Blackwoods (2024)

Blackwoods

These days, if you want to watch a Western, it seems like you have to dig for them. Big production companies rarely take chances on them anymore. If we get one big budget Western (or even Western related) title a year, we’re lucky. But the genre is still struggling to survive thanks to the independent circuit. Case in point: Writer-director Chris Canfield’s Blackwood comes from smaller studio Saban Films.

This horror-Western hybrid follows Dowanhowee (Tanajsia Slaughter), a native woman who finds herself being chased by Dutch Wilder (Bates Wilder) and his gang into the mysterious Black Wood Forest. When Dowanhowee is captured, they keep her alive because they think she can help them find gold. But during the mission, they start fearing that something might be hunting them too. Then one-time enemies Dowanhowee and the Dutch Wilder gang realize that they’re going to have to work together if any of them hope to make it out of there alive.

Blackwood isn’t your typical Western at all although yes, there are guns and cowboys with their posse and some Native Americans (and then some). It’s got more of a horror/thriller aspect to it that I appreciate about Canfield’s script right away. We open with an action scene of two men being chased but as the viewer you have no idea who or what is chasing them so you’re not really sure what exactly this movie is yet but let’s see where it goes: I love when movies or stories of any kind put you right into the action just as soon as you sit down to watch or begin reading that first page sometimes it doesn’t work but for this type of picture it absolutely does.

Another thing this does well is its pace: This film is faster than most other films in this genre most Westerns like to slow burn but not this one, Blackwood constantly has action going on that keeps the story from dragging. The nice thing is that it’s not just there to have action; it has a purpose and helps move the narrative along.

Speaking of story, I also appreciate that Blackwood seems more based around Native American culture than most other stories like these do. There are mysteries in the Black Wood Forest regarding a creature that hunts and kills anyone who comes into its territory. I like this idea to some degree because I feel like we need more diverse stories being told in movies and television but with the added creature giving chase to our group (where the horror lives), I think it takes away from the Western feeling of it all.

And lastly, what else I appreciate about this flick besides Kara Rainer as Sally, who I really wish was in this movie a lot more than she was: It takes chances. It does not follow a stereotypical Western pattern and that’s okay, it doesn’t need to. Was it my cup of tea? Not quite because these two genres don’t mesh well enough together for me personally but it has its moments. So I’d say if you’re a fan of Bone Tomahawk, then you might enjoy Blackwood.

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