The small Western town of Buck Creek is being terrorized by a killer whose victims include Sheriff William Cooper’s daughter Anna.
So the sheriff has the townsfolk evacuate their homes for a weekend and brings in eight bounty hunters.
Their mission: Stop the Buck Creek killer. Dead, he’s worth $10,000 for the man who kills him. Alive, $25,000 to those who capture him.
Bounty hunting partners Skinny (Chandler Balli) and Short (Addison Chapman) are among those who answer the call.
Skinny’s haunted by the death of his wife at the hands of an outlaw gang and eager to get even should the opportunity arise.
Short’s beginning to question his chosen profession, but isn’t about to abandon Skinny in such a dangerous situation.
Because both know assembling eight bounty hunters and pitting them against one another in the search for one killer is likely to lead to more problems.
And that’s exactly what happens. Even after the death of the Buck Creek killer. Who, by the way, tells an intriguing story about why he has killed.
Chandler Balli as Skinny, a bounty hunter bound for Buck Creek and a possible $10,000 payday in Death After Dusk (2024)
Addison Chapman as Short, Skinny’s bounty hunting partner and one of the fastest guns in these here parts in Death After Dusk (2024)
Review:
Part Western, part slasher film, part whodunit, this is an admirable attempt at a low-budget Western, especially is IMDb’s estimated budget of just $10,000 is anywhere close to accurate.
Addison Chapman and Chandler Balli are likeable in the leads roles, and the scripts serves up plenty of plot twists and an effective ending.
The biggest drawback is the film’s length. Nearly two and a half hours? Really?
In 1941’s “They Died with Their Boots On,” Raoul Walsh managed to cover the entire military career of George Armstrong Custer in a nearly identical runtime.
Here, scenes featuring bickering bounty hunters seem to go on forever. Should have been cut down? Oh, yeah. And by minutes, not seconds.
The bulk of the filming took place in Buck Creek, Texas, a Western town created by the family of Travis Lee Prine, co-writer of the film with director Balli.
The town, once the filming location for movies, TV shows and music videos, had fallen into disrepair after the death of Prine’s grandparents. The crew’s efforts to make it safe again are covered in a documentary about the making of the movie.
Another note: The movie poster and some summaries of the film refer to nine bounty hunters. It’s nine only if you count bartender Sarah, the sheriff’s daughter, who does eventually wind up embroiled in the violence. Head to the 19:27 mark in the film for confirmation of that.
Kelly Kidd as Mad Dog Matt Moses, a bounty man with more than one reason to be in Buck Creek in Death After Dusk (2024)
Gary Metivier as Brass Parker, a bounty hunter who forms a fleeing allegiance with Skinny and Short in Death After Dusk (2024)
Directed by:
Chandler Balli
Cast:
Addison Chapman … Short
Chandler Balli … Skinny
Gary Metivier … Brass Parker
Travis Lee Prine … Jed Blackwood
Kelly Kidd … Mad Dog Matt Moses
Aaron Vargas … G.K. Shotgun
Alana Phillips … Blink
Daniel Douglas … Billy Boggs
Katerina Townsend … Sarah
Sammy Wilson … Sheriff William Cooper
Alison Long … Anna
Lyndsay Douglas … Mrs. Mad Dog
Norman Wilson … Jonathan
Runtime: 141 min.
End song:
“500 Miles” by Meladite
Sammy Wilson as Sheriff William Cooper, hoping others will stop the killer terrorizing his down in Death After Dusk (2024)
Travis Lee Prince as Jed Blackwood, a bounty hunter with a secret, getting to know Skinny in Death After Dusk (2024)
Memorable lines:
Skinny: “So, you think you can just quit bounty huntin’, become a preacher, move to some small town somewhere and maybe you’ll get a page in the next bible?”
Short: “I’d like to be remembered for a good deed.”
Skinny: “So would I. But I don’t think I have a good deed to be remembered for.”
Skinny, after being briefed on the mission to stop the Buck Creek killer: “The sheriff is a little strange.”
Short: “The whole situation is a little strange.”
Short: “That’s the job, isn’t it? Damning our souls for a couple of bucks.”
Mad Dog Matt Moses: “Feel free to take this personally. You’re batshit crazy and full of crap.”
Alana Phillips as Blink, the woman who collected her first bounty on her own husband in Death After Dusk (2024)
Aaron Vargas as G.K. Shotgun, lawman in another town who’s lured to Buck Creek by a big bounty in Death After Dusk (2024)
Mad Dog Matt Moses: “Don’t worry about doin’ what’s right, Short. What’s gonna get you paid? I’ve seen too many young men go to early graves worried about morals.”
Blink, about collecting her first bounty on her husband after learning he was wanted: “I walked up behind him while he was sleeping in a chair. Tied his hands behind his back. When he woke up, he was angry, of course. So I waited. Counted. Every word he called me equaled one stab each. After three minutes of him cussing and hollering, he’d called me 37 names. So I took my blade and made him regret every single word.”
Mad Dog Matt Moses, when G.K. shows up with several sticks of dynamite: “What are we supposed to do with those?”
G.K. Shotgun: “We blow them up. If they don’t die, at least it’ll scramble their brains a little bit.”
Norman Wilson as Jonathan, talking to an editor about a Western he’s submitted for publication in Death After Dusk (2024)
Katerina Townsend as sheriff’s daughter Sarah, about to get embroiled in the violence in Death After Dusk (2024)
Alison Long as Anna, the sheriff’s daughter, unknowingly talking to the Buck Creek killer in her dad’s tavern in Death After Dusk (2024)
Daniel Douglas as Billy Boggs, one of the bounty men who answer the sheriff’s call for help in Death After Dusk (2024)
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