Verdict
Summary
A well-directed and very verbose nail-biting western from uncredited screenwriter S. Craig Zahler, which was based on a book by Harry Whittington, Frontier Crucible is deceptively simplistic with just a few locations, a limited cast, and a plot that builds to a gnarly climax. I wasn’t really sure where the film was heading, but when it gets there, there’s no going back – much in the same way Zahler’s own Bone Tomahawk felt.
Plot:
A trip through Apache country turns into an ordeal for a handful of travellers.
Review:
Merrick Beckford (Myles Clohessy) accepts a perilous mission to transport medical supplies through Apache country: He’s got two sturdy horses, a small covered wagon, a sidearm, a rifle, a knife, and courage. While he’s travelling, he encounters what might very well be a bad scene; a beautiful woman (Mary Stickley) begs for help for her shot and wounded husband, who is on the verge of death. With her are three men: Edmond (Armie Hammer), Mule (Thomas Jane), and Mule’s grown son Billy (Ryan Masson). The three men all have itchy trigger fingers and pose a threat to Merrick, and it becomes clear very soon that they’ve robbed a bank and have a satchel full of cash and want Merrick’s horses. Merrick, being a steady and honorable man, is able to take charge of the situation and tend to the wounded man, save his life, and get the whole bunch of them to a watering hole not far away where they can all rest and assess the threat of Apaches, who are encroaching upon them. Over the course of the day and night, the three bank robbers become like jackals and formulate a plan to kill and overpower Merrick and then take the woman for themselves, but Merrick turns out to be a very formidable man and turns the tables on all of them, but when Billy kills an Apache who comes in peace, Merrick knows it’s only a matter of time before more Apaches come to get revenge …
A well-directed and very verbose nail-biting western from uncredited screenwriter S. Craig Zahler, which was based on a book by Harry Whittington, Frontier Crucible is deceptively simplistic with just a few locations, a limited cast, and a plot that builds to a gnarly climax. I wasn’t really sure where the film was heading, but when it gets there, there’s no going back – much in the same way Zahler’s own Bone Tomahawk felt. It’s perplexing why he didn’t take credit his for his solid script, but director Travis Mills, who has quietly and steadily built a filmmography of indie films, shorts, and westerns for more than a decade, was more than up to the task of handling this material and directing his more than capable cast in a solid suspenseful film. Jane and Hammer play two seasoned scumbags perfectly, while Clohessy, an actor I’m not familiar with, deftly portrays a tough, unwavering hero. The film also nicely, if a little too often, uses songs to sort of tell the story while the story is being told. I didn’t have a problem with the songs, but some viewers might be a little turned off by them.
Well Go USA releases Frontier Crucible on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD this week, and the disc comes with a making-of feature, and a trailer. Whichever option you choose, the film is well worth owning.
