Tony Todd is Jericho Whitfield, a black man who boards a train bound for Atlanta on a quest of vengeance.
Years earlier, a slave owner named Stephen Hargraves scalped Jericho’s daughter in front of him, then left her in a ditch to bleed out and die.
Jericho has since sent 48 slave owners or their kin to the grave. Now he’s after Stephen Whitfield’s daughter, Annie (Jennifer Laporte).
Roland Bursley (Michael Eklund) is determined to keep that from happening. He’s a mercenary hired to protect Annie on a trip back home.
He’s being paid $500 to do so. But money is his primary motivation. And if someone can top that offer, he’ll at least entertain the proposition.
Jericho tries, but he and all the other passengers soon learn that this is a special train. And that Atlanta isn’t the real destination.
There’s a spirit aboard ready to claim souls, punish past misdeeds and, in some cases, make the most devilish of deals.
Tony Todd as Jericho Whitfield, a man after vengeance and a scalp in West of Hell (2018)
Michael Eklund as Roland Bursley, the mercenary who killed his own brother in the Civil War in West of Hell (2018)
Review:
Chalk this up as another entry in the horror Western subgenre. The good news is that it’s better than most — much better than many — and certainly features a talented cast.
Lance Henrikson plays the devil, but doesn’t show up in his true form until late in the film. Especially effective are Tony Todd in the lead role and Jeryl Prescott as Desdemona Lark, a recently freed black woman who still cowers under the orders of her former mistress.
Of course, everyone aboard this train has a tawdry past, and that includes young Annie, who married a man her father found for her, then killed that man when he demanded her obediance — that she be a “good girl” — in his bedroom.
She might have a mercenary for protection, but she’s determined to prove she can take care of herself. Even when dealing with the devil.
Jennifer Laporte as Annie Hargraves, sought by Jericho for the sins of her father in West of Hell (2018)
Lance Henrikson as The Devil offering deals or taking souls in West of Hell (2018)
Directed by:
Michael Stevens
Cast:
Tony Todd … Jericho Whitfield
Michael Eklund … Roland Bursley
Lance Henriksen … The Devil
Jennifer Laporte … Annie Hargraves
Jill Hoiles … Grace McDowell
Jeryl Prescott … Desdemona Lark
Richard Riehle … Mr. Braxton
Yousef Abu-Taleb … Father Locke
Nick Bennett … Wesley
Omono Okojie … Clara Whitfield
Benjamin Adams … Lenesh
Mark Christopher Lawrence … Abram
Anna Borchert … The Brunswick prostitute
Ashley Drayton … Sellah Lark
Sewell Whitney … Nathaniel Hickson
Michael N. Zane … Slave driver
Runtime: 80 min.
Jeryl Prescott as Desdemona Lark, the former slave forced to bear her master’s daughter in West of Hell (2018)
Yousef Abu-Taleb as Father Locke, a pastor who’s past includes a dead prostitute in West of Hell (2018)
Memorable lines:
Roland Bursley to Jericho, about the reward on his head: “The bad news is, I’m not going to kill you. The good news is, I’m going to be $1,000 richer when we get to Atlanta.”
Annie Hargraves: “What if he (Jericho) breaks free and shoots me dead?”
Roland Bursley: “I guess I’ll be $500 short.”
Annie Hargraves: “Do you enjoy working for the devil?”
Her late husband: “I didn’t at first. But you grow to enjoy the power over people.”
Roland Bursley: “Now you’re going to tell me what’s in the bag?”
Jericho Whitfield, holding a bag containing his late daughter’s doll: “The reason I kill crackers like you.”
Roland Bursley: “Get back on the train.”
Annie Hargraves: “I wanted to see hell myself.”
Desdemona Lark, as the devil delves into the passengers’ pasts: “I did nothing.”
Jericho Whitfield: “Oh, we all did something.”
Jericho, to the devil, when he demands Annie’s scalp: “I’d sooner stick this knife up your white ass. I ain’t your slave.”
Jill Hoiles as Grace McDowell, a former slave owner who sold her half-sister in West of Hell (2018)
Michael Eklund as Roland Bursley and Jennifer Laporte as Annie Hargraves, ready to defend themselves in West of Hell (2018)
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