Ruben Castle (Robert Urich) is a rough alcoholic ex-NYC cop who quited under some suspicions. His delinquent daughter Mackenzie is released to him as they travel to Colorado. Mackenzie gets arrested for running into Harriet Purdue (JoBeth Williams). Harriet is the new sheriff in the small Colorado town. She's investigating suspicious cattle mutilation deaths. Ruben's friend Joe Hiatt (Paul Dooley) runs the local paper and has a conspiracy theory about the cattle. Cattle rancher Ben Morgan (Hoyt Axton) is the local big wig. There is a secret base out in an abandoned nuclear silo.
It take awhile before the movie settles down to its subject matter. Purdue should be much more of the lead character instead of Castle. That way the movie is solidly about the cattle mutilations. Instead it's too much about Castle's drinking and his failing father daughter relationship. The movie wants to hint at UFOs. The investigation feels like it's put on the backburner too much early on. The investigation has good spooky vibes at times and works well especially with the electronic music. The sound effects works well in opposition to the open space hinterland. The major drawback for me is that it never really explains everything to my satisfaction. It explains just enough for me to give it a pass.
