Terror On The Prairie

''Terror on the Prairie'' is a 2022 American Western film directed by Michael Polish and written by Josiah Nelson. It was produced by The Daily Wire and Bonfire Legend, and distributed by The Daily Wire and Voltage Pictures. The film follows a family of pioneers as they defend themselves from a vicious gang of outlaws hell-bent on revenge on the Montana plains. The film features the cast of Gina Carano as Hattie McAllister, Donald Cerrone as Jeb McAllister, and Nick Searcy starring as The Captain, with Rhys Jackson Becker, Gabriel-Kane Day Lewis, Tyler Fischer, Heath Freeman, Samaire Armstrong, and Matthias Hues all featured in supporting roles.

''Terror on the Prairie'' was released on The Daily Wire on June 14, 2022. It was not widely reviewed but the reviews were generally positive.

Plot

Several years after the end of the Civil War, veteran Jeb McAllister and his wife Hattie struggle to raise their adolescent son Will and infant daughter in the wilds of Montana. Hattie is disillusioned with the drudgery of frontier life and wants to move back to her parents' land in the east, against Jeb's wishes to be self-reliant and capable of raising their family on the own. After Jeb leaves to find work so they can raise money for traveling, four strangers arrive and ask Hattie for some food and water — although, once she sees human scalps tied to their saddles, she kicks them out.

However, the outlaws do not go far. Instead, a stand-off emerges after repeated attempts to break into the McAllister cabin are foiled by Hattie and Will, with one outlaw getting killed. As night falls, Hattie realizes that the reason the outlaws are unwilling to leave is that they are looking for Jeb (who is still in town) and want to use her and their children as bait. Jeb, meanwhile, after failing to find any work and spending the evening drinking in a saloon, recognizes the men he passed earlier are on wanted posters and rushes back to the cabin. The couple slip out of their burning cabin and attempt to hide in the wilderness.

Will manages to hide with his younger sister, but Hattie is captured by the outlaws. Jeb tries but fails to save her. The outlaw leader, whom the story refers to as the "captain", turns out to be Jeb's former commander; he wants Jeb to pay for accidentally killing his only daughter after betraying him and his family to Union soldiers during the war. Jeb and Hattie are dragged out to face a lynching. However, Hattie tricks the captain into leaving her alone with an outlaw, allowing her to draw a hidden knife and kill him. Hattie then remerges and, after a shoot-out, she kills the captain and Jeb kills the remaining outlaw. The film ends with the McAllister family rebuilding their cabin with money from the bounty on the deceased outlaws.

Cast

* Gina Carano as Hattie McAllister:
A pioneer mother forced to defend herself and her children against ruthless criminals. On the character of Hattie, Carano stated, "Becoming attieallowed me to wear everything I was feeling at that time out loud, and to my surprise you can really feel it on the character more than I was aware. This is a story about a family struggling with all the elements against them and then some, but they are fighting for their lives and dreams. Maybe that is something people can relate to these days." On her decision to portray Hattie, Carano stated that he has always expressed a willingness to do a period piece, with her stating a fondness for ''Pride and Prejudice'' (1940) as a child. Of Nelson's screenplay she stated, "I was also really fascinated by the family aspect of it and being on the frontier. They’re having to fight all the time to stay alive. They’re fighting the elements. They’re fighting the outlaws. They’re even fighting each other at some point." Carano remarked that the film "felt like closure" to the public humiliation of being cancelled, with her harnessing the pain of her real life to bring to the character of Hattie: "I just felt it was a really good time for me to access the pain that I was feeling in my personal life and wear it quietly ..Because that's how I felt inside. It was nice that the character had that in it, and I could kind of use that as therapy, just to let my hurt show in a way that I was doing in life anyway. I think it really added to my character."
* Donald Cerrone as Jeb McAllister
* Tyler Fischer as Long Hair
* Gabriel-Kane Day Lewis as The Kid
* Rhys Jackson Becker as Will McAllister
* Matthias Hues as Mr. Samuelson
* Samaire Armstrong as Soiled Dove
* Heath Freeman as Gold Teeth
* Nick Searcy as The Captain

Additionally, Travis Mills, Izzy Marshall, Jeremy Gauna, and Thomas White Eagle are among the supporting cast.

