Revelation Trail (2013)

Daniel Van Thomas is the preacher in the frontier town of Highland Mills when terror comes calling.

Two no-goods show up at the home he shares with his wife and young son; they’re looking for a place to spend the night.

The preacher allows them to stay in his barn, not knowing that they’ve just massacred the Reynolds family.

More importantly, he doesn’t know that one of the two men has been bitten in the arm and is about to join the legend of the undead.

The next day, one of the two attacks his son, leaving him severely injured. He also bites the preacher’s wife when she tries to help her son.

The preacher rushes to town for the doctor. When he sees one of the no-goods on the street, he grabs a rifle and kills him.

For that, he’s thrown in jail by Marshal Edwards (Daniel Britt). Then the marshal heads to the preacher’s home to check on the wife and son.

He finds a grisly sight. And woods teaming with undead. For the first time, he understands what’s happening.

Before long, he and the preacher are on the run, killing every zombie they come across, hoping to reach a town that hasn’t been taken over.

Instead, they wind up at an abandoned military post where the man who has assumed command (Robert Valentine as Samuel Beard) is nearly as evil as the walking dead outside.

Review:

Once again, the undead roam the West. But check it out: This film is actually quite stylishly done.

More than anything, it benefits from fine performances by Daniel Van Thomas as The Preacher and Robert Valentine as Samuel Beard.

And Daniel Britt pretty much steals the show as grizzled Marshal Edwards. He isn’t religious in the least. He thinks it foolhardy when The Preacher insists on praying over and burying the undead.

But just the same, the two men form an uneasy alliance. In fact, it’s the opposing world views of two basically good men that helps set this movie apart.

Directed by:
John P. Gibson

Cast:
Daniel Van Thomas … The Preacher
Daniel Britt … Marshal Edwards
Jordan Elizabeth … Isabelle
Robert Valentine … Samuel Beard
Paul Morris … Isaiah Bannon
Donald R. Fleming … Jakob Bannon
Christopher Vonderschmidt … James
Wendy Keeling … Disturbed woman
Sydney Clark … Lillith Reynolds
Mindy Helthaus … Talbicia Reynolds
Nicholas Fabisiak … Marcus Reynolds
Lee Vervoort … Doc. Adlai Benjamin Morris
Katie Stewart … Annette

Runtime: 106 min.

Memorable lines:

Marshal Edwards: “Problems with the flock?”
The Preacher: “There’s always a few wolves in the mix.”

Marshal Edwards, at a lynch mob forms, demanding justice in the name of God: “We owe it to God? Let me make this clear. If so much as one man steps foot in that building without me granting it, the only person you’re gonna be owing is the doctor for pulling lead out of your gut.”

Marshal Edwards to The Preacher: “I got no practical use for what’s between chapters one and 500 in that book of yours. I just always enjoyed a good story. And a carpenter’s son bringing a dead man back alive is damn near top of the list.”

Marshal Edwards, after the Preacher blows up a barn full of undead church-goers: “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
The Preacher: “I don’t.”

Sam Beard: “So tell me, what brings a sin buster and a lawman way out here to the edge of chaos?”

Sam Beard: “A bullet clears things up mighty quick.”

Marshal Edwards to The Preacher: “You may have a few wheels loose on the wagon, but you ain’t a murderer.”