Unnatural

While "Unnatural" offers suspense and gore, it also raises ethical questions about scientific limits. Snow delivers a solid performance, and the visuals effectively create an eerie atmosphere.

I personally love a good conceptual film, with an underlying theme. It gives me the opportunity to not only enjoy a film, but also receive a message. This film had you thinking from the moment it started, Al Snow from the WWE was a cool sight to see. All in all, the film delivered on entertainment, and had plenty of action scenes. If you're looking to discover a relatively unknown film that packs a lot of cool effects, this is one to watch on a Friday night!

No. I am kidding. It really could not have been any worse. The acting or lack thereof, the slow pace of the movie, did I say the acting, the plot, just everything about this movie was awful.

The high point in the movie for me wrre the credits at the end of the movie. I got so emotional when they finally rolled. I felt relief and gratitude, I wept uncontrollably.

I lost an evening I can never get back. I am not certain what the actors in this movie do for daytime jobs, but please, I beg you, encourage them to flip those burgers, or drive that truck, or whatever, just don't let them quit that day job.

Other than all that, I guess it was better than watching a Kamalala rally.

This was a film that I got the chance to see thanks to Marc from Silk Road Entertainment. The screener was sent over and what caught my attention first was that this was a western/horror film. This is a combination that we don't get a lot of, but when it is done right, they tend to be strong. Something else that interested me was that it starred Al Snow, who used to be a wrestler in WWE when I first got into watching. I hadn't seen him do anything for a while so that intrigued me.

Synopsis: a gunslinger on a mission from God must track down supernatural creatures as penance for his past sins.

We start this off seeing the woods around a house. There is a howl and we see it is a full moon. The father is Danny Remington (Keith Migra) and his wife is Lisa (Megan Reneau). She wants him to ignore the howl where he is concerned with this wolf that is stalking their property. This is set in the past of the wild west days. They are doing bible study to pass the night with their two children, Jessy (Charlee Carmicle) and Junior (Samuel Wilson). There are two things that we learn around this time. Jessy sees ghosts and she can communicate with them. This upsets her parents. Junior seems to be on the spectrum and is good with machines.

Danny goes out to kill this animal and he's taken. Lisa goes after him and she is as well. What attacked this family was a werewolf. It comes into the house and they're saved by Dan (Snow). This turns out to be their grandfather. He is a monster hunter sent by God. He doesn't think he can take care of his grandchildren, but a ghost scolds him. This turns out to be his wife who has passed away, played by Kelly Miller. Danny ends up taking the two with him after being convinced.

This then shifts over to a town called Possum Trot. What I didn't realize is that these events are taking place in Tennessee. The town's sheriff, Roddy Hawken (John Wells), has strict rules. All guns are to be checked into the sheriff's office before sundown. No one is to be out after dark and children are not allowed. We see these rules tested by the Colt brothers. There are Timmy (David Mahr), Nathen (Derek McMahan) and Rex (John Eric Lee Smith). Rex gets an idea of the town through a shop owner, Jennifer McFarlin (Melissa O. Bowen). They also push the buttons of Deputy Thadius Daggett (Darren Lee Cupp). The Colts are here for a good reason, they're also monster hunters. They underestimate what is plaguing this town as well as the people who protect it.

Our trio is on their way back to Dan's homestead when the spirits tell him they need to go to Possum Trot. Dan also meets Jennifer and ruffles the feathers of the local law enforcement, like the earlier Colt brothers. Everything he knows will be put to the test, including his faith, as he tries to free this town from their supernatural problems all while protecting his grandchildren.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that this is an interesting concept overall. I've already said that combining western with horror can do that. Part of it is that we have isolated areas and towns, so something supernatural could happen without other places knowing. There also isn't technology. That ramps up the tension when you have people going up against supernatural forces and they're overmatched. This worked for me. Another aspect is that people during this era tended to be more religious. Part of it was that life expectancy was lower, modern science hadn't progressed and you needed a way to understand the things around you. It was a simpler time. This does seem to be missing things for it to fully come together.

What does work though as I said is the setting. It throws me off that this is taking place in Tennessee. This isn't a gripe, because I believe that the area it is filmed in was probably rural like it is here. My brain just went to Oklahoma or areas like that. It is funny how that is what we think or expect. Having a supernatural creature taking over a town like this during the era would make sense. Word wouldn't travel, especially since my guess, people don't know or if they encounter it, they don't live to tell the tale. It also makes sense to have nomadic hunters of monsters like this. I do enjoy that we see the Colt brothers there and then of course, Dan. What I also find interesting is that character last names are nods to different firearm makers as well. Remington and Colt to name a couple.

I do need to shift to a negative here. This movie is too much of a slow burn. When I saw that this ran 104 minutes when settling in, that made me pause. I don't hate long movies, let me say that here. I subscribe to the idea that everything up to 90 minutes is free. The movie needs to earn what's over that. I'm guessing that an editor who wasn't associated with the project would be needed to trim the fat and make this run tighter. The issues that I noticed were after Dan and his grandchildren arrive in town, the movie isn't sure what it wants to do there to raise tension. It is interesting especially since not everyone is safe, which is a positive.

