Ghosts of Red Ridge
When this film began, I will admit that it seemed as though it was going to be a rough ride. The performances, the direction and the tone basically all spoke, “low budget western doing more its budget, and talent, can handle.” And then, it settled in, and while I wouldn’t put it up there with the great modern westerns, it’s definitely one to appreciate. It looks at responsibility to community and the toll of lives lost with an interesting twist that I enjoyed.
Sheriff Dunlap (Owen Williams) is having a hard time of things in the town of Red Ridge. As the film begins, one of the locals is being forced into performing a robbery in the general store that will leave him shot and killed when he tries to get away. Dunlap and Deputy Wilder (Trent Culkin) are trying the best they can, but gradually, residents of the town are leaving; it’s just not safe anymore. Things get even worse for Dunlap when he seemingly comes to be haunted by some of the spirits of people who have been killed recently. I don’t think the reinforcements they are trying to bring in will help.
Brandon Cahela’s screenplay is very economical in its approach to character and narrative, but the ideas behind it have some teeth there. If you find yourself in a situation where doing your best can sometimes result in the death of another human being, that is going to haunt you. At the same time the spirits arrive, Dunlap has a stranger (Paul, played by Griffin Wade) locked in jail who is reading about thermal dynamics, which could explain the apparitions that Dunlap is seeing, but when one of them is at the jail, Paul is as startled as Dunlap is. Dunlap’s arc revolves around his sense of responsibility for the safety of this town, as well as his sense of responsibility for everyone who’s lost their lives in it, and it’s a good hook for a western. The supernatural aspect is visualized in a fairly low-rent way, but it’s effective for the story being told. Director Stefan Colson uses economical set ups and production values to good effect in this film; even if it starts a bit rough, he smooths it out as the story gets along (that includes the performances), and the result is a solid western programmer that fans of the genre might enjoy, even if it does not achieve the heights of the genre at its best. I liked it.
