Weird Westerns


Westerns refer to the genre of films that take as their setting the American West (also known as the Wild West). Historically, this took place between 1865-1895, the period when towns were being settled westward across North America, where population of the towns had begun in varying degrees but the area was still a lawless frontier. A great deal of mythology that became the Western had begun during the actual period of the West with many of the real-life gunfighters and outlaws from the era becoming regarded as folk heroes.

Beginning with The Great Train Robbery (1903), cinema of the early half of the 20th Century turned the six-gun toting cowboy into a hero. By the 1920s and 30s, the Western had become a major genre and continued that way for the next three decades, branching out into television in the 1950s and 60s. During this time, a number of actors – John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Clint Eastwood, Gene Autry, Tom Mix and others – built their fame on this.

Westerns featured black-and-white heroes (it was often literally the case that the hero wore a white hat and the villain a black hat) in simple horse adventures on the frontier, saving the damsel, tracking down the outlaws, fighting off incursions of the Indians. The stories favoured tough, hard won individualism and a sense of individual morality and justice.

The popularity of these films was enormous – it could be said they were roughly the 1930s-50s equivalent of today’s action films. The genre created numerous tropes from the town dominated by its raucous saloon filled with dancing girls and gambling games, the quickdraw shootout on the main street at high noon, the stagecoach journey and so on.

The 1960s saw a lessening of the popularity of the Western with works such as The Wild Bunch (1969) – a violent work that showed the heroes as outlaw killers. Works throughout the 1970s moved in a similar direction deconstructing the mythology. Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles (1974) roundly spoofed the genre and it took the overinflated flop of Heaven’s Gate (1980) to finally kill the Western at the box-office.

There have been various attempts to revive the Western since, usually with historically revisionist works like Dances with Wolves (1990), Unforgiven (1992) and tv’s Deadwood (2004-6), although none of these have succeeded in taking the genre back to the popularity it enjoyed in its heyday.

The Western is an inherently non-fantastical genre (unless one considers its rewriting of history). However, there is another entire sub-genre of films that conduct genre crosshatches and mix the Western with fantastical elements such as vampires, zombies, aliens etc. These has been nicknamed Weird Westerns.


Science-Fiction Westerns

The Western has made some odd crosshatches with the science-fiction genre over the years. Hammer Films had one of their few flops with the much ridiculed but not entirely uninteresting Moon Zero Two (1969), which relocates the elements of a Western on The Moon. In a similar vein, there was also Outland (1981), which transposed the basic plot of High Noon (1952) into space with Sean Connery as an embattled sheriff on Jupiter’s moon Io, and Battle Beyond the Stars (1980), which rewrote The Magnificent Seven (1960) as a space opera.

Oblivion (1994) and sequel replicates elements of the Western as a planetary adventure – aliens instead of Indians, a cyborg sheriff etc. The animated tv series’ The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (1986-9) and BraveStarr (1987-9), the softcore film Petticoat Planet (1996) and the tv series Firefly (2002) also transpose aspects of a Western into outer space. Priest (2011) borrows heavily from the tropes of the Western in the story of priests fighting vampires on future reservations. There was also the entirely surreal The American Astronaut (2001), while the space equivalent of the Western was parodied in the Futurama episode How the West Was 1010001 (2023).

The original Battlestar Galactica tv series was in the habit of recycling Western elements and motifs in particular the episodes The Lost Warrior (1978) and The Magnificent Warriors (1978), which featured respectively a Cylon and Starbuck appointed as the sheriffs of planetary colonies modeled on small Western towns.

We have had Western/time travel efforts in Timerider: The Legend of Lyle Swann (1982) in which a motocross rider is thrown back in time to the West, Timestalkers (1988), Back to the Future Part III (1990) and Showdown in Yesteryear (2022) in which various present-day people are transported back to the West. On the small screens, there was the tv series Outlaws (1986) in which a group of cowboys are transported through time to the present day where they end up setting up a detective agency. as well the early sections of The Time Machine (1978).

