Terror on the Prairie

Gina was good. Cerrone was a little hokey, so was some of the dialogue and the transitioning of scenes. Rest of the cast was fine. This is an entertaining, gritty Western (sure, it doesn't redefine the genre) that uses a lack of music to allow the viewer to bathe in the atmosphere/violence. When the music hits at the end, it feels earned. It doesn't flinch when showcasing its brutality, which I like, even if the action choreography is not the most amazing thing ever.

Cinematography is top notch, location was beautiful and bleak, they used mostly natural lighting, shockingly violent (scalping, stabbings, shootouts, blood galore etc), minimal CGI, and it wasn't some political dog-whistle project or a preachy piece of propaganda. Firmly in the tradition of violent revisionist westerns like Unforgiven, and almost as brutal as Bone Tomahawk at times. Can't believe something funded and produced by Ben Shapiro will make my end of year list.

scalp

The brutal life out in the remote wild west. Bloody affair, and stripped of happy moments. There certainly are a violent scenes that make an impression, but at the same time there is little to balance that, and lacks a better story to make it about more than the savagery.

I really wanted to like this. Carano, Cerrone & Searcy are fine w the latter the best of the entire movie. It's just strangely constructed. Some awful writing/character choices that feel like you're watching a bad edit at times took me out of it in several scenes. There's no soundtrack to speak of until the end of the movie which I noticed especially during part of the climax. That doesn't have to be a negative, but it was necessary to help build some tension and was sorely lacking here. 4.4