‘On the Montana plains, a frontier woman must protect herself against a ruthless gang of outlaws hell-bent on revenge.’

Released in June 2022 and distributed by Daily Wire Productions, ‘Terror on the Prairie’, set in the decade after the Civil War, is directed by Michael Polish and written by Josiah Nelson.

The opening leaves us in no doubt this is a brutal, violent Western.

A man on foot is being chased by four horsemen, led by The Captain, played by Nick Searcy, and they soon catch him.

The other three, Long Hair (played by Tyler Fischer), Gold Tooth (played by Heath Freeman), and The Kid (played by Gabriel-Kane Day-Lewis) hold the man as The Captain speaks his piece, which includes quoting Bible passages.

It doesn’t end well for the man who is scalped, and we are not spared the visuals.

The film then cuts to the McAllister family on their homestead – Jeb (played by Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone), Hattie (played by Gina Carano), their young son, Will (played by Rhys Jackson Becker) and their infant daughter.

Jeb McAllister (Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone)

Their struggle with frontier life soon becomes obvious; apart from being in debt, they’re struggling to grow crops and have to rely on “store credit” for food.

It’s plain there’s nothing romantic about frontier life as Hattie goes through the tedious routine of daily life, each day pretty much the same as the one before.

Until one day, while Jeb and Will are out for the day, and Hattie is alone at home with the baby, she has an unsettling experience.

Although it works out fine, it underlines her growing belief that she’s not suited for such a harsh, unforgiving life.

Coming from a well-to-do St. Louis family, she wants to go home, and wants Jeb to, basically, swallow his pride and ask her father for work; needless to say, he’s not open to the idea.

Early next morning, Jeb leaves for town in a bit of a huff to get supplies, an overnight trip, which means Hattie and the children are left alone for more than a day.

Sometime during the morning, The Captain and his men ride up, and he politely asks if they can water their horses.

Hattie then does the hospitable thing and invites them in for breakfast.

While they are in her home with her children, she makes a chance discovery and realises they are far from harmless men simply passing through.

There then ensues a harrowing cat-and-mouse situation as Hattie must literally fight to defend her children and her home against The Captain and his ruthless men.

And that makes up the bulk of the film as it slowly becomes clear that The Captain coming to the McAllister homestead was not pure chance.

I’ve always been a big fan of Westerns, thanks to my father as it was one of his favourite genres, and when I heard about ‘Terror on the Prairie’, I knew I had to watch it.

The boys watched it with me and enjoyed it as much as I did.

Of the actors, the best performance, by far, was Nick Searcy as The Captain.

His portrayal of the antagonist was, by turns, charismatic and chilling, while his goal straddled the line between justifiable and unpardonable.

Although we’d seen Gina Carano in the first ‘Deadpool’ film, I couldn’t recollect her character and she didn’t seem familiar to me when we saw her in ‘The Mandalorian’ as Cara Dune.

She quickly became one of my favourite characters in that show, and in that role, she’s a dependable fighter, comfortable with wielding a gun and taking down the enemy.

Here, as Hattie, at first uncertain of herself before becoming ‘mama bear’ to protect her children, Carano reminded me of characters like Sarah Connor and Ellen Ripley; not ‘strong female action hero’ but ordinary women who, despite their vulnerability, dig deep to find their strength to protect that which matters most to them.

Yes, she uses guns but it’s clear she’s not comfortable doing so, and she doesn’t suddenly turn into a physical fighter, taking down the bad guys with punches and kicks.

Speaking of guns, the film shows clearly how inefficient the guns of the time really were.

No one is a brilliant shot, and that includes the outlaws as even their shots rarely, if ever, find their mark.

That anyone actually gets shot is due more to luck than anything else, and for Hattie, her gun is used more as a way to keep the men from getting too close.

Before I go any further, I must mention young Rhys Jackson Becker, who played the McAllister son, Will.

I don’t know if this is his first big role, but he carried it off with aplomb, moving across the screen with self-assured confidence.

He was totally believable as a young boy who idolised his father, who wanted to be the ‘man’ in his father’s absence yet readily reverted to being a scared young boy.

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned ‘makeup’ in my film/tv reviews, but I think its deserved here as the makeup is so realistic thanks to the main makeup artist, Jeff Dawn, who was makeup head for ‘The Terminator’ films.

Far from being relentless, the violence is sporadic and more realistic; it stays with you for longer, unlike the stylised violence we’ve become used to.

Filming was done in Montana and the setting, with its big, sweeping scenery, is very much a character in its own right.

The cinematographer has captured the ‘big country’ in its beauty and isolation, making it easy to empathise with Hattie’s own feeling of isolation.

The pacing maintained the tension throughout, to the point where I didn’t notice the lack of soundtrack until Liam mentioned it about halfway through the film.

I think that’s a good indication of how well the film was paced as we didn’t have any music to ‘guide’ our emotions and reactions, yet the tension was maintained throughout.

Obviously, as I always say, the film isn’t perfect.

There are moments that may seem too slow; a little more dialogue wouldn’t have hurt; and while I enjoyed Carano’s portrayal of Hattie, she did tend to sometimes mumble her lines.

‘Terror on the Prairie’ is, I believe, a really good homage to the solid Westerns of old, like ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’, before they became cliché-ridden, and it’s one I’ll happily rewatch, many times.

Film Review - 'Terror On The Prairie'