~Spoiler~
In the tradition of Ghost Town and Sundown, this unknown horror/western came out of nowhere and managed to surprise me. Legend of the Phantom Rider sits right in the middle of the aforementioned films. It takes itself more seriously than Sundown and is missing the stronger horror elements of Ghost Town. Phantom Rider is more like a supernatural western. If it were not for Fangoria, this flick would have remained undiscovered. I'm grateful they had a write-up in a recent issue because I did enjoy the movie. Above-average production values, good make-up, and decent performances really help out (an appearance by the Tall Man doesn't hurt either). As for the idea itself, I loved it. Good and Evil are reincarnated to do battle over and over again. It's cool and it's simple. And the fact that Robert McRay played both Blade, the villain, and Pelgidium, the hero, brought the film to a whole new level. McRay (who also wrote the movie) is fairly convincing as the bad guy, but it's his silent performance as Pelgidium Granger that I really liked. He had this creepy way of moving that sold me on the idea that this is not a person to mess with. Just showing McRay posing in his gunfighter position was a scary thing. There's something incredibly cheesy about that title though. They should have stuck with the title "Pelgidium Granger." Sure you might lose some of the audience with a more complex title, but who's really going to rent a movie called Legend of the Phantom Rider anyway? Legend of the Phantom Rider achieves more as a western, but genre fans should be able to appreciate it too. A few great moments and a solid, fairly original story make Legend of the Phantom Rider a good little B-movie.
In the tradition of Ghost Town and Sundown, this unknown horror/western came out of nowhere and managed to surprise me. Legend of the Phantom Rider sits right in the middle of the aforementioned films. It takes itself more seriously than Sundown and is missing the stronger horror elements of Ghost Town. Phantom Rider is more like a supernatural western. If it were not for Fangoria, this flick would have remained undiscovered. I'm grateful they had a write-up in a recent issue because I did enjoy the movie. Above-average production values, good make-up, and decent performances really help out (an appearance by the Tall Man doesn't hurt either). As for the idea itself, I loved it. Good and Evil are reincarnated to do battle over and over again. It's cool and it's simple. And the fact that Robert McRay played both Blade, the villain, and Pelgidium, the hero, brought the film to a whole new level. McRay (who also wrote the movie) is fairly convincing as the bad guy, but it's his silent performance as Pelgidium Granger that I really liked. He had this creepy way of moving that sold me on the idea that this is not a person to mess with. Just showing McRay posing in his gunfighter position was a scary thing. There's something incredibly cheesy about that title though. They should have stuck with the title "Pelgidium Granger." Sure you might lose some of the audience with a more complex title, but who's really going to rent a movie called Legend of the Phantom Rider anyway? Legend of the Phantom Rider achieves more as a western, but genre fans should be able to appreciate it too. A few great moments and a solid, fairly original story make Legend of the Phantom Rider a good little B-movie.