Into the Badlands

Helen Hunt asking, “What’ve you got chasing you?” exactly locates this portentous western horror in its very early 90s milieu. The late 80s new wave cowboy music vibes elevate (rather than cheapen) the moody cowboy stuff and help carry when the plot or dialogue goes cartoony. Mixed bag or multivalent, depends on your taste. I turned off Red Dead 2 and The Jet Black Berries when it occurred to me I had a movie equivalent. It’s closer to TNG holodeck western (or Oblivion) than your spaghetti or domestic westerns, but I enjoy the tv-movie stagy and flat stuff. Trips into brilliant but misses its potential to be the Razored Saddles movie.

Bruce Dern is a campy delight but his supporting cast declines as the movie goes.

Helen Hunt asking, “What’ve you got chasing you?” exactly locates this portentous western horror in its very early 90s milieu. The late 80s new wave cowboy music vibes elevate (rather than cheapen) the moody cowboy stuff and help carry when the plot or dialogue goes cartoony. Mixed bag or multivalent, depends on your taste. I turned off Red Dead 2 and The Jet Black Berries when it occurred to me I had a movie equivalent. It’s closer to TNG holodeck western (or Oblivion) than your spaghetti or domestic westerns, but I enjoy the tv-movie stagy and flat stuff. Trips into brilliant but misses its potential to be the Razored Saddles movie.

Bruce Dern is a campy delight but his supporting cast declines as the movie goes.