The Pale Door

The Pale Door is a 2020 American Western horror film directed by Aaron B. Koontz and written by Cameron Burns, Keith Lansdale, and Koontz, with Joe R. Lansdale as executive producer. It stars Devin Druid, Zachary Knighton, Melora Walters, Bill Sage, Pat Healy, Stan Shaw, Natasha Bassett, Noah Segan and Tina Parker.

The Pale Door
Promotional release poster
Directed byAaron B. Koontz
Produced by
  • Ashleigh Snead
  • Matthew Thomas
  • Roman Dent
  • Aaron B. Koontz
  • Cameron Burns
Written by
  • Cameron Burns
  • Aaron B. Koontz
  • Keith Lansdale
Starring
Music byAlex Cuervo
CinematographyAndrew Scott Baird
Edited byGreg MacLennan
Production
companies
  • Paper Street Pictures
  • Storyteller Media
  • BondIt Media Capital
  • Title Media
Distributed by
Release date
  • 21 August 2020 (2020-08-21) (United States)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$21,166[1]

Plot

A family home is raided by an armed gang of thieves in the middle of the night. Brothers Jake and Duncan are saved by Lester. They are devastated to find their parents shot dead and watch helplessly as their house burns to the ground.

Years later, the Dalton gang meets up with Jake, who is working in a saloon. After losing one of their members in a gun fight, the gang realizes they won't have enough manpower for their upcoming train heist. At the objection of his older brother Duncan, Jake volunteers and the gang is forced to use him as a substitute.

The gang successfully pulls off the train heist, but instead of gold, the chest they steal reveals a young woman inside named Pearl. She claims she was taken from her home in Potemkin. She also claims there would be a handsome reward for the gang if they return her home. Duncan is wounded by a Pinkerton's bullet.

The gang travel to Potemkin with Pearl and arrive at the town brothel in order to get help for Duncan, who is slowly dying. The gang is welcomed by Maria, the leader of the brothel. They drink and partake in the pleasures of the town-women. Maria sits Jake down and shows him her past, where she was burned at the stake as a witch while pregnant with Pearl.

The women transform into their true selves, hideous burnt witches and attack the gang, some of which are killed off. The remaining survivors fall back to a cabin to strategize an escape. Maria gathers her fellow witches and reveal that Jake is the one who can sustain them for many more years, as he's "innocent blood", having never taken a life and is a virgin. Jake and Dodd go back to the brothel to find Duncan, but he's not there. They rendezvous with the rest of the group and fight their way to a church.

In a hallucinatory state, Wylie eats some broken glass. Lester reveals to Jake that the reason his family was killed was because they were thieves, and they stole the farm they lived on. Later, Jake goes outside and finds Duncan apparently healed. But Dodd shoots him and he morphs into a flock of crows. Lester starts convulsing and vomiting a black liquid, and a black crow crawls out of his mouth, killing him. Wylie is found having cut himself all over with broken glass and is cutting out his eyes. He then slashes his own throat and dies. Dodd and Jake leave the church to escape but are ambushed and fall back to the town. Dodd takes on the witches and is killed while Jake moves forward. He comes upon Maria and Pearl, who offer Duncan's life in exchange for Jake. He takes the deal and Duncan rides off, eventually buying back his family's old farm and having a child of his own, named Jacob. A black crow sits ominously on their balcony as the sun sets.

