Acknowledging the horror-Western genre marriage is sort of like eating a kiwi fruit with the skin on it. It feels funny on the tongue at first, but makes a lot of sense if you really think about it. Indeed, for a genre that builds so many of its tensions on isolation and malice, where better to exercise such devices than the relatively barren, unforgiving lands of the Old American West?
For a fair shake of filmmakers, the answer was “absolutely nowhere else,” and they’ve gone on to shoot their shot in the surprisingly expansive world of horror Westerns, and the good old folk of r/horror were all too happy to peruse the range for the rootinest of the spookiest.
Plenty of shoutouts were given to Near Dark, a vampire flick that’s amassed quite the cult following since its debut in 1987. Judging by some of these comments, including one line delivered by Bill Paxton that could have sold us on this movie by itself, this is one cult worth pledging to.
Others threw praise on The Burrowers, the markedly more morbid cousin of Tremors, which follows a Wild West-era search party as they investigate mysterious disappearances in fringe communities of settlers. Between Clancy Brown and an apparent commentary on such social issues as racism and genocide, which Westerns haven’t historically had the greatest relationship with, it sounds like The Burrowers has a lot going for it.
And, of course, there’s no bringing up the topic of horror Westerns without mentioning Bubba Ho-Tep. Elvis Presley (played by Bruce Campbell no less) and John F. Kennedy fighting a mummy is all the information we need about this one.
One may raise an eyebrow at the thought of cowboy hats and jumpscares going toe-to-toe for screen time, but in reality, this particular ranch looks about as fruitful as any, and fans of either genre would be wise to look to this union when they’re in need of a cinematic shakeup.