Awesome Movie

A lot of fun.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Brad Dourif and James Earl Jones introduce four prairie tales around the campfire, trying to out scare each other. While they most definitely are on the prairie, the only thing grim about these tales, is how pitifully boring they are. Dourif is the city boy heading west to join his wife, while Jones, looking like a cave man, is a bounty hunter with a human package to deliver. Story #1 is about the danger of crossing an Indian burial ground and is bad. #2 Concerns an apparently pregnant woman wanderer, which leads to a Stephen King-like moment. Also bad. #3 Story of a displaced Southern family featuring Lisa Eichhorn, and lots of talk about a hate crime. More bad. #4 A gunslinger competition that is about as scary as a basket of bunnies. Bad. The only redeeming factor about "Grim Prarie Tales" is the banter between the storytellers, but it isn't enough to save it. - MERK

Brad Dourif and James Earl Jones get together for this horror western omnibus to snarl at each other over a campfire, pausing now and then to mouth off subtext about storytelling (Jones plays the brutish bounty hunter who knows a scary story or three, Dourif is the learned schoolteacher who asks him if stories can be vehicles for more than just thrills). Every time the movie strays from the campfire into a story it becomes tedious because the only kind of deadly these short stories are is deadly dull. Thankfully they're all pretty short so it's never dull for long. Watching two actors who like to chew scenery and spit it back out have at it makes me feel a little warm. I don't want to be too harsh onthis because, truth be told, horror anthology type films are never really meant to be cutting edge horrifying. Their primary means of expression is quiet spooks about something everyone understands is made up around the fire or comes from hearsay, and there's something nostalgic involved, the rosy glow of it, like one hankers down close to a fire and listens to others exchange stories not only for the stories told but also the pleasure of listening to them next to a fire. Horror westerns are few and far between and like most of them, this is mainly a horror film, until the last segment where sixshooters are drawn out and we get shootouts in dusty empty streets.

It's true, none of the stories told in this strange campfire chat are particularly scary. Jones' tales of vengeful Indians, mysterious pregnant drifters, and undead gunslingers fail to chill the marrow, with only the middle tale of the three providing a certain "gross-out" factor. Dourif's single tale of family and bigotry shows true horror can lie not in the supernatural but in everyday life.However, it's the play-off between these two great actors that gives the greatest joy in this film. The contrast (and unlikely rapport) between prim clerk Dourif and grizzled bounty hunter Jones - the latter playing against type in a way that'll surprise those used to his supporting roles in, say, the Jack Ryan films - makes them a "buddy" pairing to rival Riggs and Murtaugh. Give them their own series!

The pleasure of the horror anthology is that of brevity. No story can really out-stay its welcome or be forced into unnecessary padding. And if one episode fails to work, never mind, there will be another one along in a minute.James Earl Jones and Brad Dourif are both excellent as the contrasting storytellers and make the linking storyline into a highlight itself. Their tales are a mixed bunch. The opener about an Indian curse is rather slight. However the second tale about a helpful young man and a mysterious pregnant girl finishes on such a disturbing, horrific note that the viewer might not recover for the rest of the film! Especially if they're male. Definitely it is the moment that will be talked about afterwards. Deliberately, the third story concerns a more cerebal horror. A girl discovers a shocking truth about the father she idolises. Yet it emerges as probably the most satisfying tale of the night with a haunting punchline. Finally the concluding tale of vengeance beyond the grave is fair, its highlight being an animated nightmare sequence.The Western trappings bring a welcome original atmosphere to these Tales from the Crypt refugees, making this a worthwhile diversion for the jaded horror fan.