Black Wood

Kudos for not showing us Sears catalog cowboys. These guys were semi-authentic, bad teeth, dirty shirts. Their guns were a little too clean. The Indian girl may have been Indian, but she didn't really look it. She did look pretty raggedy, albeit her clothes were usually cleaner than she was and definitely department store front window stuff. OK, so much for appearances, the acting wasn't great. Too over the top. Everyone was trying too hard. The story was decent - cowboys out to steal gold from some prospectors run into the ghost of a cursed warrior. I don't think the writer/director really knew how to handle that, but it worked alright. You could tell this had a very constrained budget, but it kept me off the FF key for the most part. I'd recommend it for a cowboy, ghost spirit movie.

Sure, the synopsis for this 2022 horror Western titled "Blackwood" from writer and director Chris Canfield definitely sounded interesting. And I must admit that the high IMDb rating (8.1 as I sat down to watch the movie) that the movie had when I stumbled upon it helped convince me to sit down and watch the movie.

And yeah, "Blackwood" was a watchable movie, but it was nowhere near as great as the rating would lead you to believe. It was essentially just another tale of the Wendigo, but not a particularly exciting or thrilling one at that. And there are actually more interesting movies out there that tackle the myth of the Wendigo in a more entertaining manner than "Blackwood" managed to do.

The acting performances in the movie were good. I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble here, and that definitely counted for something and worked well in favor of the movie. Bates Wilder and Tanajsia Slaughter carried the movie quite well with their performances in the leading roles. It was a shame, though, that actor Glenn Morshower wasn't given a more prominent role in the movie.

Visually then "Blackwood" was okay. I mean, it wasn't a particularly outstanding movie in terms of special effects and make-up. And the Wendigo creature, no, it just didn't work out for me. So that was somewhat disappointing. But hey, "Blackwood" is not really the type of movie that needed impressive special effects to tell its tale, if you think about it. But the way the Wendigo was portrayed just wasn't all that good.

"Blackwood" is the type of movie that you will watch once and never again. I will say that just as quietly as the movie snuck in under the radar for me, just as quietly will it vanish into the mists of oblivion. This just wasn't a memorable movie.

My rating of "Blackwood" lands on a very bland four out of ten stars.

I endeavour to be kind but uncertain how to do that with these common, more often than not poor, B Westerns. Or, is this film a low budget horror? Usually I find efforts like these, creating a western hybrid, rarely work. The opening credits of BlackWood start well with long shots of beautiful scenery. This trick might entice one into believing that, perhaps, there will be something to anticipate here? There is not. Even if an attempt at humor, placing an outhouse over the Wendigo's layer only proves this film is for...poop. Luckily, cool firearms appear quickly. Both an 1875 Remington, and an 1875 Schofield, clear leather in an early saloon scene. Unfortunately, these revolvers do not a film make as revealed by the acting on display in that same scene. I have nothing to say for Kara Raynor or Glenn Morshower in their attempts to be menacing as Sally Pickerton and her "escort" Wallace. This is a western, so how could the great Wallace not carry a firearm in "these lawless lands"; as Sally sees them? In no way does either of these actors come across as convincing and that makes us wonder why Dutch, the allegedly bad-ass gang leader, would agree to the terms of their offer, rather than putting a bullet into them? Are we to believe Dutch liked the idea of harder work and a longer, more dangerous endeavour? Shooting Sally & Wallace would've saved us from a couple true horrors, Glen Morshower's acting and costume. For reasons unknown, or my unwillingness to express them, I found Tanajsia Slaughter awkward in portraying Dowanhowee, a member of the First Nations. I will give her credit for use of an indigenous language, being Lakota, a great touch often found in modern westerns. I have no problem with subtitles in exchange for realism. And, the feral guy eating a rotten deer on the plains? Was that an attempt at ramping up tension or another failed comedic endeavour? Nearing summation, all gunfighters should reload their single actions revolvers before holstering them. No shootist would do otherwise as it would only result in their death. In attempting to end on a positive note, two actors deserve mentioning. George Mansel as Lester and Casey Birdinground as Two Feathers. Mansel does a reasonable job being the gang's psychopath while Birdinground is pretty cool as all First Nations characters should be; their dress, war paint and ferocity in battle, unquestionable.

A fun watch ! Scenery throughout the Black Hills of South Dakota was beautiful. The drone shots were great! While some could may find fault here or there, for a first time foray into movie making it came out very well.

Films like this confuse me, I can't figure out why people want to watch this genre or what they get out of it.

It's set in 1800's America but in reality it's not a 'Western' in the traditional sense, it's a Horror but plays out like a fairytale ! I kept watching and hoping it would improve, I stayed with it mostly through curiosity just to see where the story went.

I found myself disliking almost all of the characters but that's not always a bad thing, sometimes the characters are just not likeable and it can take a good actor to play one. I disliked the story which was clearly based on old legends or possibly old wives tales and disliked the way the story was told through the actors who clearly could use a few more drama lessons and I really disliked the 'supernatural' aspect which was a complete failure in many ways !

There was mixed up clips and bad continuity, terrible lighting and 'fog' effects to create some kind of suspense and awful sound effects and worst of all was the ending which was a huge disappointment !