Grim Prairie Tales (1990)

Very well executed

So much average

Highly Overrated But Still Good

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A clerk (played by horror vet Brad Dourif) sets down in the old west for the night, but a bounty hunter (played by James Earl Jones) visits him wondering if he can join him for the night. We soon begin to get to know the two characters and some of their strong differences. They in turn share four "scary" stories to each other.Scary is in quotations, but because that is what they ain't. The first one is about an old man (Will Hare) who stumbles across a Native-American burial ground and a dying Native and its repercussions of doing so. The second one is about a traveling store clerk (Marc McClure) who comes across a pregnant woman who has been thrown out of her town. The third is about a man (William Atherton) who relocates to some new land with his family, only for them to find out a secret about him. The fourth and final story is about a hired gunman who experiences a haunting after his latest killing. Unfortunately for me none of these stories really work. They are either too short or fall off the cliff at the end.The best part of the movie and what does really work is the interaction between Dourif and Jones. If only the stories were a level above what they were I would recommend this one. I think they need more terror. I would recommend it though to any Brad Dourif or James Earl Jones fans. For perhaps they will see more in the movie than I did and maybe enough to make it an enjoyable experience for them.

This anthology set up is quite good with a colorful wrap around and Dourif and Jones shine as the storytellers. The first story is of an old man (Will Hare) who travels through a forbidden Indian graveyard and is buried alive while he sleeps. The next story is of a man (McClure) who meets a woman (Michelle Joyner) who tricks him into a deadly surprise while they make love. Finally, there is a man named Arthur (Atherton,) who appears to be a good family man until his daughter Eva (Wendy J. Cooke) sees him brutally murdering some innocent people one night. Writer / Director Wayne Coe mix the Horror and Western genres together and it has a great set up. The problem comes when the stories don't deliver any horror. One quick shock is delivered when the man making love is sucked into and through the woman he is making love with but even this is bloodless. The tales are interesting and even amusing they just don't lead to any terror. Well made with nice cinematography from future Academy Award winner and Steven Spielberg collaborator Janusz Kaminski. Unfortunately, the best stuff in this film is the go between with story tellers Dourif and Jones.

Blustery bounty hunter James Earl Jones and jittery eastern tenderfoot Brad Douriff share a campfire on the prairie and swap horror stories, some of the supernatural variety while others are all too natural.This is a low budget but ambitious and atmospheric horror western, worth a look for fans of either genre, though some fans of traditional westerns might not be amused.The vignettes are great but the wraparound with Jones and Douriff is so entertaining that the stories they tell pale in comparison.Other than Jones and Douriff, the best performance in the film is by William Atherton as a frontier dad with a dark secret.

It's true, none of the stories told in this strange campfire chat are particularly scary. Jones' tales of vengeful Indians, mysterious pregnant drifters, and undead gunslingers fail to chill the marrow, with only the middle tale of the three providing a certain "gross-out" factor. Dourif's single tale of family and bigotry shows true horror can lie not in the supernatural but in everyday life.However, it's the play-off between these two great actors that gives the greatest joy in this film. The contrast (and unlikely rapport) between prim clerk Dourif and grizzled bounty hunter Jones - the latter playing against type in a way that'll surprise those used to his supporting roles in, say, the Jack Ryan films - makes them a "buddy" pairing to rival Riggs and Murtaugh. Give them their own series!