C-Bar (2015) poster Jesse Barnett and her brother Allen are out riding when they come across a gruesome scene.

A burned out wagon. A family slain. The only survivor is a young girl who’s been raped and tries to commit suicide.

They take the young girl named Sara back to their ranch, then announce that they’re riding off in search of those responsible.

Their father Dockie tries to stop them. When they insist, he decides to ride along.

But not alone. Dockie has an outlaw past. His former gang members still live in the region.

So he’s going to round up Bobby Blue, Cimarron Frost and No Name Smith as they track the killers south of the border.

They’ll need all the guns they can get, Dockie figures.

He knows who they’re chasing: a vicious young killer named Buck Montgomery and his gang of no-goods.

Mark Baugher as Dockie Barnett, who rides off with his children in search of killers in C-Bar (2015)

Robin Grande as Jesse Lynn Barnett, ready to ride off after killers in C-Bar (2015)

Review:

Better than you’d expect for a low-budget affair starring the author of a series of Western novels on which this film is based.

A couple of scenes come off a bit silly. Like when Dockie’s wife Marsha Jean chases off the local sheriff not once, but twice, because the law “is a joke around here.”

But other parts are stylishly done. For instance, the filmmakers establish Buck Montgomery as unpredictable and dangerous without a word of dialogue.

And the acting — again, for a low-budget film — isn’t bad.

Baugher is the author of the C-Bar novels, 10 strong as of September 2020. There’s now a “C-Bar 2” film available from the C-Bar website, though I haven’t seen it on streaming services yet.

Baugher writes that this film came to be when he was approached by director Patrick Ball and some colleagues who wanted to film a C-Bar movie to further their careers by proving they knew what they were doing.

As for his cast, most of are Western re-enactors. Except for Robin Grande, who plays his daughter Jesse Lynn. He met her walking through a feed store in Arizona.

Adam Newberry as Eric Alan Barnett, Dockie’s son, in a lighter moment with his sister in C-Bar (2015)

Sande Comenzind as Marsha Jean Barnett, taking care of one of Buck Montgomery’s victims in C-Bar (2015)

Directed by:
Patrick Ball

Cast:
Mark Baugher … Dockie Barnett
Sande Comenzind … Marsha Jean Barnett
Mike Girard … Bobby Blue
Robin Grande … Jesse Lynn Barnett
Steve Hobbs … Gunfighter
Norm Jensen … Uncle Norm
Charlie LeSueur … John Doe
Howard Lutter … Cimarron Frost
Jeff McCarroll … No Name Smith
Buck Montgomery … Buck Montgomery
Marissa Neel … Sara Dee
Adam Newberry … Eric Alan Barnett
John Scott … Gunfighter
Rick Wyckoff … Bordoux

Runtime: 71 min.

Mike Girard as Bobby Blue, Dockie’s former outlaw comrade, ready to join the hunt in C-Bar (2015)

Jeff McCarroll as No Name Smith, one of the former gang members Dockie turns to in C-Bar (2015)

Memorable lines:

Eric Alan Barnett: “All these men that come around here — how come you don’t run off with any of ’em?”
Jesse Lynn Barnett: “Most of ’em are so damned dumb I find them all irritatin’.”
Eric Alan: “What do you mean dumb?”
Jesse Lynn: “You know, like you.”

Uncle Norm: “Listen, kids, there ain’t no such thing as a fair gunfight. You have to catch them off guard. And kill them as fast as you can. Shoot ’em in the back if you can.”

Uncle Bobby: “People are gonna die. Hopefully, it ain’t us.”

Eric Alan Barnett to No Name Smith, about a horse: “You sure you can ride it? It ain’t a one-legged whore.”