Ghost Riders

If you never heard of this movie before don't be surprised, as apparently it never made it into DVD and after a viewing it's no wonder why. The idea of the movie was rather cool, tho - A bunch of gunslingers come back to life to revenge their somewhat unjust killings 100 years later, and instead they take it out on a group of hikers - but sadly it is somewhat clumsy executed. As someone said in other review, the film mixes a lot of genres - horror, western, action, romance... - but none of them really works. But without a doubt the most disappointing thing for me was its misleading cover and title, since by no means the cowboys return to life as ghosts but in their human form and can be perfectly shot and killed. All in all, after watching the movie I was left with a sense of entertainment, and I think the actors did a great job overall. Too bad the pretty Cari Powell never made another movie after this one, she really stands out from the rest of the crew and I think she would have deserved much better. Final rating: 5 out of 10.

To keep it short just avoid this movie. The premise of an old west killer putting a curse on the preacher of a lynch mob that subsequently haunts the family for generations may sound promising but in delivery it simply fails. After moving from 1886 Texas we join a Professor of Texan history in 1986, who happens to be the great-great grandson of the hangin' preacher. His son(a Vietnam vet and stunt pilot) is coming for a visit with his two mechanic buddies and a young lass who is smitten with him in about as much time as it takes to say "this movie sucks". Now the idea of old outlaw ghosts seeking bloody revenge should have been good for a few chills but the majority of this no budget affair takes place on a sunny blue skied day, which certainly takes away much of the fear of not knowing where the spectres are coming from! Add to this lame mix bland to just plain bad acting, generally annoying characters, a simplistic, non suspenseful and amateurish script, horrible sound quality and a limp pay off and you have a text book example of a time waster. Avoid this movie. It had potential but simply blew it!

I have to admit that I am fascinated by the concept of crossing the Western with horror movie elements and while this may not be the best example there are some pretty compelling movies out there existing as Horror Western hybrids: CURSE OF DEMON MOUNTAIN, THE STRANGER'S GUNDOWN, HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, the notorious CUT THROATS NINE, good old GRIM PRAIRIE TALES and Charles Band's GHOST TOWN are amongst the best I can name off the top of my head.

GHOST RIDERS is another Prism Video release of yet another ultra low budget regional horror affair, along with THE FOREST and SATAN'S BLADE, seemingly inept more or less direct to video efforts by young filmmakers starting out who simply didn't have the budget or talent to really score an EVIL DEAD like classic. This one was made in and around Waco, Texas, and concerns itself with a bunch of ideas copped from just as many sources. From HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (via STRANGER'S GUNDOWN) we get the idea of gunfighters returning from the grave to avenge their somewhat unjust killings, though imported from Euro Horrors like HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB the targets of their wrath are the present day descendants of those who executed them, and finally a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD type ending.

Toss in a smattering of teen horror themes and a slightly unstable Vietnam vet who didn't find time to change out of his camouflage fatigues & walks around packing a nickel-plated .45 and we have the makings of 85 minutes of dreck that actually isn't as bad as the average ratings here reflect. The plot concerns an elder researcher who stumbles across the story of a mass execution 100 years before that sent a gang of crooks to their tombs with a vow to avenge themselves. At more or less the same time a group of young misfits embarks on an excursion to find the old cemetery to find the resting place of their relatives who find themselves pursued by a posse of cowboys who pick them off one by one, eventually leading to a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD like climax where the survivors barricade themselves into a ranch house and try to fight them off.

There are some decent moments of gunslinger gore, a nice explosion or two, and a pretty young leading lady who doesn't shirk at the idea of stripping down to her undies for a dip in the ole' swimmin hole. One of the misfits is a Vietnam vet and helps to guide the youngsters to relative safety, and there is some not so subtle commentary on 1980s youth culture fixations like the Walkman craze and the idiotic fashions that we appallingly wore back then. None of it really amounts to anything though, and after a protracted ending showdown the movie just sort of ends -- which isn't necessarily a bad thing, though none of it is hardly memorable.

One curious aspect of the film regards this undead cowboy posse, who are not shown as "ghosts" or zombies or even some kind of spectral presence like Clint Eastwood's Preacher from PALE RIDER, but are reborn as actual cowboys who can be shot & killed all over again. While probably owing more to the production's limited budget than to a directorial choice, the decision to depict them as such sort of defeats the purpose of having them be undead gunslingers in the first place. Why have a movie about ghost cowboys and not have them be actual ghosts? Until the very ending of course, when it is convenient for the plot.

The one thing I did like about the film is it's totally ordinary look. None of the scenery or interiors looks particularly cinematic or out of the ordinary run of experience for most viewers. It looks like any old river running down any old stretch of rural Texas, and the characters don't wear costumes so much as whatever clothes they had onhand: Even the cowboys seem to be wearing Levis jeans and work shirts rather than "authentic" Western gear, so I can see how some viewers may be disappointed that the film doesn't have the filmic look of something like THE EVIL DEAD. It's all plain and ordinary but that's Waco for you, I guess, and the video is still another rare example of an attempt to blend Western themes with an outright horror movie setting (or the other way around, maybe) and I kind of like that.

5/10

I'd like to tell you you'd be entertained, but I can't promise anything. I watched not knowing what to expect, and I finished not knowing what I just watched. I was entertained at points in the film, but not necessarily by the plot or action. The concept was worthwhile, but I wouldn't say the same for the execution.

A band of old west outlaws rise from the grave to exact vengeance against the descendants of those responsible for lynching their top-dog 100 years earlier.

While there is little to complain about as far as technical aptitude is concerned, GHOSTRIDERS is far from a rewarding or memorable film-watching experience. There is a smidgen of suspense buildup within the final fifteen minutes, but that certainly doesn't make this otiose Hee-Haw of Horror the slightest bit recommendable.

Give me just a wee bit of bloodshed...maybe some boobs. Hell, give me ONE boob, just something, ANYTHING to make this all seem like more than just a goddamn waste of time. There was a fairly workable idea here, but somehow it took the form of this nothing-flavored mephitis of a motion picture...no scares, no gratuitous ANYTHING...not even an unintentional chuckle(besides the one that comes after you've finished watching it).

3.5/10