In addition there have been plenty of episodes of individual SF series featuring time travel themes:- the Doctor Who episodes The Gunfighters (1966) (where The Doctor and companions turn up at the Gunfight at the OK Corral) and A Town Called Mercy (2012); The Man from Atlantis episode Shooutout at Land’s End (1977); and the Star Trek: The Next Generation double-episode Time’s Arrow (1992). Even the soap opera One Life to Live (1968-2013) got into the act with a 1980s storyline where Clint Richie gets a bump on the head and is transported back to an 1880s version of the show.

There have been several films dealing with the arrival of aliens in the West with High Plains Invaders (2009), Cowboys & Aliens (2011) and Alien Showdown: The Day the Old West Stood Still (2013). The Aurora Encounter (1985) purports to tell the true story of a UFO landing out West. There was also the Star Trek episode Spectre of the Gun (1968) where aliens force the Enterprise crew to replay the Gunfight at the OK Corral.

The Gunslinger (Yul Brynner) in Westworld (1973)
Yul Brynner as the android gunslinger in Westworld (1973)

Western plots have been transposed into post-holocaust settings in the likes of Steel Dawn (1987), a replay of Shane (1953), and Omega Doom (1996), a replay of A Fistful of Dollars (1964), while in Death Collector (1988), the post-apocalyptic world had reverted to a Western one. Shion Sono’s Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021) depicted the post-apocalyptic wasteland as a mix of samurai and Western cultures. The Phantom Empire (1935) featured cowboy star Gene Autry discovering a lost underground civilisation beneath his ranch.

The original Westworld (1973) was a remarkable deconstruction of the genre, featuring a futuristic amusement park that recreates The West with androids, which proceed to go amok and start killing the guests. The tv series remake Westworld (2016-22) built this out into a sophisticated meditation on artificial intelligence in its first two seasons, although the subsequent two seasons abandoned the Westworld setting and focused more on an increasingly less comprehensible A.I. takeover plot. Influenced by Westworld was Welcome to Blood City (1977), in which people wake up in a Western town with no memory, before the revelation that this is a scenario set in Virtual Reality. The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode A Fistful of Datas (1992) takes place in a holodeck simulation of Western, while the Red Dwarf episode Gunmen of the Apocalypse (1992) takes place in a virtual Western simulation.

There have also been mixes that throw in advanced technology and/or Steampunk elements as in the tv series The Wild, Wild West (1965-9), which featured a bunch of spy capers and wild inventions in a Western setting, and its overly comic film remake Wild Wild West (1999). A similar mix appears in the tv series’ The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993-4), a tongue-in-cheek take on the genre featuring advanced Steampunk gadgetry and outrightly science-fictional devices like alien artifacts and time travel, and Legend (1995), which featured a similar tongue-in-cheek tone and a series of advanced inventions, as well as the low-budget film Gentlemen Explorers (2013). Ghost Patrol (1936) featured a cowboy fighting a villain with a ray that can stop cars and planes.


Horror Westerns

The Western has been blended with horror tropes on a number of occasions. The first film to do so was Tombstone Canyon (1932), which had cowboy star Ken Maynard investigating people being killed by the mystery black rider known as The Phantom (who turns out to be a Pantom of the Opera-like scarred figure).

Curse of the Undead (1959) was the first major film to do so and featured a vampire gunslinger. There have been other Westerns incorporating vampires since such as Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966), From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter (2000), Vampire Junction (2001), After Sundown (2006), Bloodrayne: Deliverance (2007) and Death Rider in the House of Vampires (2021). Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1989) is a homage to the genre set in the present day and Umbrage: The First Vampire (2009) features a vampire cowboy in the present, while Cowboys vs Vampires/Dead West (2010) is not an actual Western but is set in a present-day Western recreation town.

The Clint Eastwood film High Plains Drifter (1973) is remarkable for turning his tight-lipped Man With No Name persona on its head in an ending that reveals he is a supernatural figure come to exact justice on a town for their crimes, while A Day of Judgement (1981) has the Grim Reaper visiting judgement upon a town. Supernatural retribution also appears in Shadow of Chikara (1977) concerning a cursed Indian mountain, while in Uninvited (1993) a group of people face vengeance for digging for gold on an Indian burial ground. Dead in Tombstone (2013) and its sequel Dead Again in Tombstone (2017) features Danny Trejo as an outlaw raised from the dead by The Devil to eliminate his own gang, while in R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned (2022) murdered sheriff Jeffrey Donovan is resurrected as an afterlife law enforcement officer.

