From director Aaron B. Koontz comes the western horror The Pale Door, an indie film that follows a group of outlaws that discover a woman locked inside a trunk during a trailer robbery. They release her not knowing that she is a witch. When one of the gang is shot they follow her to her town in hopes of finding a doctor and saving their leader, but things don’t go as planned after entering a brothel.
Even though the film had a small budget, the cast is surprisingly good, especially Devin Druid, Zachary Knighton, Bill Sage, Pat Healy, Natasha Bassett, and Monster Squad actor Stan Shaw. The cast also includes Melora Walters, Noah Segan, and James Landry Hebert who plays the infamous Cotton Mather.
The special effects, which features a ton of gunfire, burn makeup and people crawling on ceilings, were impressive, as was the town that I assume was built just for the movie. The lumber alone would have eaten up a big chunk of the budget.
I will also say this, the film also has a great poster. I’m not sure who the artist was, but they did a fantastic job. They really represented key moments from throughout the film without giving anything away.
The Pale Door has an interesting story and nearly non-stop action, but unfortunately, the ending can best be described as anti-climatic. After all of the build around the two brothers and the fact that witches aim to sacrifice young Jake, we get no real closure, and the fact that the older brother just rides away without fighting for his kin was disappointing and kind of weird. Why put us through all of that fighting and determination to survive, plus all the deaths, just to end things like that? I was pleased with the film up until that moment (the last 5 minutes of the film) and honestly, it pretty much ruined the film for me. It took the score from a 4 to a 2 out 5.
The Pale Door blows into town on Blu-ray and DVD on October 6, 2020.
Bonus Features Include:
- The Making of THE PALE DOOR
- Filmmaker Commentary
- Editing THE PALE DOOR