Cast

Production

The Pale Door was directed by Aaron B. Koontz, who also co-wrote, and produced the film. It marks Koontz's third feature film effort, the first being the 2017 horror film Camera Obscura.[2] the second being "Scare Package". In May 2019, it was reported that production was underway in Oklahoma.[3] Koontz has stated "I love the idea of mixing these two disparate worlds of horror and western, and to do so with the help of Joe and Keith Lansdale, feels like the perfect devil's playground. It's 3:10 To Yuma meets The Descent, but doused, and then set on fire with psychological horror. Once this gets going, it's relentless."[3][4]

Release

The Pale Door was released in theaters, VOD and digital HD on August 21, 2020.[5]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 51%, based on 35 reviews, and an average rating of 5.09/10. It's consensus reads, "Beyond The Pale Door lies an intriguing western/horror hybrid -- albeit one that struggles to fashion its halves into a compelling whole."[6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 39 out of 100, based on reviews from 4 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[7]

Tomris Laffly from Roger Ebert.com gave the film one star out of four, criticizing the film for its performances, "design elements", and lack of original ideas.[8] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter felt that film was too chaotic due to its poor staging and editing, as well as its unconvincing characters, and pacing. Scheck concluded his review by stating, "The Pale Door represents yet another stylistic mash-up that ends up less than the sum of its parts".[9] Cinemalogue.com Todd Jorgenson felt that the film's admittedly intriguing concept was undermined by poor execution and blending of western and horror genre cliches.[10] Jonathan Christian of The Playlist gave the film score C-, calling it "disorganized", and criticized the use of genre cliches, pacing, "unfocused" plot, and soundtrack. Christian, however did commend the film for its retroactive style, and attention to period detail.[11]

Becca James of The Chicago Reader called it "a raucous ride through a different type of wild west", commending the film's plot, and mixture of horror and western genre elements.[12] The Austin Chronicle's Matthew Managle gave the film three out of five stars, commending the performances, particularly Walters', and horror/western elements. Managle did criticize the film for its soundtrack, and budgetary limitations.[13] Grant Hermanns from ComingSoon.net noted that, while the film's first half was sluggishly paced, the film's cinematography, direction, and performances from the rest of its cast more than made up for it's shortcomings.[14] Michelle Swope of Dread Central rated the film four out of five stars, commending the cast, direction, and use of practical effects. Swope concluded her review by calling it "a wildly entertaining combination of great practical effects and an outstanding cast that is sure to please any horror fan."[15]

References
  1. "The Pale Door Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  2. Whittaker, Richard. "Austin Horror for Halloween: The Honor Farm, Found Footage 3D coming home - Screens - The Austin Chronicle". AustinChronicle.com. Richard Whittaker. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  3. Wiseman, Andreas (May 29, 2019). "'13 Reasons Why' Star Devin Druid Leads Cast In Horror-Western 'The Pale Door', Shoot Under Way In Oklahoma". Deadline. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  4. Long, Christian (May 29, 2019). "Horror-Western The Pale Door Lands Devin Druid In Starring Role". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  5. "The Pale Door - Review". We Are Movie Geeks. August 19, 2020. Retrieved August 30, 2020.
  6. "The Pale Door(2020)". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
  7. "The Pale Door Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  8. Laffly, Tomris (August 21, 2020). "The Pale Door movie review & film summary (2020)". Roger Ebert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  9. Scheck, Frank (August 21, 2020). "'The Pale Door': Film Review". Hollywood Reporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  10. Jorgenson, Todd (August 21, 2020). "Capsule reviews for Aug. 21 - Cinemalogue". Cinemalogue,com. Todd Jorgenson. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  11. Christian, Johnathan (August 21, 2020). "'The Pale Door': A Disorganized Mix of Western Archetypes And Horror Clichés [Review]". The Playlist.net. Johnathan Christian. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  12. James, Becca (August 21, 2020). "The Pale Door". Chicago Reader.com. The Chicago Reader. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  13. Monagle, Matthew (August 21, 2020). "The Pale Door - Movie Review". Austin Chronicle.com. Austin Chronicle Corporation. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  14. Hermanns, Grant (August 21, 2020). "The Pale Door Review: Slow Start Followed by Thrilling Genre Blend". ComingSoon.net. Grant Hermans. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  15. Swope, Michelle (August 21, 2020). "THE PALE DOOR Review – Outlaw Gang Locks Horns with Coven of Witches in Bloody Horror Western". Dread Central.com. Michelle Swope. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
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