Potter´s Ground

In my hometown, i used to go to the home of a school friend called Nicklas. He was the biggest VHS collector i knew, and i had several friends who had VHS shelves. But Nicklas was definetely the biggest collector, and everytime i visited his home, i used to go through his VHS shelves. He was actually the one who introduced me to the Police Academy films, since he collected every film. Since i knew that his parents used to buy VHS films every month ( they subscribed to a VHS distrubution company who released VHS films ), they would get a lot of titles that i have never heard of before. It was everything from action films, to thrillers, comedies, horror, and western films as well. It was here i discovered a VHS release of the 1966 film known as Django, with legendary actor Franco Nero. Django turned out to be something quite different from the western films i had seen from legendary western director Sergio Leone. Especially the character of Django, he was quite different from most characters in this genre, since he is dragging a coffin, wherever he goes. The film tells the story of a drifter known as Django ( Franco Nero ), who travels through the Mexico - United States border. As he makes a stops and witnesses Mexican bandits tying a Mexican prostitute known as Maria ( Loredana Nusciak ), The ex-Confederate officer Major Jackson ( Eduardo Fajardo ) prepare to kill Maria, but is stopped by Django, as he kill the men. From this point on, Django is now seen as a problem, that must be killed. Django is a really good western film from director Sergio Corbucci, where lead actor Franco Nero really gives a powerful performance as the lonesome, and mysterious Django. This is a must see on DVD or Blu Ray, especially for old school western fans. Speaking of western, i just love it when a director combine horror and western together. And this is exactly what director J.T. Petty did in his 2008 film The Burrowers, a well made western horror film where mysterious creatures attack people in year of 1879. Not only does this film have great characters, but the creature design is pretty cool. Pick it up on DVD, it´s definetely worth checking out. For a while i have been reading some positive reviews of a western horror called Potter´s Ground, and since i love this combination, i just had to check this film out on DVD. Is this one of the best western films of this year, or is Potter´s Ground just as bad as Anna Book´s 2007 studio album Samba Sambero?

A team of former Confederate outlaws during the final stage of the civil war, is lead by soon-to-be father, Sully ( Isaiah Newton ), that includes the team of Lex ( Scott Crain ), and Native-American Ninekiller ( Loren Anthony ), who are commanded to take part in a dangerous retrieval mission to find a three piece ancient treasure. On their journey, they will soon discover that

To combine horror and western you have to be able to tell an interesting story, and this is actually something that Potter´s Ground manage to do. Not that this film is original in any way, but the story does work better than i expected. And one of the reasons to that is that the characters in this film are actually pretty good, and match well with the story. There are especially two characters that i think helps the plot, and let us begin with the character known as Lex, played by actor Scott Crain. Lex is exactly the kind of character you need in a film like this. He is confident, he knows how to be sarcastic, and he also knows how to talk to ladies. He is basically everything you would want in a host at a Las Vegas event, except he happens to be a cowboy. I can actually see the character of Lex have his own western film, with a completely different plot. That would actually be interesting to see, since he does have a strong personality. The next character i need to mention is Sully, played by actor Isaiah Stratton ( who played the character Officer Jeffries in TV series Homeland ). Sully is a very traditional cowboy, who brings his charming personality to the table. He is also very serious about finishing the mission, and Isaiah manage to give Sully a portrait that feels like a good match to the character. The cinematography by Joshua Shreve looks really good, so he really did a good job on this film. So how does Potter´s Ground work as a horror film? If you can be patient, and wait for the secrets to be revealed, this film manage to head in a direction that i actually enjoy. Especially when we find out what´s waiting out there, and we do get to have some fun. Let me just say this, if you enjoyed the independent western horror 2014 film Blood Moon, you will definetely enjoy Potter´s Ground. You will see what i mean, once you have seen Potter´s Ground. The practical make up effects is also a highlight, i enjoy the look of the creatures ( reminds me of the 80´s ), especially in the graveyard scene. There is not anything negative that needs to be said about Potter´s Ground, perhaps that i wish this film was a bit more brutal, and that i would have liked to see more of the beasts. Other than that, i think this is actually a film that horror fans should pick up on DVD. Director Michael Butts ( who also directed the short film called Potter´s Ground ) have definetely made one of the more interesting western films this year, and he proves that you can make a good horror film in this genre. Potter´s Ground should be in your bookshelf, showing that you also appreciate good independent horror films, wich is exactly what i do.

Rating: DDD