Red Ridge is a Western town that was built on the promise of gold strikes and prosperity.
But the gold never materialized. Now it’s an increasing violent town of lost dreams.
Owen Williams is Sheriff Dunlap, responsible for keeping the peace in town with the help of Deputy Hank Wilder (Trent Culkin).
But Dunlap is having problems of his own. He’s haunted by ghosts. The hallucinations are driving him to drink.
And between the ghosts, the drinking and the antics of the outlaw gang roaming the Red Ridge area, Dunlap’s beginning to think it’s time to hang up his badge.
As for that outlaw gang, he’s hoping to get answers on how to stop the crime wave from a young man locked up in his jail cell.
The stranger arrived in town just as the general store was being robbed.
He claims to be a man named Paul, who walked 13 miles to town to get medicine for his family.
Dunlap just isn’t buying that story.
Owens Williams as Sheriff Dunlap, haunted by ghosts and what’s become of his town in Ghosts of Red Ridge (2024)
Trent Culkin as Hank Wilder, a deputy with less than honorable intentions in Ghosts of Red Ridge (2024)
Review:
Okay, here’s the good news. The sheriff and deputy aren’t old and overweight. Owens Williams and Trent Culkin look the part and turn in solid performances.
And unlike towns in many low-budget Westerns, this one isn’t deserted. There are actually some extras walking about. Heck, there’s even a stagecoach. Though horses are in very short supply.
The film’s also different enough to be interesting. Not good, mind you. But interesting enough that fans of Westerns might consider giving it a whirl. If you can watch it on the cheap.
The biggest problem is the movie’s identity crisis. Are we watching an old-fashioned Western? A ghost story? A tongue-in-cheek comedy Western?
By the time the credits role, you’re likely to decide it fits best in the latter category. But even in a tongue-in-cheek Western, it’s difficult to swallow a band of outlaws stealing a stagecoach full of gold bars, then promptly driving the same stage into town to rob Mrs. Wheeler’s pie shop.
Later, the gang leaders slip into town in the middle of the day, totally undetected, to crack a safe, which happens to be sitting in the sheriff’s office.
At the moment, the sheriff isn’t being haunted by ghosts. He’s sitting in Mrs. Wheeler’s with the deputy. They went there for the pie, of course.
Mercedes Peterson as Mary, the saloon owner sweet on the sheriff in Ghosts of Red Ridge (2024)
John Marrs as Kent, leader of the outlaw gang in Ghosts of Red Ridge (2024)
Directed by:
Stefan Colson
Cast:
Owen Williams … Sheriff Harlis Dunlap
Trent Culkin … Deputy Hank Wilder
Griffin Wade … Paul
Mercedes Peterson … Mary
John Marrs … Kent
Lena Wilcox … Gretchen
Mario Rocha …. Lance
Chris James Rivera … Mac
Curt Lambert … Grady
John Schile … Dr. Johnson
Blaize Naasz … Mrs. Lymon
Kevin Orduno … Willis
Lane Wilkins … Mr. Lymon
Bob Colson … Eugene
Brandon Cahela … Lester
Jack Campbell … Dwight
Kaia Campbell … Citrine Lymon
Lucy Campbell … Mia Lymon
William Carr … Gus
Robert Clark … Reggie
Bill Fortenberry … Buford
Cliff Owens … Maynard
Mark Padilla … Dallas
Tammi-Jo Wilkins … Mrs. Wheeler
Runtime: 81 min.
Lena Wilcox as Gretchen, a member of the outlaw gang, holding up a stagecoach in Ghosts of Red Ridge (2024)
Mario Rocha as Lance, a member of the outlaw gang in Ghosts of Red Ridge (2024)
Memorable lines:
Mr. Lymon: “When we moved here, everybody said there’d be gold, prosperity. Just seems like this town is rotten from the inside.”
Deputy Wilder: “Another round, Mary. Sheriff Dunlap here needs to drink his demons away.”
Mary: “We ain’t got enough booze for that.”
Deputy Wilkins to Sheriff Dunlap: “Don’t blame yourself. You’re a good man. Some things, good can’t fix.”
Griffin Wade as Paul, the stranger who stops by Red Ridge and is mistaken for a member of the outlaw gang in Ghosts of Red Ridge (2024)
John Schile as Doctor Johnson, answering the sheriff’s questions about nightmares and visions in Ghosts of Red Ridge (2024)
Chris James Rivera as Mac, a member of the outlaw gang in Ghosts of Red Ridge (2024)
Trent Culkin as Deputy Wilder and Owen Williams as Sheriff Dunlap discussing the future of Red Ridge in Ghosts of Red Ridge (2024)
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