Black Creek (2024)

Cynthia Rothrock is Rose Jennings, who returns home to Rock Creek for what’s supposed to be a joyous reunion with her brother and his family.

She finds strangers on her brother’s land. And she’s told Sheriff John Jennings and his kin are all dead, victims of a dispute with town boss Damien Sinclair (Richard Morton).

Seems that in addition to being sheriff, John Jennings owned a silver mine — a silver mine that Sinclair wanted.

When he was slow to give it up, he paid with his life.

But not all the members of the Jennings family are dead. Janie, Rose’s sister, was taken captive and is being forced to entertain men at the brothel in Black Creek.

Niece Katie avoided detection by Sinclair’s men and is now living with Richard Barton (Keith Cooke), Rose’s former flame.

But Rose is still hungry for vengeance and undeterred by the long odds she’ll face in a town full of Sinclair’s henchmen.

Her first attempt, posing as a whore in an attempt to get close to Sinclair, fails badly. She’s beaten, dumped in the desert and left for dead.

But she’ll get another chance thanks to a new friend named Roy and a medicine man named Xiyang (Don Wilson), who knows more than a little bit about the martial arts.

Cynthia Rothrock as Rose Jennings, returning home to find Sinclair’s men on her brother’s land in Black Creek (2024)

Richard Norton as Damien SInclair, the man behind all the killings and land grabbing in Black Creek (2024)

Review:

First off, understand that Rothrock, a former martial arts world champion, was 67 years old when this film premiered in Beverly Hills in October 2024.

So she gets credit for the simple audacity to make and star in a martial arts Western, bending her body in ways that would leave some seniors in traction.

And the production values are better than you’d expect for a film that turned to an Indiegogo campaign for supplemental funding.

The biggest problem is the film’s length and pacing. Did we really need a dream sequence? A flashback? The obligatory martial arts training scene?

They bog down a film that could have been a fast-paced, campy delight given the well-filmed fight scenes and the gore. Seems out villain Sinclair is a fan of Caligula.

As for the script, it bogs down too. In fact, if you made a drinking game of downing one every time our hero expresses her desire to kill Sinclair, you might not make it to the end of the film.

Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson as Xiyang, the man who nurses Rose Jennings back to health in Rock Creek (2024)

R. Marcus Taylor as Roy, caught off guard by Rose Jenning’s fighting ability in Black Creek (2024)

Directed by:
Shannon Lanier
Mike Moller

Cast:
Cynthia Rothrock … Rose Jennings
Don “The Dragon” Wilson … Xiyang
Richard Norton … Damien Sinclair
Keith Cooke … Richard Barton
R. Marcus Taylor … Roy
Eliza Kelley … Janie Jennings
Brandy Futch … Katie Jennings
Forbes Riley … The Madam
Douglas Vermeeren … Henry Winslow
Patrick Kilpatrick … Sheriff John Jennings
Tracy Melchior … Elizabeth ‘Lizzy’ Jennings
Jody Nolan … Chad Carver
David McDivitt … Clayton
Christopher Howard … Nate
Sandra Fernandez … Helen
Janine Avanti … Yvette
Allen G. Moser … Cole
Kevin Indio Copeland … Thomson
Vince Cecere … Earl, the bartender
Morgan Frechette … Chaves

Runtime: 116 min.

Brandy Futch as Katie Jennings, looking for direction after Sinclair destroys her family in Black Creek (2024)

Keith Cooke as Richard Barton, hoping to rekindle a romance with Rose Jennings in Black Creek (2024)

Memorable lines:

Sheriff John Jennings, as his family is attacked: “You god damn son of a bitch.”
Damien Sinclair: “Oh, I’m that and a whole lot more.”

Rose Jennings, arriving at her brother’s home to find heavily armed guards: “What are you chicken fuckers doing on my brother’s property?”

Rose Jennings: “Emperor Sinclair? Is that what that asshole is calling himself?”

Rose Jennings, arriving at Richard Barton’s home: “I didn’t think I’d ever be back here again. Looks like you did a lot to this old shithouse.”
Richard Barton: “Thank you. I think.”

Xiyang: “You carry a lot of fire in your heart, and that can cloud your mind … That fire within you can destroy nearly everything in its path. But is can also destroy you.”

Sinclair: “Hank, why don’t you take little Katie here down the arena. I haven’t decided whether to cut her up and feed her to my hogs. Or dress her up and feed her to the fine gents at the brothel.”

Cynthia Rothrock as Rose Jennings, vowing vengeance against Sinclair and his men in Black Creek (2024)

Patrick Kilpatrick as Sheriff John Jennings, in trouble because Sinclair wants his silver mine in Black Creek (2024)

Tracy Melchior as Elizabeth Jennings, the sheriff’s wife, in the hands of Sinclair’s men in Black Creek (2024)

Eliza Kelley as Janie Jennings, Rose’s sister, forced to work in Sinclair’s brothel in Black Creek (2024)

Forbes Riley as The Madam, encouraging Katie to take a job in her brothel in Black Creek (2024)

Cynthia Rothrock as Rose Jennings, demanding answers with a pitchfork in Black Creek (2024)