''The Scarlet Worm'' is a 2011 American

Revisionist Western The revisionist Western (also called the anti-Western, sometimes revisionist antiwestern) is a sub-genre of the Western film. Designated a post-classical variation of the traditional Western, the revisionist subverts the myth and romance of the ...

film directed by Michael Fredianelli. The film was first released on January 7, 2011 at the Riot Cinema Film Festival. It stars Aaron Stielstra as a young

mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

who is sent to assassinate a cruel

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

owner. Funding for ''The Scarlet Worm'' was partially accomplished through a successful

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign.

Plot

Print Harris works as a bounty hunter in early 1900s America. He has a flair for conducting his killings in a theatrical or "poetic" fashion to give his profession more meaning and legitimacy. A wealthy ranch owner Mr. Paul (

Brett Halsey Brett Halsey (born Charles Oliver Hand, June 20, 1933) is an American film actor, sometimes credited as Montgomery Ford. He appeared in B pictures and in European-made feature films. He originated the role of John Abbott on the soap opera ''The ...

) hires Print to eliminate a Dutch immigrant brothel owner Heinrich Kley (

Dan Van Husen Dan van Husen (30 April 1945 – 31 May 2020) was a German actor. He started his career in the 1960s, playing in a number of Spaghetti Westerns (usually he was cast as the bad guy), and also performed in Italian and German films by renowned direc ...

)who allegedly aborts the unborn children of his prostitutes, as well as to train a young ranch hand named Lee in the art of killing. Print decides to use Lee to infiltrate Kley's business and work for Kley as protection, purposefully luring a posse of cowboys into the brothel in order to murder them, and show off his usefulness. Kley immediately enlists Print to cover a wide variety of duties while entrusting him with his unique philosophy regarding business, religion, and the necessity of prostitution. Matters become complicated when Lee falls in love with one of Kley's prostitutes and informs her of the plan to murder him.

Cast

* Aaron Stielstra as Print *

as Heinrich Kley *

as Mr. Paul * Kevin Giffin as Hank * Derek Hertig as Lee * Eric Zaldivar as Gus * Rita Rey as Annabelle * Mike Malloy as Mathis Reed, Love Cowboy * David Lambert as William Hardtmuth, Cattle Rustler * Robert Amstler as The Rifleman *

Michael Forest Gerald Michael Charlebois (born April 17, 1929), better known as Michael Forest, is an American actor who provides the voices for many animated titles. Early life Born in Harvey, North Dakota, he moved with his family at a very early age to Se ...

as Judge Hanchett *

Ted Rusoff Ted Rusoff (May 20, 1939 – September 28, 2013) was a Canadian voiceover artist, actor, vocal coach, and translator specializing in the adaptation and translation from and into various languages of synchronized dialogue for the dubbing of film ...

as Print's Attorney *

Domiziano Arcangeli Domiziano Arcangeli (June 10, 1966 – July 13, 2020) was an Italian actor, producer and writer best known for low-budget independent, and particularly exploitation, films.Daniel Reynolds"''Brides of Sodom'' Star Domiziano Arcangeli Brings Homoe ...

as Love Cowboy Leader

Release

Home media

The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on April 24, 2012 by Unearthed.

Reception

Bill Gibron from

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

wrote, "While a bit long-winded in the exposition department and in need of a few dollars more, production-wise, ''The Scarlet Worm'' is still an intelligent and entertaining fringe experience." Adrian Halen of ''HorrorNews.net'' praised the film's direction, script, and Stielstra's performance, calling it "a shining achievement".

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scarlet Worm, The 2011 films 2011 independent films 2011 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films American independent films Films about abortion Films about prostitution in the United States 2010s English-language films 2010s American films