Michael Ledo
The movie is bad on a lot of levels. It is not really a western. While it takes places in a futuristic western society, it is not really sci-fi. It is more of an action flick that spins its wheels.There is a town sheriff and his singing cowboy brother who cares more about women than making a living. There first encounter with the mob is when they are harassing a woman dressed in undergarments. At times one of her dress/slip straps are down, then they are both up, and then she has one down again. The scene apparently had multiple takes and she wasn't dressed the same for each one. There are more continuity goofs in the film.The cowboy was making love to the wrong girl when the mobsters break in to take him out. Through it all, he survives and his sheriff brother gets killed. The cowboy ends up in jail, then out in 5 years and now seeks revenge against "Hawk" who owns the town and also runs an insurance scam. The movie is offbeat, original, but not well done. There are no real plot twists and the dialogue might put you to sleep. No f-bombs. No nudity. Grainy quality.
Woodyanders
The time: The bleak near future. The place: The desolate town of Hartford City. Noble lawman Jack Holt (the solid Frank Stewart) gets killed by several goons who work for Hawk (a perfectly sinister Loren Blackwell), an evil insurance company mogul who governs over the burg with an iron fist. Jack's easygoing musician brother Wade (excellently played by the amiable Daniel Chapman) tries to avenge his death, but gets arrested and spends five years in jail. After he gets sprung from prison, Wade returns to Hardford City to settle the score with Hawk. He's assisted by gutsy gal pal Annie Northbride (a nice'n'sexy turn by fetching blonde looker Ruth Collins) and loyal former cellmate Bunky (a wonderfully engaging portrayal by John Scott). Director Tom Garrett, working from a clever and inspired script by John McLaughlin (said script mixes elements from the action, Western, and science fiction genres into a pretty tasty and imaginative synthesis), makes the most out of a limited budget: he stages the thrilling action set pieces with considerable flair, maintains a steady pace throughout, and, most of all, does an expert job of crafting a funky, hazy, impressively hip style which oozes 50's type rockabilly cool from every snazzy frame. This film further benefits from fine acting by an appealing cast: Chapman does well as the supremely likable reluctant hero, British novelist and former "Fangoria" magazine film journalist Philip Nutman almost steals the whole show with his spot-on performance as Hawk's mean, gum-chewing right-hand man Tough, and Karen Rizzo makes a favorable impression as friendly bar owner Star. Adam Goldfine's crisp cinematography gives the picture an attractively polished look. Chapman's twangy, harmonic countryish score also hits the tuneful spot (Chapman even wrote and sings a few tuneful songs that are featured on the soundtrack). 80's splatterpunk horror writers John Skipp and Craig Spector briefly pop up as a couple of -- what else? -- splatterpunks. Offbeat and original, this quirky little number sizes up as a highly worthwhile and unjustly neglected sleeper.
