The Burrowers

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

I love these quality B-flicks and I always get excited when I find a new one. Now I just found The Burrowers and from the cover and some stills I even started having expectations. Furtunately this is not bad at all. It's actually a movie of very good quality. Where most B-Movies tend to be lashed-together, obviously realized for some profit exclusively, apparently some are crafted with love. The small details, the refined tone, quality cinematography and gross creatures will get you over some flaws in the script. But the fact, that it takes it's western side serious and manages to score in that genre too, makes Burrowers a cool feature, absolutely worth your time. 6/10

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.

A western horror movie with creatures? Yeah, that's really all you need to know if you want to see this or not. Hey, you may not like it, but at the same time you may love it. I'm in the middle ground.

Story revolves around a rescue mission of sorts. The native Americans are blamed and that's where the rescue team is headed. Well, during the pursuit, people are mysteriously disappearing during the night. And what the hell are those weird holes in the ground? And why is the young girl they found not reacting to anything? Find out this and more in The Burrowers.

Like I said before, creatures in a western horror movie. That should be enough for you to make up your mind. If it's not enough, I can say that the creatures are pretty cool and the idea behind them is pretty original. But, you don't see them very often, and when you do, occasionally, they're in CGI form, but not always. And when not in CGI form, they look pretty sweet. My biggest gripe with the flick is....anything non-creature related. I just didn't give a damn about any of the rescue mission or the social-commentary or anything. Call me immature, call me a dumby, but hey, I like me some creatures, and these were pretty cool creatures, so it really grabbed all of my attention.

The Burrowers was a pretty slick lookin flick, with nice shots of rugged New Mexico, decent music, cool creatures (have I mentioned that??), a gaggle of carefree characters (especially Doug Hutchinson) and a pretty weak ending. The flick is a pretty mixed bag. It's a pretty solid rental, that you may just end up really enjoying. Or not.

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