Terror on the Prairie Review

3 star violent and unsettling modern Western.

Terror on the Prairie is a 2022 American drama/thriller written by Josiah Nelson (Dirty Little Deeds) and directed by Michael Polish (Big Sur, Twin Falls Idaho). It will be available on Digital Platforms 5th September and on DVD 3rd October courtesy of Signature Entertainment.

“I apologize Gideon. If manners maketh man, I have surrounded myself with boys.”

Set in the decade following the American Civil War, Hattie McAllister (Gina Carano – Deadpool, The Mandalorian) is a frontier woman living in the harsh and remote Montana Plains with her husband Jeb (played by the aptly titled Cowboy Cerrone – The Commando, Embattled), young son Will (Rhys Becker) and daughter Bess.

It’s a tough life and Hattie has had enough, she wants to move back to St Loius, but Jeb wants them to stick it out, this is their dream. It’s a dream that will soon turn into a nightmare when Jeb heads into town for supplies, leaving his family alone at the homestead.

They are visited by a group of men, the Captain (Nick Searcy – American Gothic, The Shape of Water)  and his henchmen The Kid (Gabriel-Kane Day Lewis – Adolphe), Long Hair (Tyler Fischer – Startup) and Gold Tooth (Heath Freeman – 12 Mighty Orphans, Warrior Road). Seemingly friendly at first, they ask for water and Hattie is happy to oblige.

For some reason at this point she decides it would be a good idea to invite them into her home for breakfast. By the time she spots the scalps hanging from their saddles and realises she is in danger they already have a foot in the door, and getting rid of them will not be easy. What do they want with her and her family?

“Good and bad are not always so clear, Will. Sometimes you wake up and realise you’re on the wrong side of things, and when your Pa did, he had the courage to make things right, just like he always does.”

Terror on the Prairie is an enjoyable film to watch. I found the acting to be quite good and the script (what there is of it) is solid too, although it is more than a little bit preachy.

There is a lot of graphic violence (we see a man scalped right at the start) and it is unrelenting in it’s brutality throughout. In terms of sheer grit it certainly doesn’t disappont and the backdrops are truly magnificent, using the natural beauty of the area to great effect.

That’s not to say however that it is without issues. The fight scenes are pretty ridiculous, the law of averages would suggest that if five people shot at each other for half an hour, someone would eventually get lucky and hit something even if they weren’t aiming. The inconsistent recoil of the guns is also a bit frustrating. There is also a lot of screaming, very loud and very grating and difficult on the ears.

All that aside though, this is a good film, it’s nice to see a modern Western and it is certainly well worth a watch.

“My momma wanted to warn me about falling in with bad company. And once I did, I didn’t realise how hard it would be to part ways.”

Signature Entertainment presents Terror on the Prairie on Digital Platforms 5th September and DVD 3rd October