Trigon - The Legend of the Phantom Rider (2002)

"Their leader rode into town this morning...I swear he's the devil himself."

Based on the reviews posted I decided to give the western/horror film Legend of the Phantom Rider (2003) a shot (no pun intended)...did it live up to the hype? Well, not really, but I still enjoyed it and was glad I gave it a chance. Written by Robert McRay ("Conan: The Adventurer"), who also appears in two, count `em, two of the main roles, and directed by Alex Erkiletian, the film features Denise Crosby (Eliminators, Pet Sematary), whom many sci-fi fans know better as Lieutenant Tasha Yar from the late 1980s/early 1990s television series "Star Trek: The Next Generation". Also appearing is Stefan Gierasch (Silver Streak), George Murdock (Earthquake), Zen Gesner (Fever Pitch), Irwin Keyes (Intolerable Cruelty), and Angus Scrimm (Phantasm, Chopping Mall, Munchie), probably most familiar to movie viewers as the creepy inter-dimensional corpse stealing, killer sphere wielding character of The Tall Man, from Don Coscarelli's Phantasm films.

As the film begins it's 1165 A.D. and we see two painted, half nekkid Native Americans engaging in a quick battle while a woman with a pair of large, Salma Hayek sized cans looks on...fast forward to 1865...we now see a family of four on the prairie set upon by a band of toughs, led by a bald man named Blade (McRay), who's dressed in a confederate officer's uniform. The old man and the young boy are brutally murderlated, leaving behind the mother, Sarah Jenkins (Crosby), and her young daughter. Sarah manages to make it to a nearby pittance of a town in search of help, only to find Blade and his sadistic cronies are already there, and have taken over, killing anyone who offers the least bit of resistance. It's about this time things get a little confusing as Sarah, who's got now vengeence bug, is identified by Blade as `the one' before being dumped in the desert and hooking up with a Native American medicine man who relates some mumbo jumbo about good and evil, all leading up to the appearance of a silent, long haired, gun toting, facially disfigure man dressed in black named Pelgidium (also played by McRay). As Sarah returns to town, trouble quickly finds her, but Pelgidium (what the hell kind of name is that?), who's got the fast draw, shows up and makes quick work of one of Blade's men. As Sarah gets what's left of the townspeople to screw up their courage to fight back, fear begins to take hold in the hearts of Blade's men as they feel this long haired, freaky deaky stranger isn't human. Blade continues to put the squeeze on the town (and his own men) initiating a decapitation (off screen), some hangings, and a kidnapping Sarah's daughter, all leading up to a confrontation between good and evil, one that plays itself out every couple of hundred years in this very same spot...or something like that...

As I said, I thought this a decent film, but I thought the story a bit more convoluted than it needed to be, especially in terms of the whole supernatural element, which could have been removed completely and not even missed (along with the pointless opening sequence). I know, I know, those who've seen the film will say it's the lynchpin to the story, but really, I think the movie would have come off stronger had it been played straight up sans the notion of warring spirits continually returning to Earth to fight over some prize that was never spelled out (i.e. the existentialist B.S.). And I'm curious, why did the protagonist have to exhibit such an extreme facial disfigurement? Maybe the filmmakers thought it would be cool, but it was most probably because Robert McRay played both roles, so they wanted to make the two seem as different a possible. If Blade and Pelgidium were truly manifestations of good and evil, bent on duking it out, I think it would have more interesting to have them both have the same face, as it would have been more in line with the whole `ying and yang' notion, but then that's just my opinion. As far as the acting, overall it was decent enough. I thought McRay got a little `hammy' in the role of Blade, but he managed to keep it reigned in most of the time. Crosby did okay, but she seemed hampered either by a lack of skill or poor material (I'm leaning towards the latter). Perhaps it was a slight case of miscasting, but her name did add some recognition value to the feature. One aspect I really liked was the setting used for the movie, which was shot in Arizona. The town looked real, thus adding a good deal of creditability to the story. The costumes were decent, but there was one guy, Blade's right hand man named Suicide (Gesner) of all things, who sported a pair of rather modern looking blue jeans. I know they had jeans back in the day, but I doubt the jeans of the time fitted as well as they seemed to on him. This is a minor point, but every time I saw him, I couldn't help focus on it, ultimately drawing me away from the story. As far as the shoot `em up stuff, there is good chunk of gun action spread throughout, and a number of characters get it in the back, which seemed fairly realistic to me as I suspect many individuals who populated the actual west in the early days wouldn't have been adverse to doing such a thing, despite what Hollywood may have you believe. My favorite sequence was when a few of the townspeople were holed up in the church, and Angus Scrimm, who played the preacher, praying for protection, finally picks up a pair of revolvers, encouraged to do so after a stray shot from outside damaged the cross on the wall. The one element of the production I found annoying after awhile was the music. I wouldn't have minded it so much, but it seemed the same, lifeless, low key, downbeat piece was played ad nauseum throughout the entire movie. All in all this isn't a bad little independent feature, one that seemingly includes a lot of effort even if it did come up a little short.

