Skylar Witte is Jocelyn, and she’s just married Jody Callahan (Michael Welch), son of a large rancher in these here parts.
As everyone gets drunk on her wedding night, Jocelyn overhears a disturbing conversation.
Jody apparently killed “a floozy” sometime in the not-too-distant past.
And the Callahan clan killed her father, the sheriff, so he wouldn’t face trial for doing so.
Frightened by what she’s heard, Jocelyn flees her wedding reception. Five days later, near exhaustion after losing her horse, she’s picked up by freighter Red Lindstrom (Peter Sherayko) and newcomer Billy Tyson (Brock Harris).
Billy shows off his quick gun skills when Jody’s brother Sid (Cam Gigandet) shows up to reclaim Joselyn and starts slapping her around.
From that point on, Red and Billy assume the role of Joselyn’s protectors, taking her to a nearby stage relay station run by Joe Ryker (David DeLuise) and his Indian wife Nelli (Keikilani Grune).
Pretty soon, that stage station is under siege. Jody wants his wife back. Sid, embarrassed by the earlier gunfight, wants Billy’s neck stretched.
What the Callahan clan doesn’t know is that Billy’s not in the area by accident.
He has an old score to settle with the men who killed his parents. And one of the Callahan riders (Jay Picketts as Twigs) is in on that secret.
Certainly a film worth watching for Western fans desperate for new material. Just expect a few false notes along the way, some more jarring than others.
The budding romance between Jocelyn and Billy is awkwardly handled. The dynamite should have stayed buried considering the lame special effects it produces.
And one of Callahan’s men — get this — changes sides because he’s hungry and smells the dinner the station manager’s wife is cooking.
That said, the film benefits from performances by Brock Harris, Peter Sherayko, Jay Pickett and David DeLuise that are better than you’d expect in a low-budget Western.
And Skylar Witte and Keikilani Grune provide us with two believable female characters. The former is cute as a button in the lead role.
Bruce Dern, 85 when this film was released, plays the patriarch of the Callahan clan.
Directed by:
Michael Feifer
Cast:
Brock Harris … Billy Tyson Bonneville
Skylar Witte … Jocelyn Miller Callahan
Michael Welch … Jody Callahan
Bruce Dern … Blair Callahan
Cam Gigandet … Sid Callahan
Peter Sherayko … Red Lindstrom
Jay Pickett … Twigs (Jess Bonneville)
David DeLuise … Joe Ryker
Caia Coley … Eloise
Brock Burnett … Mr. Potts
Keikilani Grune … Nellie Rhyker
Jerry Bestpitch … Hal
Larry Poole … Wiley
Ardeshir Radpour … Hardy
Kevin McNiven … Chauncy
Runtime: 86 min.
Memorable lines:
Red Lindstrom as Sid Callahan itches his way toward a showdown with Billy Tyson: “Sid, you’re more gurgle than guts. Now just leak out of the landscape.”
Twigs, a Callahan man: “You ever see a rattlesnake sunning itself, all peaceful like, then you throw a rock at it. That’s Billy Tyson.”
Jocelyn: “Jody’s a lot younger than his brother, so they (the Callahans) give him anything he wants. Guess that includes me.”
Jody Callahan, arguing for the return of his wife: “You know who I am? My pa and I could have 30 men around this station by morning.”
Red Linstrom: “We’ll be here.”
Blair Callahan, to his hired hands: “You don’t hide in a house for Christ’s sake. We’re in a war.”
Jody Callahan: “Okay, now I’ve been patient, but I don’t want my wife gettin’ hurt.”
Blair Callahan: “Shut up! This is not the time to bring that up here! She’s responsible for this whole god damned mess.”
Jody: “I want her cute, like I married her. Not all mangled up, like you’re fixin’ to do.”
Blair Callahan, in the middle of a gun battle, when Jody asks if they’ve seen his wife duck for cover: “She’s standing up. She’s got five bullet holes in her head.”