THE NIGHT THEY CAME HOME – Review

THE NIGHT THEY CAME HOME is a western offering that is a pretty good recycling of several classic themes from the oaters of yesteryear. The great Danny Trejo plays the local gravedigger, but most of his screen time is spent telling a young couple from the East the story of the last outlaw gang to be eliminated, ushering in their current relatively civilized era in a wraparound narrative.

It’s the 1890s. The local Creek tribe members are bitter about being driven off their lands and receiving a lot of broken promises. They also resent their children being forced to attend white schools to learn the settlers’ language, culture and religion at the expense of their own. One of them, Rufus Buck (Charlie Townsend) is brilliant, psychotic and charismatic enough to lead a mixed-race gang on a campaign of murders, maimings, burnings, abductions and rapes against all in their path.

Grizzled old Marshal Heck Thomas (Tim Abell) is tasked with running them down and ending their reign of terror. He reluctantly accepts the assistance of Indian peace officer Paden Tolbert (Tommy Wolfe) as they start tracking the ruthless killers.

Many atrocities occur, though they’re discussed more than shown. Considering what happens throughout, the blood and gore level is relatively mild. There’s no nudity in the assaults on women, or otherwise. The R rating is more for hearing what happens and seeing some of the aftermath than witnessing the worst of the carnage. There are a number of upsetting scenes but the presentation is less gory than what a Sam Peckinpah or Sergio Leone would have filmed.

The foes are not only on different sides of the law but Thomas is the classically laconic lawman, while the college-educated Buck frequently pontificates intelligently and at length about their grievances, on the personal level and in the big picture. He firmly believes his brutality is justified and essential for the survival and maintained identity of all Native Americans.

The film is longer on dialog than many in the genre but won’t disappoint action buffs. Or Trejo fans (I quickly accepted the offer to screen this when I saw his name). Danny was a perfect choice for his role, bringing a world-weary fatalism to his account of events, amplified by his distinctive, gravelly voice and hard-life visage.

There’s some anticlimactic footage that could have been trimmed but the overall package is one of the few westerns being made these days, and worth checking out for genre aficionados.

THE NIGHT THEY CAME HOME opens in theaters on Friday, Jan. 12.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars