Gina Carano is Hattie McAllister, a woman with a 9-year-old son and an infant daughter, trying to eek out a living on the harsh Montana frontier.
Husband Jeb (Donald Cerrone) is a former Union sharpshooter who earned a medal for his valor. The homestead represents his life dream.
Hattie is less committed to that dream, figuring it might be time to head back East, move in with her well-off parents and have her husband take a job with her father.
Then four strangers show up while Jeb is off to town fetching supplies and checking on job opportunities.
Hattie grants them use of the family’s well water. She agrees to sell them a dozen eggs. She even invites them into her home for a meal.
Then, on a trip to the barn while the men are inside, she discovers scalps hanging from one of their saddles.
Once back inside, she gets the drop on the men with a shotgun and orders them to leave her home. And to leave their six-shooters behind.
The four men, led by former Confederate Capt. Miller (Nick Searcy) leave the home. But they don’t go far.
After all, these strangers didn’t stumble upon the McAllister homestead by accident.
Gina Carano as Hattie McAllister, working on the homestead as riders appear on the horizon in Terror on the Prairie (2022)
Nick Searcy as Capt. Miller, explaining his quest for vengeance to one of his men in Terror on the Prairie (2022)
Review:
A better than average 2020s Western in terms of acting, production values and cinematrography.
Director Michael Polish grabs viewers attention with a rather vicious opening scene and does a great job conveying the harsh living conditions on the McAllister homestead.
Unfortunately, some key plot points don’t pass the smell test.
With her husband gone and an infant to care for, Hattie invites four strangers into her home? Then pulls a shotgun on them? Talk about inviting trouble.
Once that happens, a long siege of the homestead commences, with four villains out on the outside, Hattie and her two children on the inside, hoping to hold out until her husband returns.
And just what are these vicious men waiting for? Why don’t they just charge the cabin and take anything they want?
Sure, there’s Miller’s claim that he doesn’t hurt women and children. But his men are riddling the cabin with bullets. Couldn’t those be deadly?
Once the trouble begins, action star Gina Carano relies more on wits than brawn or markmanship to survive the situation. And the film is done well enough that viewers will become invested in her quest for survival.
Donald Cerrone as Jeb McAllister, listening to his wife’s concerns about a future on the frontier in Terror on the Prairie (2022)
Jeb McAllister (Donald Cerrone) bidding farewell to son Will (Rhys Becker) as he heads off to town in Terror on the Prairie (2022)
Directed by:
Michael Polish
Cast:
Gina Carano … Hattie McAllister
Nick Searcy … Capt. Miller
Donald Cerrone … Jeb McAllister
Heath Freeman … Gold Teeth Frank
Tyler Fischer … Long Hair
Gabriel-Kane Day Lewis … The Kid
Rhys Becker … Will McAllister
Emmalee Banthem … Bess McAllister
Matthias Hues … Mr. Samuelson
Samaire Armstrong … Soiled Dove
Travis Mills … Gideon
Tom Dragt … Railroad man
Jeremy Gauna … Young Blackfeet man
Izzy Marshall … Young Blackfeet woman
Runtime: 107 min.
Heath Freeman as Gold Teeth, one of Capt. Miller’s men, wondering about his next move in Terror on the Prairie (2022)
Tyler Fisher as Long Hair, one of Capt. Miller’s men, keeping an eye on the McAllister cabin in Terror on the Plains (2022)
Memorable lines:
Capt. Miller to Gideon, one of the men he’s seeking vengeance against: “Your tears, they do you credit. They show contrition. And I have no doubt that God will forgive you, through the blood of his son. But I ain’t God.”
Hattie McAllister, tiring of frontier life: “Are we gonna make it out here?”
Jeb McAllister: “Just gotta have a little grit.”
Hattie: “I don’t know where to find that anymore.
Jeb: “Sure you do. I know, deep down, you’re the toughest woman in this territory.”
Hattie McAllister to Miller and his men: “Just take what you want and go!”
Capt. Miller, smiling: “But what we want is you.”
Gina Carano as Hattie McAllister, finding scalps among one of the strangers packs in Terror on the Prairie (2022)
Gabriel-Kane Day Lewis as The Kid, one of the captain’s men, attacking the McAllister home in Terror on the Prairie (2022)
Capt. Miller, of Yankee brutality during the Civil War: “They took my only child from me. Ripped her from this life. Without mercy or pitty. And there ain’t no law, on earth or in heaven or hell, that can keep a father from takin’ his revenge. Not the devil. And not God himself.”
Jebediah McAllister: “Vengeance belongs to the Lord, Miller.”
Capt. Miller: “Well, the Lord takes too damn long.”
Hatt McAllister, wielding a knife against a man trying to rape her: “Go to hell. You son of a bitch.”
Gina Carano as Hattie McAllister, her life endangered yet again in Terror on the Prairie (2022)
Matthias Hues as Mr. Samuelson, the neighbor who rushes to the rescue when he sees smoke coming from the McAllister home in Terror on the Prairie (2022)
Donald Cerrone as Jeb McAllister, coming face to face with a vengeance seeking former Civil War adversary in Terror on the Prairie (2022)
Gina Carano as Hattie McAllister, determined to defend her home and her children in Terror on the Prairie (2022)
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