
Terror on the Prairie:
A pioneering family fights back against a gang of vicious outlaws that is terrorizing them on their newly-built farm on the plains of Montana.
Storyline is interesting and engaging, but there is also plenty of action and violence.
The film features many guns, but surprisingly, most of the characters are not good shots.
This is because the guns around the turn of the 20th century were not very well made.
The use of guns seems to keep people from getting too close to each other.
This is called out early in the film and paid off during the last “shot.”
This film looks very good, even for a low-budget film, thanks to beautiful natural backdrops and nicely furnished production design.
The film was shot on location in Montana, and anyone who has driven through the American heartland knows that the landscape has some of the most breathtaking vistas and scenery in the world.
It’s a beautiful, unforgiving landscape that serves the same purpose in the setting as it does in every western, turning into a battle for men’s souls and civilization itself.
Terror on the Prairie is mostly a rehash of western settings and themes, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Thousands of western films have been made, with the majority of them repeating the same handful of plots and themes.
The ability of a good western to interrogate its setting, using it as a vehicle for some understanding of the struggle of identity, civilization, and humanity in a world where justice is meted out at the end of a gun, distinguishes it from a lukewarm or bad western.
In that regard, the film is adequate, as it tells a story of personal struggle and inner fortitude in the face of one’s past coming back to haunt them.