Brotherhood of the Gun (1991)

Brian Bloom is Zack Hollister, a Confederate war hero renowned for his ability as a sharpshooter.

After the war, he heads West with brother Tom to hit the outlaw trail, vowing never to be a lawman like his late father, a sheriff killed when he refused to be bribed.

The train holdup Zack helps the Frank Weir gang pull goes off without a hitch, until the men get into a gun battle over the loot.

Zack is wounded, his younger brother killed. The former war hero winds up being nursed back to health by a pretty ranch woman named Kate (Jamie Rose).

Next step, the vengeance trail to track down Frank Weir. And by now, Zack is ready to pin on a deputy’s badge in order to get his revenge.

One of his first jobs as deputy to Charlie Sanchez is to rescue Tom Hollister, a wealthy rancher’s son who’s been kidnapped.

Turns out he and his friend where taken captive by relatives of a mountain girl he sexually assaulted, introducing a whole new set of complications for everyone involved.

Review:

A couple of unexpected twists and a well-filmed final gun battle help make up for a film that doesn’t have a whole lot else going for it.

The biggest problem is that Bloom, in the lead role, comes across as a conceited, confrontational pretty boy who needs to be taken down many, many notches.

Putting a handsome actor in the lead role of a Western accomplishes nothing if that character isn’t one you’ll emphathize with and root for.

Who cares if Hollister lives or dies? Hell, he even threatens to shoot the dwarf who’s using fortune cards to try to predict whether the sheriff will survive a bad wound.

Jorge Cervera Jr. is more likeable as the sheriff. As wealthy Artemis McBride, David Carradine spends most of the film scowling.

Directed by:
Vern Gillum

Cast:
Brian Bloom … Zack Hollister
Jamie Rose … Kate
Jorge Cervera Jr. … Charlie Sanchez
David Carradine … Artemis McBride
James Remar … Frank Weir
Mark Ballou … Tom Hollister
Deborah Falconer … Allison McBride
Shawn Levy … Teddy McBride
Phil Fondacaro … Antonio

Runtime: 91 min.

aka: Hollister

Memorable lines:

Riley: “Lookee here, it’s Zack Hollister and his baby brother, come to raise some hell.”
Zack Hollister: “You pull that gun on me again, Riley, you’ll reside in hell.”

Kate, as Zack settles into her bed: “You lost?”
Zack Hollister: “Oh, this isn’t my room? Must be my head wound.”
Kate, displaying a six-gun: “If you don’t get back to your own bed, you could have yourself a nice, fresh wound.”

Zack Hollister to Artemis McBride: “You ever do any outlawing? Or do you just do all your robbing with the fountain pen?”

Allison McBride: “I think you’ll like our food, Zack. A good burrito is made from a nice firm tortillas with a soft, hot center.”
Zack Hollister: “I could not agree more, Allison.”
Allison’s mother shoots her a scolding glance.
Allison: “What?”

Artemis McBride: “Just testing you, boy. And you passed, colors streaming. I need a cool head to work for me.”
Zack Hollister: “Ever see a mongoose and a snake fight. They bite each other til the death. No thank you. I’ll pass. I’ve got places to go.”
McBride: “And people to shoot?”

Frank Weir to Antonio: “I want you to ride back into Spanish Gulch and tell that kid deputy, Zack Hollister, to eat all the meals he ever wanted, drink all the booze he ever needed and bed all the women he ever dreamed about in the next 12 hours. Cause they’re gonna be the last 12 hours of his miserable ditch-water life.”

James Tarwater as Riley, one of Frank Weir’s gunman in Brotherhood of the Gun (1991)

Mark Ballou as Tom Hollister, the brother Zack leads to an outlaw life in Brotherhood of the Gun (1991)

Deborah Falconer as Allison McBride, Artemis McBride’s flirting daughter in Brotherhood of the Gun (1991)