The Pale Door Review: A Blend of Horror and Western

Release date: August 21, 2020
Running time: 95 minutes
Starring: Melora Walters, Zachary Knighton, Devin Druid

After a train robbery goes bad, two brothers leading a gang of cowboys must survive the night in a ghost town inhabited by a coven of witches.  Jake (Druid) and Duncan (Knighton) must take shelter in a town that is much more than it initially appears.  After things start to go wrong, the brothers and their gang must avoid the tricks and magic of the strange coven around them.

Surprisingly, the first thing that I noticed about this movie was the soundtrack.  It really is an interesting mix of modern electronic, traditional western, and a slight horror sounds.  It sets the mood perfectly, letting the viewer know that this will be an unusual combination of influences.  This is further shown by the fantastic opening, which mixes aspects of westerns and renaissance-style lore to again showcase this interesting combination of genres.  And any western will be made or broken by its cowboys and the cowboys here are fun to watch.  I especially enjoyed seeing one of my favorites from the underrated sitcom Happy Endings as the leader of the gang, Zachary Knighton.  It is fun seeing him play a rougher, more violent character but he still had plenty of the charm that made him so fun to watch on TV.  His brother Jake, played by Devin Druid, is also quite good, playing a more timid but still capable member of the gang.  And the mysterious prisoner Pearl (Natasha Bassett) is an interesting one, who plays an innocent girl at times but has the right looks and facial expressions to show that there is more going on behind her innocent exterior.  And I also want to applaud this movie for having a decent amount of diversity in a western movie.  After talking with Director Aaron B. Koontz, this was important to him to show what a gang at the time might have looked like, which would include diverse elements.

The story is interesting enough that it will keep you on edge during the exciting parts and guessing during the build up.  The movie really has aspects of both western and horror, and pulls tropes from both to really tell a fresh tale.  There is enough dark magic injected into a typical western story to keep you on your toes and ensure you keep all three eyes glued to the screen.  And the effects of the movie are generally good.  Gore and horror effects are mostly using make up, although some CG is used with mixed results.  Thankfully, the CG is not utilized a ton and the bulk of the effects are good old fashioned make up.  However, the movie isn't perfect.  The aforementioned CG does occasionally break immersion, though thankfully that doesn't happen often.  And some of the characters die randomly.  It also seems like some characters just disappear for long stretches, which is a shame because I really liked them.  And although we are introduced to the gang and the characters, I wish we had received more backstory on them all.  I feel like this is a movie that could have had an extra 20 or so minutes to flesh out the characters and the coven and not felt like it was any longer. 

But in the end, The Pale Door is an interesting cross of western and horror, taking aspects of both genres to craft a wholely blended, and ultimately fresh experience.  It's not perfect, but the wonderful soundtrack, interesting characters, and combination of western and horror mainstays will keep you on edge during this heist turned survival ordeal.  

Rent it.