The Magnificent Dead (2010)

Rick Perkins is Mayor Wilks, who is promising prosperity to the good folks of Rosewood if they help him bring the Texas Pacific Railroad to town.

And most folks think it’s a good idea.

The holdout is rancher Jared Hamilton (David S. Lampe), who refuses to give up any part of his land to make way for the railroad.

The railroad scouts, led by Harold Barnes, show up in Rosewood anyway. Jared and his gunhands challenge them to a showdown.

All the railroad men wind up dead.

Then Father Julian (Joseph Fatinos) arrives in Rosewood, declaring the only way to stop the violence that has erupted is with more violence.

And he knows just where to turn for the help needed: The nearby town of Thorne where a half dozen leper gunmen cleaned up the town.

He heads off to fetch the lepers.

Curious, a female trapper named Laura follows. She discovers the truth about Thorne. It’s quiet all right. All the residents are dead.

Now the survival of Rosewood will depend on a jilted cowboy named Wes Carver (Karl Anderson), the loner named Laura (Alexis Celeste Elliott) and a brave girl with a bow
and arrow named Shelby (Ayla Judson).

Alexis Celeste Elliott, aka Ace Elliott, as Laura, gun ready for action in The Magnificent Dead (2010)

Karl Anderson as Wes Carver, the jilted cowboy who aligns himself with Laura in The Magnificent Dead (2010)

Review:

Another entry into the increasingly popular horror Western subgenre, this is a low-budget film with ample gore, but cheap special effects that aren’t going to make you squirm too much.

What the film doesn’t lack is plenty of characters. The film features a cast of dozens. In fact, perhaps too many. Because the lack of focus on a handful of heroes makes it difficult to root very hard for anyone to survive the slaughter.

As for the plot, if you’re going to get to the end of the film you’re just going to have to ignore the fact that so many townsfolk think sending for leper gunmen to solve their problems is a good idea.

But they sure are effective in removing obstacles for the railroad.

Joseph Fotinos as Father Julian, bringing his gospel of violence to Rosewood in The Magnificent Dead (2010)

Gilbert Austin as Ambrose, leader of the leper gunmen summoned to Rosewood in The Magnificent Dead (2010)

Directed by:
Shane Scott

Cast:
Ace Elliott … Laura
aka: Alexis Celeste Elliott
Karl Anderson … Wesley
Kodi Nagy … Wendy
Steve Uzzell … Max
Mark Hernandez … Alejandro
Marita De La Torre … Estrella
Daviid S. Lampe … Jared
Joseph Fotinos … Father Julian
Gilbert Austin … Ambrose
Ayla Judson … Shelby
Christian Haddad … Mathrew
Jack Wilson … Father Harold
Rick Perkins … Mayor WIlks
Kale Peel … Karl
Walt Roberts … Sheriff Mason
John Weathers … Harris
Fred Ellis … Barnes
John K. Arkinson .. Tom Hawthorne
Lavelle White … Sister Rose
Margaret Hoard … Fontaine
Annalee Langham … Emily
Jerry Beck … Kang (leper)
John T. Monk … Enoch (leper)
James Fontinos … Harlan (leper)
Seth Kuhn … Seth (leper)
Adam SImon … SIlas (leper)
Michael Sorrells … Doc
Feliz Dia McDonald … Etta

Runtime: 79 min.

David S. Lampe as Jared Hamilton, a rancher unwilling to give the railroad access to his land in The Magnificent Dead (2010)

Rick Perkins as Mayor Wilks, the man who wants to bring the railroad to Rosewood in The Magnificent Dead (2010)

Memorable lines:

Father Harold: “Haven’t you forgotten about Jared Hamilton.”
Mayor Wilks: “We took a vote on that father. You were there. Annexation is good for this town.”
Father Harold: “You can annex the land. You can’t annex a man’s soul. He’s one of us.”

Laura to Wesley: “Don’t you ever touch my head, range trash!”

Wesley, after a flare-up with Laura: “What the hell was that all about, sheriff?”
Sheriff Bill Mason: “I don’t know. They say her old drunk daddy usd to hit her in the head when she was a girl. Ain’t been too sociable ever since.”

Walt Roberts as Sheriff Bill Mason, finding a drunk who’s not really drunk in The Magnificent Dead (2010)

Ayla Judson as Shelby, a young girl concerned because the doctor thinks her caretaker has rabies in The Magnificent Dead (2010)

Laura: “What kind of priest comes into town and instigates violence?”
Father Julian: “One who has been bullied. As you have … Men like Jared do not understand talk. They only know violence. And, now, by the grace of God we have violence to match his violence.”

Laura, spotting Ambrose, leader of the lepers: “I feel like I’ve seen him before.”
Estrella: “They’re just lepers. They’re not demons, Laura.”

Father Julian, discovering the children escaped through a hole in the jailhouse floor. “Alright, this was a mistake. The children are going to be the main course now instead of desert.”

Mark Hernandez as Alejandro, one of the Rosewood residents sent to fetch the lepers in the Magnificent Dead (2010)

Marita De La Torre as Estrella, trying to calm Laura when the lepers show up in The Magnificent Dead (2010)

Jack Wilson as Father Harold, disillusioned by the infighting in Rosewood in The Magnificent Dead (2010)

Fred Ellis as railroad man Harold Barnes, speaking with Rosewood’s sheriff in The Magnificent Dead (2010)