Legend of Hawes

After surviving a brutal massacre, a woman and her sister-in-law head off with a local lawman to track down a gunfighter to help them seek out the clan of marauding cannibals that initially attacked and killed their family, but as their journey proves more treacherous are forced to dig into untapped resources to stop them.

There was quite a lot to like with this one. Among the better features here is the strong mixture of Western and Horror elements that are quite fun to see play out. As this starts off immediately with the need to seek revenge on the clan with the aftermath of the house attack, it gets things going nicely at the very start. The Western framework comes through nicely with the setup involving the search for the fabled gunfighter and his skills that could save her from a deadly fate as she sets out for personal retribution. Given that all of this is the beginning stages of his storyline about the incident being the kickstart he needed to overcome his own struggles and accept responsibility for his family's trauma which are usually featured in these kinds of films, there's a lot to like her with this setup. On top of the fine Action here including several fun Western-style shootouts and gunplay, this comes off rather well overall. When it comes to the Horror aspects here, there's just as much to like. Focusing on the creepy vibe and look of the intruders with their flesh masks, crude weaponry, and general savageness through just their deformed appearance and animalistic growling, the film works with a creepy main villain. Their slashing antics are just as much fun, as the group attacking an outpost settlement attacking the citizens and dragging their victims away is a nice short sequence with some nice bit of gore as well. It all leads to the fun fight at their compound which features a lot of stalking around the holding grounds picking off the other members featuring shootouts, brawling, and even managing to mix in a suspenseful rescue of captives kept there that adds some emotional resonance to everything. Given the fun indie-style gore that comes about here with the gunshot wounds as well as the aftermath of their decayed and dismembered victims, this one manages to have a lot that holds it up overall. There isn't a whole lot wrong here, but it does have some issues. The main feature here is that, despite the brisk tempo and running time, there are some filler scenes here that don't really belong. A bizarre meeting with a random widow and her son to prove that her presumed-missing husband, who we never meet, is dead through other means serves no point since we never see or interact with them anymore. As well, the two carrying on a philosophical discussion about their purpose on the mission carries on too long as it easily could've been done with some more life speaking at a faster pace. The other factor featured here that holds it back is a slightly underwhelming finale that has a lot of action but some confusing actions here letting the creature escape without chasing him down to ensure the whole clan is finished off which was the whole purpose behind the trip. Combined with the unknown reason why the specific captives were kept alive at the compound, these are its few issues.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Language, and Brief Nudity.

May be the worst movie I have ever seen. No plot. Beasts that only want to fondle and eat women. Special effects were horrible. Not one thing about this piece of trash was close to believable. Wish I could get back that hour of my life.

If you'd write a movie about the west this one has all the expected lines the characters would say. Which is what made it so corny and laughable. The "beasts" were hilarious. They sounded like some sick pig and when they get shot blood spurted out like you popped a balloon of catsup. What were they anyway and why were they there?

The movie saved a lot of production expense by having a limited amount of people on set. No doubt they recycled the dead beasts even.

Just a horrible attempt at a movie.

A curiously produced film, inconsistent in tone. Very talky scenes are followed by often boringly staged action sequences that tend to drag. Shortly after we've been introduced to the characters - Emily Whitcomb as Harriet, the lone survivor of a vicious attack and the gunman she hires Hawes, played by Mike Markoff - there's a long scene with a widower and her young son, that serves no purpose, and is never referred to again.

Director and co-writer Rene Perez has proven prolific in low-budget horror and, despite the erratic nature of 'The Legend of Hawes', is an interesting name nonetheless. Visually, this has a washed-out look, as if the saturation has been filtered down, giving an oddly grey sheen to the often-sunny locations. Also, Perez has decided to liberally embellish the film with faux scratches and blurs from time to time, perhaps in a bid to liven up the very long dialogue-heavy scenes.

I find it hard to be too critical of this; it was clearly made with little budget and boasts a convincing cast of actors who do their best to breathe life into the lacklustre characters. The rampaging murderers who make lives miserable in this Wild Western location are a curiously interesting bunch of outlaws, growling behind their effective flesh masks, although we learn little about them. There's a refreshing pro-religion theme lightly sprinkled throughout too, which doesn't happen often. My score is 6 out of 10.