The picture on the DVD, released by MTI Home Video, looks good, and is presented in widescreen format (I'd guess the aspect ratio is about 2.35:1). I'm unsure if it's anamorphic or not, as the case doesn't specify such. The audio format isn't specified either, but I'm guessing it was in Dolby Digital stereo, which came across well enough. As far as extras, there's optional Spanish subtitles, brief cast bios, a trailer for the film, along with previews for the films Cause of Death (2000) and Stricken (1998).

Cookieman108
April 3, 2006

GUNSLINGERS

I was really surprised that this movie was so good. The story does have holes in it though. I recommend just filling in the blanks yourself. I love a fast draw and Pelgidium (the good guy) is incredible. Blade (the bad guy) is probably just as fast but does not quite have the same flair. The same actor (Robert McRay) plays both parts wonderfully. I also liked the music but in a talking scene or two it was a little too loud. This movie could be placed in the Western section of video stores just as well as the Horror section. Alot of Western lovers don't know what they're missing. March 12, 2006

GHOST TOWN

LEGEND OF THE PHANTOM RIDER opens with a bizarre scene set in the 12th century American West in which an Indian hauls a squaw off to the middle of the desert and then confronts another Indian. The Indians kill each other and we're in 19th century West, where a bunch of thugs murder a man and his son, leaving a widow and little girl behind. They go off to the nearest town to start all over. Of course, the bad guy, Blade, and his gang have taken over the town and are mercilessly killing anyone for the fun of it. The opening prologue does mention that there are two evil forces that seek a chief every hundred years or so, and thus we are given the premise for Blade and the mysterious Phantom Rider, who is about as frightening as a Bugs Bunny cartoon.
The problem with this movie is it doesn't really go anywhere with its plot. The townspeople are a bunch of sad sacks and the outlaws are reminiscent of the Apple Dumpling Gang with a sick sense of humor.
Robert McCray, the actor who plays Blade, is also responsible for what script there is. A vanity project with little reward. Denise Crosby is awful as the heroine Sarah and the rest of the cast approaches the same level. McCray is vicious, but he is such a cartoonish character, he is laughable. He also by the way plays the Phantom Rider; truly a vanity project.
I didn't care much for this; too dull and repetitious. December 9, 2004

SUPRISINGLY GOOD HORROR/WESTERN!!!

AT THE START, I DID NOT EXPECT THIS FILM TO BE ALL THAT GREAT.
IT DID, HOWEVER, TURN OUT TO BE QUITE INTERESTING.
THERE WAS QUITE A BIT OF BLOOD AND VIOLENCE, BUT WHAT WOULD A WESTERN BE WITHOUT IT?
IF YOU'RE INTO OLD-STYLE WESTERNS, THEN DON'T RENT THIS MOVIE.
IF YOU'RE INTO CLINT EASTWOOD STYLE VIOLENT WESTERN THRIILLERS, THEN YOU MIGHT JUST ENJOY THIS.
THERE WERE A FEW RECOGNIZABLE FACES IN THE FILM, BUT NO BIG NAME STARS.
IT IS, HOWEVER, A VERY GOOD WESTERN WITH LOTS OF BLOOD AND A TITLE CHARACTER WITH A COOL BLACK OUTFIT, A DEFORMED FACE AND A QUIET PERSONALITY.
HIS SHOOTING SPEAKS FOR ITSELF!!!
ALL IN ALL, THIS WAS A MOVIE THAT I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IF YOU LIKE NEW WESTERNS WITH ALL THE BLOOD AND GUNSHOTS THAT ONE COULD ASK FOR IN A FEATURE FILM. ENJOY!!! October 19, 2003

Popcorn fun

Okay, I didn't really knwo what to expect and perhaps that is a good thing. The visuals are very good in this one and echo back to the Serge Leone films The plot is somewhat confusing, but obviously the editor wasn't given a copy of the script. :>)

That said, I sat back and really started to enjoy this flick. Denise Crosby suffers a bit in the acting catagory, but the rest of the cast seesm to have a lot of fun in the characters they were given. The standouts are Blade and his henchman Suicide (the baddies). Robert McRay is both charming and evil as the bald baddie Blade. I couldn't help but like the guy, even when he was killing kids (I know that sounds so bad). His performance is downright fun to watch. Zen Gezner plays Suicide, who seems willing to do anything for his boss. Hamming it up in the best Clint Eastwood style, the chemestry is perfect.

The rest of the cast meander around an empty town and are all up for the task.

The rundown: Directing good. Acting good, plot confusing, visuals good, editing awful.

Analysis: Sit back and don't overanalyze. It's popcorn time and this will see you to te bottom of the bowl.

Brad June 3, 2003

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