An outlaw gang hanged by a posse in the late 1880s comes back from the grave to terrorize the descendants of the posse's leader.An outlaw gang hanged by a posse in the late 1880s comes back from the grave to terrorize the descendants of the posse's leader.An outlaw gang hanged by a posse in the late 1880s comes back from the grave to terrorize the descendants of the posse's leader.
Mike Ammons
- Frank Clements
- (as Mike 'Dusty' Ammons)
James Desmarais
- Jake
- (as James J. Desmarais)
'Doc' Lipsey
- Sheriff
- (as Wm. 'Doc' Lipsey)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- ConnectionsFeatured in Look Who's Toxic (1990)
- SoundtracksRock of Ages
Lyrics by Augustus Montague Toplady and music by Thomas Hastings
Performed by Frank M. Patterson
Featured review
Clumsy But Not Without Its Interests
I have to admit that I am fascinated by the concept of crossing the Western with horror movie elements and while this may not be the best example there are some pretty compelling movies out there existing as Horror Western hybrids: CURSE OF DEMON MOUNTAIN, THE STRANGER'S GUNDOWN, HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, the notorious CUT THROATS NINE, good old GRIM PRAIRIE TALES and Charles Band's GHOST TOWN are amongst the best I can name off the top of my head.
GHOST RIDERS is another Prism Video release of yet another ultra low budget regional horror affair, along with THE FOREST and SATAN'S BLADE, seemingly inept more or less direct to video efforts by young filmmakers starting out who simply didn't have the budget or talent to really score an EVIL DEAD like classic. This one was made in and around Waco, Texas, and concerns itself with a bunch of ideas copped from just as many sources. From HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (via STRANGER'S GUNDOWN) we get the idea of gunfighters returning from the grave to avenge their somewhat unjust killings, though imported from Euro Horrors like HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB the targets of their wrath are the present day descendants of those who executed them, and finally a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD type ending.
Toss in a smattering of teen horror themes and a slightly unstable Vietnam vet who didn't find time to change out of his camouflage fatigues & walks around packing a nickel-plated .45 and we have the makings of 85 minutes of dreck that actually isn't as bad as the average ratings here reflect. The plot concerns an elder researcher who stumbles across the story of a mass execution 100 years before that sent a gang of crooks to their tombs with a vow to avenge themselves. At more or less the same time a group of young misfits embarks on an excursion to find the old cemetery to find the resting place of their relatives who find themselves pursued by a posse of cowboys who pick them off one by one, eventually leading to a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD like climax where the survivors barricade themselves into a ranch house and try to fight them off.
There are some decent moments of gunslinger gore, a nice explosion or two, and a pretty young leading lady who doesn't shirk at the idea of stripping down to her undies for a dip in the ole' swimmin hole. One of the misfits is a Vietnam vet and helps to guide the youngsters to relative safety, and there is some not so subtle commentary on 1980s youth culture fixations like the Walkman craze and the idiotic fashions that we appallingly wore back then. None of it really amounts to anything though, and after a protracted ending showdown the movie just sort of ends -- which isn't necessarily a bad thing, though none of it is hardly memorable.
One curious aspect of the film regards this undead cowboy posse, who are not shown as "ghosts" or zombies or even some kind of spectral presence like Clint Eastwood's Preacher from PALE RIDER, but are reborn as actual cowboys who can be shot & killed all over again. While probably owing more to the production's limited budget than to a directorial choice, the decision to depict them as such sort of defeats the purpose of having them be undead gunslingers in the first place. Why have a movie about ghost cowboys and not have them be actual ghosts? Until the very ending of course, when it is convenient for the plot.
The one thing I did like about the film is it's totally ordinary look. None of the scenery or interiors looks particularly cinematic or out of the ordinary run of experience for most viewers. It looks like any old river running down any old stretch of rural Texas, and the characters don't wear costumes so much as whatever clothes they had onhand: Even the cowboys seem to be wearing Levis jeans and work shirts rather than "authentic" Western gear, so I can see how some viewers may be disappointed that the film doesn't have the filmic look of something like THE EVIL DEAD. It's all plain and ordinary but that's Waco for you, I guess, and the video is still another rare example of an attempt to blend Western themes with an outright horror movie setting (or the other way around, maybe) and I kind of like that.
5/10
GHOST RIDERS is another Prism Video release of yet another ultra low budget regional horror affair, along with THE FOREST and SATAN'S BLADE, seemingly inept more or less direct to video efforts by young filmmakers starting out who simply didn't have the budget or talent to really score an EVIL DEAD like classic. This one was made in and around Waco, Texas, and concerns itself with a bunch of ideas copped from just as many sources. From HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (via STRANGER'S GUNDOWN) we get the idea of gunfighters returning from the grave to avenge their somewhat unjust killings, though imported from Euro Horrors like HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB the targets of their wrath are the present day descendants of those who executed them, and finally a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD type ending.
Toss in a smattering of teen horror themes and a slightly unstable Vietnam vet who didn't find time to change out of his camouflage fatigues & walks around packing a nickel-plated .45 and we have the makings of 85 minutes of dreck that actually isn't as bad as the average ratings here reflect. The plot concerns an elder researcher who stumbles across the story of a mass execution 100 years before that sent a gang of crooks to their tombs with a vow to avenge themselves. At more or less the same time a group of young misfits embarks on an excursion to find the old cemetery to find the resting place of their relatives who find themselves pursued by a posse of cowboys who pick them off one by one, eventually leading to a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD like climax where the survivors barricade themselves into a ranch house and try to fight them off.
There are some decent moments of gunslinger gore, a nice explosion or two, and a pretty young leading lady who doesn't shirk at the idea of stripping down to her undies for a dip in the ole' swimmin hole. One of the misfits is a Vietnam vet and helps to guide the youngsters to relative safety, and there is some not so subtle commentary on 1980s youth culture fixations like the Walkman craze and the idiotic fashions that we appallingly wore back then. None of it really amounts to anything though, and after a protracted ending showdown the movie just sort of ends -- which isn't necessarily a bad thing, though none of it is hardly memorable.
One curious aspect of the film regards this undead cowboy posse, who are not shown as "ghosts" or zombies or even some kind of spectral presence like Clint Eastwood's Preacher from PALE RIDER, but are reborn as actual cowboys who can be shot & killed all over again. While probably owing more to the production's limited budget than to a directorial choice, the decision to depict them as such sort of defeats the purpose of having them be undead gunslingers in the first place. Why have a movie about ghost cowboys and not have them be actual ghosts? Until the very ending of course, when it is convenient for the plot.
The one thing I did like about the film is it's totally ordinary look. None of the scenery or interiors looks particularly cinematic or out of the ordinary run of experience for most viewers. It looks like any old river running down any old stretch of rural Texas, and the characters don't wear costumes so much as whatever clothes they had onhand: Even the cowboys seem to be wearing Levis jeans and work shirts rather than "authentic" Western gear, so I can see how some viewers may be disappointed that the film doesn't have the filmic look of something like THE EVIL DEAD. It's all plain and ordinary but that's Waco for you, I guess, and the video is still another rare example of an attempt to blend Western themes with an outright horror movie setting (or the other way around, maybe) and I kind of like that.
5/10
helpful•62
- Steve_Nyland
- Jun 20, 2007
- How long is Ghost Riders?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Ghostriders
- Filming locations
- Texas Safari Ranch, Clifton, Texas, USA(filming-location)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $50,000 (estimated)
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content