Ken Arnold is Beau Riffen, a Pinkerton on the trail of outlaw Frank Sparks, the man he blames for the death of his wife and child.
He’s headed to the town of Purgatory with Cody Parnum (Dan DeLucas) as his guide and with Ezera Beckett, an aspiring lawman.
They’ve stopped to camp for the night when strange sounds emerge from the woods. Their horses disappear. By the time they wake the next morning, Ezera is gone too.
They make it to Purgatory on foot to find a virtual ghost town. Everything is in disarray. There are signs of struggle. But there are no signs of victims.
They find three people alive — The Rev. Silas Fist, locked in a jail cell; outcast Ann Place, hiding in the saloon; and Nicodemus Black, a hunter who’s stopped by to repair his traps.
What happened in Purgatory?
Apparently, someone raped and killed a 15-year-old Shaman’s daughter. When Purgatory wouldn’t turn over the guilty party to the Navajo, a skinwalker was set loose on the town.
Then outlaw Frank Sparks (director Matt Servitto) turns up with his sons. Reinforcements for the fight against the Skinwalker?
Hardy. They turned Purgatory into a three-way fight for survival.
Ken Arnold as Beau Riffen, a Pinkerton man looking to capture the outlaw responsible for the death of his wife and daughter in A Town Called Purgatory (2025)
Dan DeLucas as former Confederate Cody Parnum, describing a grisly discovery in A Town Called Purgatory (2025)
Review:
As soon as viewers learn the plot — heck, as soon as they hear the title — they’re likely to think, “Here we go again.”
In the 2020s, it seems like half the Westerns released have a horror element. And one of the most cliched plots has a band of Westerners trapped in a town where some sort of evil has been unleashed.
But you know what? This one is much better than most. The production is better. The cinematography is better. Most of all, the acting is better.
Dan DeLucas is a delight as Southerner Cody Parnum, a man not particularly fond of the Northerner he’s working for or the black man he’s forced to work with in order to survive.
Director Matt Servitto and Ken Arnold are also convincing as men on opposite sides of the law, and the Sparks Gang subplot adds some zest — not to mention a well-filmed shootout — to the proceedings.
Servitto has a long list of acting credits, but this marked just his second full-length film as director.
Maria Lohn as Anna Place, a resident of Purgatory who has managed to survive the Skinwalker in A Town Called Purgatory (2025)
Jeff Ricketts as The Rev. Silas Fist, a preacher with a dark secret in A Town Called Purgatory (2025)
Directed by:
Matt Servitto
Cast:
Matt Servitto .. Frank Sparks
Jeff Ricketts … The Rev. Silas Fist
Ken Arnold .. Beau Riffen
Dan DeLucas … Cody Parnum
Kevin Jiggetts … Nicodemus Black
Sam Kozeluh … John Sparks
Claudius von Stolzmann … Henry Sparks
Cat Jimenez … Ajei Moon-Shadow
Zach Steffey … Ezera Beckett
Maria Lohn … Anna Place
Oliver Kasiske … Skinwalker
Florentino Gregorio … Vincente Cortina
Monica Gregorio … Hannah Montasse
Marco Valenta … Hashke’ Moon Shadow
Runtime: 87 min.
Matt Servitto as Frank Sparks, working on a plan to slip the law, rob the bank, then escape town in A Town Called Purgatory (2025)
Claudius von Stolzmann as Henry Sparks, one of Frank’s outlaw sons in A Town Called Purgatory (2025)
Memorable lines:
Cody Parnum: “Last time I saw a town this empty, it was church or a hanging.”
Beau Riffen: “Well, it ain’t Sunday.”
Nicodemus Black, when Beau Riffen holds up a wanted poster: “What that say?”
Riffen: “Wanted death or alive. Frank Henry and John Sparks. They’re wanted for bank robbery, bounty jumping and murder.”
Nicodemus Black: “Ain’t that something. Always white folk, ain’t it?”
Beau Riffen, when Cody balks at staying in Purgatory: “You’re a coward.”
Cody Parnum: “Maybe. Or maybe my mamma didn’t raise no fool. You see this town? Um? I don’t know what the hell happened here, but it’s done. It’s cooked. And the only people here is the angry negro and the crazy preacher.”
Beau Riffen: “We didn’t walk into Purgatory. We stepped into hell.”
Frank Sparks, when Anna Place is slow to follow orders: “Listen, lady, the only monster you have to worry about in this town is me.”
Cody Parnum, pointing his rifle at The Rev. Silas Fist: “You better come out of there, preacher. Or I’m gonna make you the holiest man there is.”
Kevin Jiggetts as Nicodemus Black, a man who finds himself going up against Skinwalkers and white outlaws in A Town Called Purgatory (2025)
Sam Kozeluh as John Sparks, Frank’s son, begging for mercy after being disembowed by a Skinwalker in A Town Called Purgatory (2025)
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