Ghostriders (1987), Legend of the Phantom Rider (2002), Seven Mummies (2006) and Dead Noon (2007) featured revenants from the West raised in the present. House II: The Second Story (1987) features an undead gunslinger resurrected in the present day to comical ends, while Howlers (2019) has a gunslinger resurrected from the grave to fight werewolves. Jonah Hex (2010) is an adaptation of a DC Comic featuring a Western superhero who has been resurrected from the dead.

There have been several films that mix zombies with the Western with Death Valley: The Revenge of Bloody Bill (2004), Fistful of Brains (2006), The Quick and the Undead (2006), Undead or Alive (2007), The Dead and the Damned (2010) and sequels, Cowboy Zombies (2011), Gallowwalkers (2012), Revelation Trail (2013), Cowboy vs. Zombies (2014), Bullets for the Dead (20155) and Dead 7 (2016).

The Haunted Western ghost town first appeared in the Bonanza episode Twilight Town (1963). Other ghost towns feature in the films Scream (1981), Ghost Town (1988), Phantom Town (1998), Purgatory (1999), Bells of Innocence (2003), Left for Dead (2007), Ghost Town (2009) and Teardrop (2022), while West of Hell (2018) is set aboard a train. John Wayne even encountered a haunted mine in Haunted Gold (1932), although that opted for a rationalised explanation. The Living Coffin (1959) places the Mexican legend of La Llorona in a Western setting.

The Supernatural episode Frontierland (2011) features the two monster hunting brothers travelling back in time to the West. 1313: Billy the Kid (2012) is one of David DeCoteau’s homo-erotic films with Billy the Kid fighting supernatural forces in a Western town. Black Noon (1971) features a preacher who wanders into a town where nobody can leave due to a bargain with the Devil. Hatchet (2012) concerns a town inhabited by demons, The Pale Door (2020) features a group of outlaws trapped in a town of witches.

Cowboys roping a dinosaur in The Valley of Gwangi (1969)
Cowboys roping a dinosaur in The Valley of Gwangi (1969)

The Wind (2018) is a ghost story about a woman isolated in a cabin on the prairies during the pioneer era that sits in a fascinating place of psychological ambiguity as to whether she is facing prairie demons or they are all in her head.

Blood Trail (2005) has a cowboy possessed after violating an Indian burial ground. Skinwalker (2021) features a shapeshifting demon raised after the disturbing of an Indian burial ground. BlackWood (2022) features outlaws passing through a forest pursued by a wendigo spirit.

Both the Knife in the Darkness (1968) episode of the Western tv series Cimarron Strip (1967-8) and the film From Hell to the Wild West (2017) feature Jack the Ripper having relocated to the West, while A Knife for the Ladies/Jack the Ripper Goes West (1974) had a serial killer (not the Ripper) prowling a town. Prey for Death (2015) locates a Most Dangerous Game human hunting scenario in the West.

Mad at the Moon (1992) and Blood Moon (2014) are werewolf films in a Western setting. Cowboys take on troglodytes in The Burrowers (2008), Bone Tomahawk (2015) and Night of the Tommyknockers (2022). Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004) is a prequel with the characters fighting the Graboid monsters in a Western town setting. The Mexican Swamp of the Lost Souls (1957) features an encounter with a swamp monster.

The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956) and The Valley of Gwangi (1969) pit cowboys against dinosaurs. Just for a difference we had Cowgirls vs Pterodactyls (2021), although Cowboys vs Dinosaurs (2015) is set in the present-day. The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time (2018) places a killer shark in the West and has it engaged in a shootout. Copperhead (2008) features a town under attack by snakes.

The Missing (2003) features a woman’s quest to rescue her daughters who have been abducted by an American Indian sorcerer. The White Buffalo (1977) is a retelling of Moby Dick (1851) that pits Charles Bronson’s Wild Bill Hickok against a mythic white buffalo.