Production

Development

On February 12, 2021, ''Deadline Hollywood'' reported that Gina Carano was set to develop, produce, and star in an upcoming film, which ''The Daily Wire'' would release exclusively to its members. When asked of her new film, Carano replied, "''The Daily Wire'' is helping make one of my dreams — to develop and produce my own film — come true. I cried out and my prayer was answered." The original plan had been to adapt the book "White Knuckle" by Eric Red but that project was pushed back in favor of making ''Terror On The Prairie'' instead. The film was produced as part of ''The Daily Wire''s partnership with producer Dallas Sonnier and his Bonfire Legend banner. ''The Daily Wire'' co-founder Jeremy Boreing said that despite the presumptions of ''The Daily Wire'' entering the film business to produce "hyper-politicized movies or milquetoast dramas", the intent was to produce "top-quality entertainment that all Americans can love." On October 12, 2021, Michael Polish was announced as director, with Josiah Nelson writing the script, while Carano, Sonnier and Amanda Presmyk were producing. Polish was attracted to the story as it focussed on the American frontier, and said: "Returning to my home state of Montana to direct a western for onnierand resmyk a rare of breed of producers who I truly respect, had tremendous appeal." On October 12, 2021, ''Deadline.com'' reported that Nick Searcy, Donald Cerrone, Tyler Fischer, Heath Freeman, and Samaire Armstrong had joined the cast. On October 15, 2021, ''Deadline.com'' announced that Gabriel-Kane Day-Lewis (son of actor Daniel Day-Lewis) was to make his feature acting debut.

Filming

Principal photography took place in Chico, Montana and Livingston, Montana from October 11 to November 5, 2021. The locations used for ''Terror on the Prairie'' were primarily based in Montana. The film was produced as a non union film in order to avoid COVID-19 vaccination mandates for cast and crew, wherein Carano stated, "Whether someone is vaccinated or not should not determine a person's ability to work in their different professions."

Marketing

On February 10, 2022, ''The Daily Wire'' promoted ''Terror on the Prairie'' by releasing the first image of the film, whilst debuting a 60-second trailer, with a reveal that accompanied the launch of ''The Daily Wire''s '' Shut In'' (2022). On June 1, 2022, ''Terror on the Prairie'' was promoted by the release of a trailer by ''The Daily Wire''.

Release

On June 14, 2022, ''Terror on the Prairie'' released exclusively to online subscribers of ''The Daily Wire''. The film was released theatrically only in the United Arab Emirates and Russia where it earned a total of $13,115.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has 83% rating, based on reviews from 6 critics, with an average rating of 7.2 out of 10.

''Film Threat''s Alan Ng gave the film a score of 8.5 out of 10, stating that "If you like your westerns gritty, violent, and viscerally brutal, you're in for a fun popcorn night at home." Ng also spoke positively of Carano and Searcy's performances. Wade Major of ''CineGods'', awarding three out of four stars, described ''Terror on the Prairie'' as "below the surface, it's a grueling — and often gruesome — meditation on the lingering self-inflicted wounds left by the American Civil War in far-flung locales like frontier Montana and beyond." Major spoke highly of Searcy and Day Lewis's performances, though of Nelson's screenplay had stated that it "largely hews to formula, but it's a competent effort with well-drawn, if archetypal, characters and strong, credible dialogue .." Christian Toto wrote, in his review for ''Hollywood in Toto'', "''Terror on the Prairie'' lags a bit in the middle thanks to a protracted stand-off. Perhaps a bigger budget would let the production insert flashbacks or other scenes to enhance the story. Otherwise, the film charges forward, letting us marvel at how Hattie improvises on her children's behalf."

Jorge Castillo of '' Starburst'' gave it 2 out of 5 and was positive about director Michael Polish but critical of Carano's central performance.

References

External links

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* {{IMDb title, 14043966

2020s English-language films
2022 action drama films
2022 films
Films shot in Montana
2022 Western (genre) films
American action drama films
Films set in Montana
Films set in 1872
American Western (genre) films