James Earl Jones is a bounty hunter named Morrison, with a corpse on his saddle.
Brad Dourif is Farley, an Easterner out West for a reunion with his wife, who’s visiting her ill mother.
Morrison invites himself to share Farley’s fire for tonight.
Though clearly uneasy about Morrison’s gruff appearance — not to mention the dead man in his company — Farley decides to make the best of the situation.
As they settle down for the night, Morrison offers to tell a tale.
A horror story, Farley requests.
Soon, the men are exchanging tales of horror, each trying to outdo the other.
Morrison has the last word; he just won’t be out-storied.
Review:
James Earl Jones’ deep booming voice makes him the perfect teller of scary stories.
And because of the film’s structure — four short stories weaved together — this never gets boring.
There’s even a little twist at the end as the men prepare to part.
But you might just get to the end of the movie and wonder: Hmm, what was the point?
For the record, my favorite story was the third, told by Farley, about the husband, wife and maturing daughter traveling West to find their Eden, only for the daughter to discover her father’s racist past, something he hasn’t left behind.
James Earl Jones also played a judge in 1993’s “Sommersby,” starring Richard Gere and Jodie Foster. He died on Sept. 9, 2024, at age 93.
Directed by:
Wayne Coe
Cast:
James Earl Jones … Morrison
Brad Dourif … Farley Dietz
Will Hare … Lee
Marc McClure … Tom
Michelle Joyner … Jenny
William Atherton … Arthur
Lisa Eichhorn … Maureen
Wendy J. Cooke … Eva
Scott Paulin … Martin
Jennifer Barlow … Sarah
Dan Leegant … Dr. Leaderman
William Martin Brennan … Bluey
Tom Simcox … Horn
Bruce M. Fischer … Colochez
James Glick … Dying chief
Runtime: 86 min.
Memorable lines:
Morrison to Farley Dietz: “Don’t think I’m so stupid I didn’t see that carbine you got stuck under your bedroll. Or that pistol, and it’s a fine one too, got stucked under your pillow. I’d move those to a safe place, if I was you. You’re liable to blow your head and your nuts off playing with yourself tonight.”
Morrison to Farley Dietz: “You wanna hear a story, city boy.”
Morrison: “What is incredible, Dietz, is that you made it this far, not knowing two spits and half of fart about the very country which you cross.”
Morrison: “I’m gonna tell you a story that’ll stick to you, like an eye ball to a cactus needle.”
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