Prairie Fever (2008)

Kevin Sorbo plays Preston Biggs, a sheriff turned drunk after accidentally shooting his wife while trying to foil a bank robbery.

Years later, he’s working as a barkeeper in the town saloon and still not making enough to cover the whiskey he drinks.

An old acquaintance shows up, looking to even the score because Biggs put him in prison. A barroom fight ensues and Biggs lands in jail, owing $200 in damages he has no way to pay.

So Sorbo takes a well-paying job no one else wants — escorting three mail-order brides back East because they’ve been struck by prairie fever.

The trip will be more difficult than he suspects. One of the women tries to kill Biggs every chance she gets. One husband decides he wants back the money he paid Biggs, not knowing his wife is constantly quoting the scripture because she’s been raped by his brother. And the guy from the saloon is still out to get Biggs.

Then there’s the fourth woman (Olivia), who Biggs takes along after hearing her hard-luck story.

In truth, she’s a saloon gal who has snatched enough money from her lover to make a fresh start somewhere else.

Of course, the old lover (Lance Hendriksen as James Monte) wants his money back.

Kevin Sorbo as Biggs, the former lawman who agrees to transport three women stricken with prairie fever in Prairie Fever (2008)

Jamie Anne Allman as Olivia Thibodeaux, the woman who helps Biggs cope with three ‘crazy’ women in Prairie Fever (2008)

Review:

There have been films about escorting mail order brides West, but this might be the first about taking the rejects back to the East. So the unique plot alone helps make this stand out.

The presence of easy-going Kevin Sorbo in the lead role, easy-on-the-eyes Jamie Anne Allman as the female lead and snarling Lance Henriksen as the villain helps too.

The fact that none of the women are as crazy as they seem … that they’re not stricken by prairie fever after all … well, what do you expect? It is a Hallmark movie.

Lance Henrikson as Monte James, using a bribe to get information on his estranged wife in Prairie Fever (2008)

Jilian Armenante as Lettie, a mail order bride who’s been treated like a mule in Prairie Fever (2008)

Directed by:
Stephen Bridgewater
David S. Cass Sr.

Cast:
Kevin Sorbo … Preston Biggs
Dominique Swain … Abigail
Jamie Anne Allman .. Olivia Thibodeaux
Jilian Armenante … Lettie
Felicia Day … Blue
Silas Weir Mitchell … Frank Cowen
Blake Gibbons … Charlie Cowen
Don Swayze … James
Chris McKenna … Sheriff Logan
Lance Henriksen … James Monte

Runtime: 81 min.

Dominique Swain as Abigail, the young girl afraid the sky is falling in Praiire Fever (2008)

Felicia Day as Blue, the mail order bride ready to condemn everyone to hell in Prairie Fever (2008)

Memorable lines:

One woman’s husband: “You gotta take her. She’s got herself so close to God, I can’t squeeze between the two of them … When we first got married, we were happy for a while. Now she’s got everyone burning in hell, day and night.”

Blue to Biggs, when he suggests leaving Lettie’s piano behind: “And the Lord will strike you with blindness and dismay. You shall grope at noon as a blind man gropes in the dark. And the Lord shall make you a whore to all who see you. He will strike you with hemroids, boils, scars and itch.”
Biggs: “That might be a blessing.”
Blue: “And your carcass will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of …
Biggs: “Amen, already. All right?”

Jamie Anne Allman as Olivia Thibodeaux, coming to another woman’s defense in Prairie Fever (2008)

Blake Gibbons as Charlie, begging Biggs to take his religiously fervent wife back East in Prairie Fever (2008)

Silas Weir Mitchell as Frank, the Cowan brother responsible for Blue’s turn to scripture in Prairie Fever (2008)

Don Swayze as James, the man who wants to get even with Biggs for sending him to prison in Prairie Fever (2008)

Michael Ensign as the preacher who arranged for 17 mail order brides to come West in Prairie Fever (2008)

Chris McKenna as Logan, the new sheriff who convinces Biggs to take the transport job in Prairie Fever (2008)

Lance Henriksen as James Monte, using much younger wife Olivia (Jamie Anne Allman) as a shield in Prairie Fever (2008)

Kevin Sorbo as Sheriff Biggs, getting out of a dangerous situation in Prairie Fever (2008)