whole purpose behind the trip. Combined with the unknown reason of why the specific captives were kept alive at the compound, these are its few issues.
Overview: ****/5
Managing to mix together plenty of fun Western and Horror elements here that work together enough to hold off the few flaws about it, there’s a lot to enjoy here overall. Fans of indie-style entries from either genre, those who are intrigued about its approach, or fans of the creative crew will like this one while only those who aren’t into any of these aspects should heed caution here.
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