Ghosts of Red Ridge - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Ghosts of Red Ridge



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Westerns have been largely out of style in terms of mass market appeal for the better part of 30 years, with the mid to late 90s being the last hurrah of the genre. Still, I enjoy a well-done Western film, and while they haven’t been as copious as in previous decades, the indie market has filled in the gaps a bit. Aussie westerns are probably the most prominent, but Canada and even South America have steadily been putting out a few a year to keep us fans of gun-slinging satisfied. Now Well Go USA usually deals with the Asian segment of the market, but every once in a while they put out a western, and sadly I’ve been disappointed 9 times out of 10 with the westerns they release. Nothing against them of course, it’s just the titles they get access to run around the bottom of the heap in terms of that particular genre. Which leads me to this last week’s release of Ghosts of Red Ridge, which takes the cake for probably the worst western I’ve seen in the last decade.

Sheriff Dunlap (Owen Williams) is having to deal with a whole lot of trouble in the tiny town of Red Ridge. He’s got constant attacks by the local outlaw, and he’s had to stop more and more gunfights as the days go on. To make matters worse, the good Sheriff is seeing ghosts of recently deceased people as well. At first it was just a loss of memory here, a flicker of a vision out of the corner of his eyes. But as time progresses he starts to see them in the daylight as well. Trying to keep the local outlaws away from the town is bad enough, but when you’re trying to keep your sanity as well? Then things get REAL sticky.

Ghosts of Red Ridge is probably one of the most simple films that I’ve ever seen, and that manifests in multiple ways. The basic narrative premise of the film is ridiculously simple. The town is under attack by bandits, and the sheriff has to keep the town safe while he figures out what they’re trying to do. Simultaneously we have a ghost story interwoven throughout, but it only pokes its head up every 10 minutes or so before jumping straight to the regular storyline. Sadly that’s not where things end though, as the acting is probably the most bland and simplistic level of acting I’ve ever seen. The script, the actors, the bad dialog. It all feels like it's been taken from a college-level script in film school and just slapped on the page. Even at 81 minutes and 25 seconds including credits I STILL feel like things just went on and on and on with no point.

To make matters worse, the set looks like it was filmed in the back desert with about 3 days of prep time to slap up some storefronts to make things look semi-believable from a distance, kind of like the townsfolk of Rock Ridge near the end of Blazing Saddles do. But at the same time, it has a sort of hesitant innocence and earnestness to the production by everyone involved. You can tell they definitely want to make this work, and I felt myself actually feeling sorry for everyone involved as they obviously weren’t just playing around. Sadly, neither the script nor the acting left the audience much to go with, leaving me to give this one of my worst ratings for a modern Western that I can remember.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

As usual, there’s VERY little information online (and on the disc) about what cameras were used, or the resolution of the master, but If I had to hazard an educated guess I would lean towards some form of digital cinematography and a 2K master. But that’s simply due to the fact that this was shot on a tiny budget and that would make the most sense. The real-world image looks decent, with a stylized ruddy brown look that sort of reminds me of the 1990s style of filming, with good clarity. Things can be razor sharp at times, though at others it’s a bit soft. I noticed a few tiny instances of digital noise (such as when the Sheriff is looking over the town on the ridge after sobering up) and there is a VERY noticeable moment at the 51:07 mark where the chapel cross looks like it’s swimming in artifacts. Other than that, this is a solid-looking encode.









Audio:

Like usual, Well Go USA gives us the standard 5.1 DTS-HD MA lossless track, as well as a downmixed 2.0 track for night listening. The 5.1 mix is solid, but never really stellar, showcasing good dialog and plenty of ambient environmental effects throughout the film. Some of the gunshots sound rather “real” compared to the Hollywood over-bloated sound that we’re used to, which is good from a technical standpoint but left the gunfight nerd in me wishing for more. Surrounds make good use of the western sound stage, with rattling spurs, loud drunken bar talks, and the clop of horses' hooves on the beaten dirt paths. It’s nothing spectacular, but the audio track is more than capable from a technical standpoint.











Extras:

• Well Go USA Previews
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Score:
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Ghosts of Red Ridge is not something I feel I could recommend to anyone. It’s banal, bland, and sadly a waste of most people’s time. As I said above, I actually kind of feel bad lambasting this as that sense of raw earnestness makes me feel for everyone involved. But at the end of the day, I can’t in good conscience praise something that has very little to praise. The Blu-ray looks and sounds good, but the video and typically anemic extras don’t give me much to work with. Sadly, skip this sucker and don’t look back.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Stefan Colson
Directed by: Brandon Cahela
Written by: Owen Williams, Trent Culkin, Griffin Wade, Mercedes Peterson, Blaize Naaszn
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DD 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 82 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: December 17th, 2024

Recommendation: No, Just No