I have to admit that I am fascinated by the concept of crossing the Western with horror movie elements and while this may not be the best example there are some pretty compelling movies out there existing as Horror Western hybrids: CURSE OF DEMON MOUNTAIN, THE STRANGER'S GUNDOWN, HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, the notorious CUT THROATS NINE, good old GRIM PRAIRIE TALES and Charles Band's GHOST TOWN are amongst the best I can name off the top of my head.

GHOST RIDERS is another Prism Video release of yet another ultra low budget regional horror affair, along with THE FOREST and SATAN'S BLADE, seemingly inept more or less direct to video efforts by young filmmakers starting out who simply didn't have the budget or talent to really score an EVIL DEAD like classic. This one was made in and around Waco, Texas, and concerns itself with a bunch of ideas copped from just as many sources. From HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (via STRANGER'S GUNDOWN) we get the idea of gunfighters returning from the grave to avenge their somewhat unjust killings, though imported from Euro Horrors like HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB the targets of their wrath are the present day descendants of those who executed them, and finally a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD type ending.

Toss in a smattering of teen horror themes and a slightly unstable Vietnam vet who didn't find time to change out of his camouflage fatigues & walks around packing a nickel-plated .45 and we have the makings of 85 minutes of dreck that actually isn't as bad as the average ratings here reflect. The plot concerns an elder researcher who stumbles across the story of a mass execution 100 years before that sent a gang of crooks to their tombs with a vow to avenge themselves. At more or less the same time a group of young misfits embarks on an excursion to find the old cemetery to find the resting place of their relatives who find themselves pursued by a posse of cowboys who pick them off one by one, eventually leading to a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD like climax where the survivors barricade themselves into a ranch house and try to fight them off.

There are some decent moments of gunslinger gore, a nice explosion or two, and a pretty young leading lady who doesn't shirk at the idea of stripping down to her undies for a dip in the ole' swimmin hole. One of the misfits is a Vietnam vet and helps to guide the youngsters to relative safety, and there is some not so subtle commentary on 1980s youth culture fixations like the Walkman craze and the idiotic fashions that we appallingly wore back then. None of it really amounts to anything though, and after a protracted ending showdown the movie just sort of ends -- which isn't necessarily a bad thing, though none of it is hardly memorable.

One curious aspect of the film regards this undead cowboy posse, who are not shown as "ghosts" or zombies or even some kind of spectral presence like Clint Eastwood's Preacher from PALE RIDER, but are reborn as actual cowboys who can be shot & killed all over again. While probably owing more to the production's limited budget than to a directorial choice, the decision to depict them as such sort of defeats the purpose of having them be undead gunslingers in the first place. Why have a movie about ghost cowboys and not have them be actual ghosts? Until the very ending of course, when it is convenient for the plot.

The one thing I did like about the film is it's totally ordinary look. None of the scenery or interiors looks particularly cinematic or out of the ordinary run of experience for most viewers. It looks like any old river running down any old stretch of rural Texas, and the characters don't wear costumes so much as whatever clothes they had onhand: Even the cowboys seem to be wearing Levis jeans and work shirts rather than "authentic" Western gear, so I can see how some viewers may be disappointed that the film doesn't have the filmic look of something like THE EVIL DEAD. It's all plain and ordinary but that's Waco for you, I guess, and the video is still another rare example of an attempt to blend Western themes with an outright horror movie setting (or the other way around, maybe) and I kind of like that.

5/10

What is it with these micro budget regional horrors that makes 'em so indefinably compelling? To me at least, the territories located a few left turns and a lot of country road away from standard issue teen slaughter fare can be remarkably interesting places, or at least a good deal of fun and Ghost Riders is no exception. It has one of those "sins of the father shall be visited upon the son" type set ups, here the sin in question is a vigilante hanging perpetrated by a priest on evil wild west era scuzzball Frank Clement, who naturally returns to life a hundred years later for a bit of the ole gun blazing vengeance, along with a few cronies. In the firing line are Jim and Hampton Sutton, descendants of the earlier hanging priest, a couple of Hampton's buddies and of course a pretty and easily led young lass researching Texan history. Now before you start to wonder, this one doesn't go down the zombie cowboys or even ghost cowboys route, these baddies are pretty much just flesh and blood types, they don't even have period garb. They do fire guns and act capably menacing though, and so the second half of the film is somewhat exciting in a low rent kind of way, as our protagonists are hunted by impassively deadly foes. What the film never attains though is fear or wonderment, it is in fact barely a horror film at all, whilst despite its western theme this one could just as well have say, drug dealers as the baddies and aside from the clumsy final moments it would make little difference. So you might wonder who this is aimed at, and outside of those who will watch anything, it's a little hard to tell. I had a pretty fun time though, it's a film that scores by its very mundanity. The central characters are all relatable types, well maybe not Hampton, him being a slightly troubled Vietnam veteran, but he is still likable. Meanwhile Ricky Long does typical early twenties type OK and even looks to be around that age, while Arland Bishop plays the token idiot of the piece without being too irritating. The ordinariness, the way the characters get along, it ends up being a fair amount more sympathetic than a lot of 80's junk and hence the more fun in the second half when the action really gets going. The film may open with a fun cheap western shootout but the first half is pretty typical scene setting "suspense" building stuff. Cool shots of a spider snacking, I could have done with more like that. More walking around, stock footage padding and whatnot, though the scenery is nice I would have liked something a bit more off key. This probably just stems from having watched The Prey too many times though… Anyhoo, I don't exactly recommend this one, but if you have a lot of time on your hands you could do far worse. Worth around a 5.5 for 80's junk-hounds, rounded up to a 6 for IMDb.

I'd like to tell you you'd be entertained, but I can't promise anything. I watched not knowing what to expect, and I finished not knowing what I just watched. I was entertained at points in the film, but not necessarily by the plot or action. The concept was worthwhile, but I wouldn't say the same for the execution.