A cowboy named Nate (Jarret LeMaster) is about to be hanged for an overdue bill when a veteran bounty hunter named Benjamin intervenes.
He needs help on his next job — tracking down an outlaw named Henry Plummer — and he’ll make sure the debt gets repaid if Nate is freed so he can ride along.
They wind up in the town of Las Guijas, where a brutal sheriff known as Charlie (Steve Savage) guns down a minor outlaw just as Nate’s about to collect the reward.
Nate drowns himself in drink until he spots Charlie’s next victim, a pretty brunette (Michelle Acuna) who’s been whipped and is scheduled to be hanged.
He arranges to have himself thrown in jail so he can free her.
Then he spots the wanted poster. Turns out the pretty brunette is known as the Sparkled Eyed Kid, an outlaw with a price on her head far higher than the bounty he just missed out on.
But is she really an outlaw? Or has she been framed by Charlie because of something that happened in both of their pasts?
Nate doesn’t have time to ponder on it for long. If he’s going to turn her in for the bounty, he needs to ride hard and fast.
Because Charlie is on his trail, and he’s rounded up a posse that doesn’t care whether they bring them back dead or alive.
Jarret LeMaster as Nate, trying to stay off the gallows by becoming a bounty hunter in Bounty (2009)
Michelle Acuna as Em, finding herself in Charlie’s clutches again in Bounty (2009)
Review:
You’ll find lots worse low-budget Westerns, at least in terms of the acting. Jarret LeMaster and Michelle Acuna turn in commendable performances.
The two biggest drawbacks of this film — non-stop and often nonsensical philosophizing about justice, and plot holes you could drive a wagon train through.
The worst — twice Nate is scheduled to be hanged, once for not paying off a debt, once for starting a barfight.
Yet after being captured by Charlie for freeing a condemned woman, he’s set free again, albeit after the sheriff maims his gun hand.
Steve Savage as Charlie, the man who sets himself up as sheriff and ruler of Las Guijas in Bounty (2009)
Bruce Isham as Benjamin, the bounty man who gives Nate a chance to pay off his debt as his assistant in Bounty (2009)
Directed by:
Jared Isham
Cast:
Jarret LeMaster … Nate
Michelle Acuna … Em / Sparkle Eyed Kid
Steve Savage … Charlie
Bruce Isham … Benjamin
Austin O’Brien … Jake
Rodrick Lee Goins … Frank
Jon Wyatt Davis … Buck Stenton
Peter Sherayko … Judge Isaac
Runtime: 90 min.
Rodrick Lee Goins as Frank, the timid barkeep who decides to fight for justice in Bounty (2009)
Austin O’Brien as Jake, the brother Em thought was dead in Bounty (2009)
Memorable lines:
Charlie to Frank, as he threatens to gauge out his eye: “One twitch of my finger, and you’ll wish you never came here. Do you know what it’s like not to see. You walk around knowing there’s something out there, but the best you can hope for is feel. The rest is imagination. It’s like the world has a secret, and the best part of it is being kept from you.”
Frank, the bartender: “Where’s the justice, Nate?”
Nate: “It’s a long way from here.”
Michelle Acuna as Em, tied up for safe keeping by Charlie when Nate (Jarret LeMaster) finds her in Bounty (2009)
Peter Sherayko as Judge Isaac, the man who gives Nate (Jarret LeMaster) an option to hanging in Bounty (2009)
Jarret LeMaster as Nate, getting lessons in shooting left-handed from Em (Michelle Acuna) in Bounty (2009)
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