Horror westerns are hard to come by these days. Although contemporary outings like “Bone Tomahawk” and “The Wind” earned their fair share of critical praise and audience approval upon release, blending supernatural scares with gritty Americana has remained largely underutilized. As two genres known for subversion and simplicity, it is surprising that more creators have not sought to capitalize on horror-westerns.
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Respectably, as a member of the aforementioned subgenre, “The Pale Door” leans into its western roots with a commendable authenticity. The plot follows two brothers, Jake (Devin Druid) and Duncan (Zachary Knighton), siblings whose lives have been marked by violence since their parents were murdered, an event the brothers beheld as children. In the ensuing years, Duncan disappears into a life of crime, assembling a gang of outlaws—an outfit which includes the likes of Bill Sage, Pat Healy, Stan Shaw, and Noah Segan—while Jake adopts the pacifist approach, opting to earn back the brothers’ family farm by working at the local saloon.
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After inviting Jake to assist with a heist, Duncan and his cohorts plan a train robbery. However, after the job turns violent, and the expected cargo of cash turns out to be a captive woman, the gang is forced to survive the night in a desolate town occupied by a coven of vengeful witches.
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In accordance with its offbeat combination of cowboys and spell-casting occultists, the crowning achievement of “The Pale Door” is its throwback vibe. Although grossly nostalgic stylistics do not tarnish director Aaron B. Koontz’s sophomore feature, the film emanates the familiar ambiance of VHS-era horror flicks; the genre-bending packs a proportionate amount of sincerity and self-awareness.
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Even at its worst moments, “The Pale Door” feels earnest, and its admirable devotion maintains the film’s momentum and retains the viewer’s attention. Consequently, the accompanying performances exude a comparably dedicated atmosphere—Bill Sage’s gruff cynicism, Stan Shaw’s fatherly demeanor, and Noah Segan’s hammy comedic relief qualify as the overall standouts.
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Thematically, “The Pale Door” appears to aim for commentary on violence, specifically as it pertains to the western genre. Jake and Duncan stand at opposite sides of a shared spectrum, with Duncan functioning as the prototypical, confident cowboy, while Jake plays the role of the demure virgin. Notably, Jake’s nonviolent tendencies assist in expanding the film’s discussion of masculinity and the ramifications of brutality.
Unfortunately, the ideas explored in “The Pale Door” never expand beyond their initial stages. Although the pacing adopts a somewhat slow-burn approach for the first two acts, coinciding the gear switch from straight western to B-movie shlock, the movie’s energy slows to zero instantaneously. Comparing “The Pale Door” to “Bone Tomahawk” could be construed as unfair but taking into account that both films reside within the same subgenre, contrasting the two projects should be warranted.
As opposed to S. Craig Zahler’s grizzled character study, Koontz’s playful genre fare appears far more acquainted with the horror pieces of the puzzle, which devolves the western segments into outdated clichés. Nevertheless, neither genre on display strives to exceed beyond its banality. Thus, no amount of practical gore effects can distract you from the fact that the terror on display does not restrain itself to any sort of structure or internal logic.
In horror films of this caliber, effective scares abide by a loose set of rules (i.e. the abilities of the xenomorph in “Alien”), but the witches’ powers remain undefined, allowing the scares to alternate between psychological delusions, supernatural manipulation and body horror at random, which lends itself to crafting an ambiance of unintentional disorder as opposed to well-crafted ambiguity.
On a comprehensive level, an overall scarcity of focus sinks “The Pale Door,” a flaw that includes Alex Cuervo’s score, which forcibly inserts emotion when silence is needed, and the unfocused plot—a story that eventually forsakes all narrative integrity for scare-centric set-pieces. The ideas presented are interesting but remain drastically underdeveloped due to the film’s emphasis on genre. A film like “The Pale Door” knows exactly what it is, as does its target audience, but its efforts to rise above traditionality further showcases its glaring setbacks.
Still, “The Pale Door” never reaches a point that deems it worthy of hate, but instead adopts the title of a well-intended miscalculation—a misstep packed with a gifted roster of talent on both sides of the camera. It is an old-fashioned case of vision overstepping budget constraints and unchecked creativity exceeding much-needed limitations. Nonetheless, Koontz possesses a penchant for original stories, and if “The Pale Door” is any indication of the director’s talents, a better-crafted story lies somewhere over the horizon in the years to come. [C-]
“The Pale Door” is available in theaters, On-Demand, and digital on August 21. The distributor is RLJE Films/Shudder.
