Starring Clancy Brown, Sean Patrick Thomas. Written and directed by JT Petty. (STC) 96 min. Screens Nov 20, 9:30pm at the Bloor Cinema.
Genre hybrids are nothing new, but The Burrowers’ shotgun marriage of monster-movie shocks and Old-West tropes proves surprisingly potent. Set in 19th century North Dakota, J.T. Petty’s film, which premiered in the Midnight Madness program at this year’s TIFF, concerns the efforts of a ragtag posse to find a group of women and children believed kidnapped by a local native tribe.
There are shades of The Seachers here and Petty — a clever filmmaker whose previous S&MAN was an intriguing faux-doc near-miss — smartly plays off the racism of Ford’s classic. He integrates what reads as a sincere lament for the brutal treatment of Native Americans into his purposefully moseying storyline. Just as importantly, he carves out the necessary room for some hideous worm-creatures.
The cast of character actors, including the invaluable Clancy Brown, chew on their cowpoke dialogue like tobacco. But the real star here is the landscape, rendered majestic and threatening by ace cinematographer Phil Parmet.