There have also been two horror Western anthologies with Grim Prairie Tales (1990) and Into the Badlands (1991). There was also the tv series Dead Man’s Gun (1997-9) where each episode depicted a mysteriously empowered gun and the way it affected the possessor’s life.

Somewhere in there, one cannot go without mentioning Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter (1966) in which the outlaw becomes a hero fighting Frankenstein’s grand-daughter and her creation.


Fantasy Westerns

An American Tale: Fievel Goes West (1991), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), Home on the Range (2004), Rango (2011) and Tom and Jerry: Cowboy Up! (2021) are animated talking animals films that play out in Western settings. The Gerry Anderson puppet tv series Four Feather Falls (1959-60) features a sheriff with magical feathers that cause his horse and dog to talk, among other properties.

Heaven Only Knows (1947) features an angel visiting the West to redeem a bad man, while the gonzo comedy The Phantom Gunslinger (1970) features Troy Donahue as a preacher/sheriff who is shot and sent back from Heaven. 7 Faces of Dr Lao (1964) features a magical circus that turns up in a Western town, featuring a series of exotic creatures. Somewhere here should be included Ebenezer (1997), an updated adaptation of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol (1843) that recast the tale as a Western starring Jack Palance as Scrooge who was a land baron.

We have yet to have the Western superhero. The nearest we have come is the adventures of the masked Long Ranger, as incarnated originally on radio and in multiple tv series, films and comic-books since then, although the animated tv series The Lone Ranger (1966-9) did feature The Lone Ranger and Tonto fighting assorted super-villains and mad scientists who often employed advanced gadgetry. Occasional regular superheroes have visited – in Justice League: Warworld (2023), Wonder Woman and other heroes/villains are incarnated in a Western town, while Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) features a cowboy and his horse version of Spider-Man.

Tex and the Lord of the Deep (1985) was a film adapted from an Italian comic-strip featuring a cowboy hero up against various supernatural elements. Drawing from Western imagery, the tv series Wynonna Earp (2016-21) featured the great-great-granddaughter of the legendary real-life lawman wielding his magically empowered gun as she fought assorted supernatural menaces.

The Warrior’s Way (2010) places Wu Xia in a Western setting. The Dark Tower (2017) was a miserably failed adaptation of Stephen King’s book series depicting a fantasy world where gunslingers have mystical ability.

Tall Tale (1995) is an adventure peopled by mythical characters from the West such as Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan and John Henry. The gonzo Spaghetti Western Whiskey and Ghosts (1976) features a snake oil salesman protected by the ghosts of Davey Crockett, Pecos Bill and Johnny Appleseed. The larger-than-life character of Pecos Bill gets a far more lively animated treatment in an episode of Disney’s Melody Time (1945).

In The Twilight Zone episode The Showdown of Rance McGraw (1962), a self-important cowboy actor gets a wake-up call when he finds himself transported back to the real West, while in the episode Mr. Garrity and the Graves (1964). a wily conman who claims to be able to resurrect the dead turns up in town.

There was also the genre of the Acid Western that briefly popped up in the 1970s, which imported many ideas from the counter-culture movement of the day to depict surrealistic, tripped out Westerns. The most prominent genre example was Alejandro Jodorowsky’s first film, the violent, surrealist Zen Western El Topo (1970). Also included here would be Zachariah (1971), a surreal Western mixing spiritual enlightenment and electric guitars, and Greaser’s Palace (1972) about a stranger who has miraculous powers.

Alex Cox’s Walker (1987) was a latter day effort, a true-life story about an American adventurer who made himself dictator of Nicaragua, where in the film the Western element comes alongside anachronistic present-day elements like cars, helicopters and marines. One could also include here Dudes (1987), a modern punk film with the characters on a Western quest joined by ghost cowboys, and the animated Quantum Cowboys (2022) with cowboys traveling across the multiverse. Both the French Renegade (2004) and Day of the Stranger (2019) was a modern homage to the Acid Western.


Recommendations

A full list of Weird Western titles can be found here Westerns Archives