I'll stick with filmmaking here and say that other than the pacing, this is made well enough. I thought that the cinematography and framing were good. They did well in capturing the era it is set. That is a positive, including the outfits, weapons and how the characters speak. This is limited to the effects, which are fine. The practical ones used were good. There was CGI here that wasn't great. What I will say is that they are strategic with the editing to help hide that when they can. Credit there. Other than that, I did think that the soundtrack was fine. A good touch was us hearing ghosts at different times, they did distort it until a scene late. That worked for me.

All that is left then is acting, which was fine actually. Allen Sarven aka Snow was solid as our lead. He has a raspy voice that fits the character well. Wells works as this villainous sheriff. I did predict the reveal there, but there was an added part that I didn't. Carmicle and Wilson were good as these two teens that have their life turned upside. My only issue there is that I think they'd be bothered more than what we got. Less from Junior than his sister since we learned something about him, but I digress. Cupp along with the other deputies work. I like the fact that they know more than they're letting on and it is a moral decision to hide it. Bowen works as did Mahr, McMahan, Smith and the rest of the cast for what was needed.

In conclusion, this is a movie that has things going in its favor. Being that we're getting a western with horror elements, which was good. There are story elements here that work. The period it is set helps. They do well in capturing that as well. I'd say that the acting is solid across the board. There are issues though with filmmaking when it comes to the editing which hurts the pacing. I have slight issues with effects as well. Not one that I can recommend to everyone. If you are a big fan of movies like this, especially on a lower budget, then I'd recommend giving this a watch.

My Rating: 5.5 out of 10.

Of course I had not heard about the 2024 horror Western titled "Unnatural" prior to sitting down and watching it here in 2025.

Initially I must admit that the movie's synopsis sounded interesting enough, and since it was a movie that I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to give the movie a fair chance.

However, writers Don Perrin and Whit Whitman, with the latter also directing the movie, failed to concoct a particularly entertaining or enjoyable script and storyline. The narrative was sluggish and uneventful, and the majority of the movie was essentially just boring dialogue. And that hardly made for a properly entertaining movie in my opinion, and I found it quite a struggle to sit through 103 minutes of this boring ordeal.

The acting performances in the movie were fair enough. I mean, there wasn't anything particularly outstanding or memorable, but I've seen far worse in other movies.

The movie did have one thing working for it, though, and that was the wardrobe and sets. It looked adequate enough for a Western movie, but a bit too polished and clean. You would assume that things would be grittier and dirtier back in the day.

The special effects in the movie were bland. The werewolves had the mandatory inarticulate latex masks, that many werewolf horror movies tend to have. It just doesn't look passable or realistic. So yeah, I wasn't impressed with the special effects in the movie.

I gave up on the ordeal, having literally suffered through 45 minutes of absolute boredom. And believe you me, I am not returning to attempt finish watching this boring movie.

My rating of director Whit Whitman's 2024 movie "Unnatural" lands on a generous two out of ten stars.

Living on a remote ranch, several children are the only survivors and are saved by their grandfather who turns out to be a monster hunter sent to stop the vampire controlling a small town nearby which puts them in the middle of a feud for power over control of the town forcing them to intervene.

This was a rather troubling and problematic genre effort. Among its brighter spots is the central setup that allows for a greater use of its period setting than expected. The idea of the Old West being aware of the supernatural creatures of the night and how to deal with them while also managing to include enough reasoning for what's going on as not only is there the initial hunter going around taking his grandchildren with him but there's also the team of hunters looking through the town for the other creatures said to be in the area. The bits of folklore here involve how everyone knows of the creatures, even having a deal in place to protect them from the creatures, and the way it plays out offers up a thrilling Western vibe about a town being taken over by a ruthless gang holding terror over everyone and a ruthless gunslinger determined to stop him. This all comes together here to make for a solid enough time. There are some big issues with this one. The main drawback present here is the highly underwhelming pace that takes place where everything is far more drawn-out than it really should be. The idea of what's going on in the town is solid enough and has a premise worth getting invested in, but it takes way too long with plenty of unnecessary moments or storylines that manage to make it far longer than it should be. Taking the kids along for the ride provides some humorous interactions but also stretches out the running time significantly, as well as the scenes of him meeting up with the others in the town who keep trying to steer him away but just grow repetitive without anything that warrants him leaving with how cryptically everything comes off, leaving this to feel like the same thing over and over again. This holds up the action to the point of barely getting any of it until the ending with the pacing as it is. The other flaw here is the entirety of the deal with the vampire sheriff that the town agrees to and seems to be the whole purpose of the film. The concept makes no sense with only one individual fighting off the town as their law-enforcer to continually stay in there under his rule for as long as they do, making them come off as completely illogical. The dynamic makes little sense in how it came together and just reeks of being included simply for the sake of having the villain do something since there's nothing else going on that warrants him being there as there's nothing else he does worthwhile throughout here. Combined with the general lack of blood or gore for the kills presented here, these hold this one down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.