Drew Walters is Kansas Red, who intervenes on behalf of a young man caught in a poker game that goes bad.
By the time the shooting stops, three men are dead and Kansas Red is wounded.
While he’s being patched up, the young man (Sam Ashby as Billy Cassidy) realizes that this is the same Kansas Red he’s read about in dime novels.
So Billy tries to convince Kansas Red to help his family. Seems Thorn Lawson, an old admirer of his mother, has busted out of jail and is sure to cause trouble.
Kansas Red agrees, but Lawson beats them to the Cassidy ranch. By the time Billy arrives, his father is dead and his mother had been kidnapped along with two other women living at the ranch.
Kansas Red and Billy set out in pursuit, with the help of a black tracker named Finnegan (Cowboy Troy).
The three soon become four because tomboyish Leslie Allen (Vanessa Evigan) has escaped from the Larson gang and insists on helping free Billy’s mom.
Turns out Kansas Red, Leslie and Carol Cassidy all have secrets from the past that they’ve been hiding.
Drew Waters as Kansas Red, finding himself with more help than he’d welcome in The Desperate Riders (2022)
Vanessa Evigan as Leslie Allen, the woman who joins Billy and Kansas Red on their quest in The Desperate Riders (2022)
Review:
As Deputy Harms bids farewell to Kansas Red, he utters the words “til the next time.” Please, no. There should never be a next time for this cast of characters.
Besides palatial homes and actors and actresses who look freshly scrubbed in every scene, no matter how long they’ve been on the trail, there’s nothing memorable about this Western.
Then come the final 10 minutes, with one groan worthy moment / revelation followed by another and another and another.
My suggestion: Instead of watching this, check out one of director Michael Feifer’s other Westerns. They’re all better, especially 2021’s “The Last Shootout.”
Oh, and Tom Berenger’s role here is as a supporting character, a doctor/dentist who has to keep patching up our hero.
Trace Adkins as Thorn Larson, showing up at the Cassidy ranch in The Desperate Riders (1922)
Victoria Pratt as Carol Cassidy, Billy’s mom and Thorn Larson’s target in The Desperate Riders (2022)
Directed by:
Michael Feifer
Cast:
Drew Waters … Kansas Red
Vanessa Evigan … Leslie Allen
Sam Ashby … Billy Cassidy
Victoria Pratt … Carol Cassidy
Cowboy Troy … Finnegan
Rob Mayes … Deputy Harms
Trace Adkins … Thorn Larson
Tom Berenger …. Doc Tillman
Erin Beathea … Marianne
Brock O’Hurn … Thatch
Peter Sherayko … Linstrom
T. Graham Brown … Gridley
Tucson Vernon Walker … Longley
Fred Yanda … Caey
Torry Martin … Slim
Kevin Harris … Portman
Jerry Bestpitch … Leech
Roy Snow … Father John
Keith Gentry … Patch
Runtime: 90 min.
Sam Ashby as Billy Cassidy, arguing for his right to stay on the trail of his mother’s kidnappers in The Desperate Riders (2022)
Rob Mayes as Deputy Harms, determined to help bring Larson to justice in The Desperate Riders (2022)
Memorable lines:
Lindstrom, watching Kansas Red ride away from the doctor’s home: “I know his type. He’s searching for something, but he don’t know what. And he won’t stop til he finds it.”
Carol Cassidy, as Thorn Larson and his men show up: “Where’s my husband?”
Thorn Larson: “You’re lookin’ at him.”
Slim Casey , seeking Kansas Red, to the Doc: “I sincerely hope I don’t have to shoot you in the leg and get the truth to leak outta you.”
Kansas Red, as he begins making out with Leslie: “Let’s get one thing straight: I’m still in charge.”
Billy Cassidy to Kansas Red: “We’re kin. Kin ride together.”
Kansas Red: “I really gotta quit gettin’ shot.”
Kansas Red to Leslie, as he tries to convince her to ride off with him to Montana: “I’d buy you that new model Winchester. And shine it up real nice. And carve your name in it.”
Tom Berenger as Doc Tillman, trying to calm down a man looking to avenge his brother’s death in The Desperate Riders (2022)
Cowboy Troy as Finnegan, the tracker who agrees to help Billy and Kansas Red in The Desperate Riders (2022)
Trace Adkins as Thorn Larson confronts an intruder while Carol Cassidy (Victoria Pratt) looks on in The Desperate Riders (2022)
Vanessa Evigan as Leslie Allen, Victoria Pratt as Carol Cassidy and Erin Beathea as Marianne react when Thorn Laron’s men, including Thatch (Brock O’Hurn) show up in The Desperate Riders (2022)/strong>
){kind=link}