Ambush at Dark Canyon (2012)

Kix Brooks plays Duke Donovan, a lawman forced to take part in a bank robbery to save a damsel in distress.

Six people wind up dead in Young Country, Ariz., on that day in 1892, in what became known as the Mid-day Massacre.

Donovan is thrown in Yuma Prison, where he discovers that the mastermind behind the bank robbery, Levin Hardin, survived a head wound and has put together a new gang.

There’s no doubt in Donovan’s mind where the gang will head — to his home to get revenge on his wife Madeleine.

So Donovan breaks out of Yuma with the help of a black cook and former 9th Cavalry trooper named Cyrus Parker.

They set out after the Hardin gang.

And Warden Cullen Logan sends three men after the escaped convicts, with young Tom Sullivan leading the way.

Kix Brooks as Duke Donovan in Ambush at Dark Canyon (2012)

Luke Massey as Levin Hardin in Ambush at Dark Canyon (2012)

Review:

Yet another recent Western starring a country singer — in this case Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn fame. He comes off as younger and tougher than his 56 or so years when the film was made, but his is pretty much a one-note performance.

One of the better roles falls to Ronnie Gene Blevins as Tom Sullivan, a young prison guard trying to fulfill his duty by bringing Donovan back in, even though he suspects the former lawman is innocent of all the crimes he’s been thrown in prison for.

A couple of interesting plot twists await if you make it to the end of the film. Kix Brooks also provides the music.

Ernie Hudson as Cyrus Parker in Ambush at Dark Canyon (2012)

Sydney Penny as Madeleine Donovan in Ambush at Dark Canyon (2012)

Directed by:
Dustin Rikert

Cast:
Kix Brooks … Duke Donovan
Ernie Hudson … Cyrus Parker
Timothy V. Murphy … Warden Cullen Logan
Andrew Walker … Jesse Helms
Ronnie Gene Blevins … Tom Sullivan
Sydney Penny …. Madeleine Donovan
Luke Massy … Levin Hardin
Paul McCarthy-Boyington … Will Penny
Courtney Gains … Sheriff Hurley
Jennifer Blanc … Fanny Kelly
Abraham Benrubi … Garrett Kain
William Shockley … Cage Dalton
James Karen … Seymour Redfield
Don Swayze … Chale Lord
Brent Briscoe … Morgan Heinz
Newell Alexander … Judge Backhaus
Jeffery Dean … Silas Barber
Nicole Herald … Maxie Plumb

Runtime: 90 min.

Timothy V. Murphy as Warden Logan in Ambush at Dark Canyon (2012)

Ronnie Gene Blevins as Tim Sullivan in Ambush at Dark Canyon (2012)

Memorable lines:

Will Penny: “That thing in Young Country, did it really go down the way they say it did?”
Duke Donovan: “You know, in all my years working with the law, there’s one thing I’ve learned.”
Will: “What’s that?”
Donovan: “Nothing ever went down the way they say it did.”

Cyrus, as Donovan prepares to warn the warden’s deputies that Hardin is lying in wait for them: “What are you doing?”
Donovan: “I can’t let innocent men get killed. Even if they are trying to kill me.”

Paul McCarthy-Boyinton as Will Penny in Ambush at Dark Canyon (2012)

James Karen as Seymour Redfield in Ambush at Dark Canyon (2012)

Andrew Walker as Jesse Helms in Ambush at Dark Canyon (2012)

Kix Brooks as Duke Donovan 04 in Ambush at Dark Canyon (2012)