The Burrowers

The Burrowers is written and directed by J.T. Petty. It stars William Mapother, Sean Patrick Thomas, Clancy Brown, Laura Leighton, Doug Hutchison, Karl Geary and Robert Richard. Music is by Joseph LoDuca and cinematography by Phil Parmet.

August the 11th 1879, the Dakota territories, and after a family of pioneers are abducted a posse is formed and go off in search of the culprits. It is believed they have fallen prey to hostile Native Americans, but once out in the wilds the truth hits home and the posse find themselves in a brutal and bloody fight for survival.

It's not like Tremors! That wonderful homage to the B movie creature features of the 1950s is played for laughs and action thrills. The Burrowers admittedly on plot synopsis' does lend one to think that a fun packed creature feature is in the offering, but as many unaware film fans have found out, this is far from being the case.

I would rather walk in the right direction than ride with my head up my ass.

The Burrowers takes itself seriously, and not insultingly so. J.T. Petty wanted to make a Horror/Western but not in the schlocky sense. He even infuses the narrative with some human concerns and statements, ecologically and racially so.

The pace is very, very deliberate, so potential first time viewers need to take that into consideration. Once the plot is kick started in the opening salvo, the posse go out into the wilds and interact, for better and worse, dialogue is sharp and pointed, intelligent even.

A number of great character based scenes are setting the tone for what is a downbeat picture, while when the action comes in tantalising spurts, it's well marshalled by Petty, and it's not just all about the creatures either.

The look is of a classical Western, which considering the modest budget is quite some achievement. From costuming and props, to the colour palette, the film convinces as the Old West of 1879. In this regard it would have been very interesting to have seen Petty make a standalone Oater.

Practical effects are very decent and CGI is wisely used sparingly, though the big showdown at pic's end is something of a let down. Elsewhere Sir Clancy of Brown and Doug The Thug Hutchison are sadly under written, though the face fuzz department scores high marks!

A tricky one to recommend to either Horror or Western fans, but for atmosphere and a great sense of period - and no little amount of originality as well, it's worth checking out as long as you don't expect Tremors. 7/10

On 11 August 1879, in the Dakota Territories, the Irish Fergus Coffey (Karl Geary) intends to propose his beloved Maryanne Stewart; however her family is attacked apparently by the Sioux and they vanish. Fergus joins to the experienced John Clay (Clancy Brown) and William Parcher (William Mapother) and a teenager to track down the family of settlers. Along their journey, the team-up with the army troop led by the sadistic and racist Captain Henry Victor (Doug Hutchison) that also believes that the Sioux are responsible for the abduction of the families in the territory. The quartet has friction with Henry and decides to ride without the escort of the army and the black cook Callaghan (Sean Patrick Thomas) decides to travel with the group. After an Indian attack in the woods, the survivors discovers that the Sioux are not responsible for the slaughters but actually a pack of carnivorous creatures from underground called The Burrowers and they have to fight to survive.

"The Burrowers" is a creepy, original, weird and brutal film in the environment of the Wild West, with good special effects. However these effects are too graphic and gruesome and most of the characters are non- likable. Doug Hutchison, from X-Files, performs a sadistic and racist captain of the army and his character is really hateful. The conclusion is pessimist and the black humor never works. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Escavadores" ("Burrowers")

I actually wanted to rate it a 6 (out of 10), but I liked the ending so much I had to give the movie an extra point. Plus it does dare to be different. And I think it does succeed most of the times, with combining known ingredients and mixing them up. Of course this is a western, but there is more to it than "cowboys and Indians" (much more and no pun intended).

Most of the time we do know more than the main actors. And while we do know, it might feel a bit too slow moving for a few people. Of course I haven't watched the short (look in the movie connections on IMDb) or the web series, that are connected with this. It's a great nice idea though, that has some nice acting and a decent enough plot to follow.

The idea of underground creatures menacing the old west was well portrayed in "Tremors 4". "The Burrowers" adds some interesting twists relating to why these burrowing beasties appeared, and the Indians way of dealing with them. The film opens strong with a slaughtered family, and everyone wrongly blaming the Indians. What follows is a prolonged hunt for the hostiles. Unfortunately character development is sacrificed in favor of hitting the trail. A lot of effort went into the burrower monsters, with not a hint of c.g.i., and unfortunately it is mostly wasted in the barely discernible night attacks. Another glaring problem is the lack of subtitles for the cowboys, as their mumbled jargon is no easier to understand than the Indians language which is subtitled. Somewhere in here is an intriguing movie, but "The Burrowers" obvious flaws are objectionable. - MERK

For a movie probably pitched as "Tremors in the old West", The Burrowers turned out to be a pleasant surprise, a movie almost better than it has any right to be or at least better than one would expect given its budget and straight-to-DVD status. Unlike the vast majority of western horror hybrids it works so well exactly because it takes its western self as serious, if not more so, than its horror one. Even though it's made like a horror movie, comes with all the generic paraphernalia of one (jump scares, loud sound cues, etc.), and panders to the straight-to-DVD Lionsgate audience more than western loyalists, it still convinces that its western credentials have as much place in it as the horror hijinks, that they're not mere exotic props to be wielded as diversions from the usual clichés of another monster movie. Before the rather forgettable schlock of the finale, the movie has soaked up enough eerie frontier atmosphere of wide open prairies, deserted Indian camps and abandoned wagons, to make the creature feature aspect seem almost redundant. And in doing meets Neil Marshall's The Descent and Dog Soldiers in equal terms. Let's face it, the Old West could be a pretty terrifying place without us having to add supernatural touches to make it scarier 150 years later. This I believe is The Burrowers' greatest success: it earns its horror credentials by remaining serious within its western setting.

That's not to say it's gonna win any accolades for originality. But it's competently made sufficiently acted and well lensed to hold together at the seams. If the prospect of a western creature feature sounds like something you would enjoy, The Burrowers will rise to the occasion and try and please. If not then it never had a chance with you. Fans of both westerns and horror (two genres that sadly don't mix as often as they should, still waiting for the filmic equivalent of a Blood Meridian to prove it) will have a ball, traditionalists of either will probably cock an eyebrow.