THE WILD BUNCH FILM FESTIVAL 2026 REVIEW! The undead Gary Cooper can eat his heart out over the fur-and-fang reboot of his classic in the extra-wild western horror High Moon At Blackwood, written and directed by indie powerhouse Jon Binkowski. A parody of High Noon, the film opens in an alternate reality version of 1898, where the Wild West is overrun with werewolves. The lycanthropic virus spread quickly through outlaws and prospectors out in the sagebrush, giving them horrible powers and appetites during the full moon. They can only be killed by silver, and once killed, they need to be beheaded and the remains burned within three days. Otherwise, the corpse of the werewolf will rise as a vampire, which is more powerful and much harder to kill. The walled city of Blackwood won’t let anyone past the gates after dark on a full moon, and most of the townsfolk seek shelter in the church or whorehouse.
“…the film opens in an alternate reality version of 1898, where the wild west is overrun with werewolves.”
Anything silver in town, like cutlery and jewelry, has been confiscated so that the blacksmith, Smitty (Eddie Spears), can melt them into silver bullets. The bullets are specially sized to fit the golden gun, wielded by Sheriff Tess Garner (Lauren Okadigbo), who can blast any werewolf dead in its tracks. However, word is out that the vampire, Sam Tucker (Mighet Matanane), is heading to Blackwood, seeking revenge against Sheriff Tess for killing him dead as a werewolf. Thanks to the loose lips of Deputy Lloyd Randolph (Golden Garnick), visiting Marshal Riggleman (Tyler W. Gaisford) commandeered Tucker’s body before the head could be removed and never completed the job. Sheriff Tess fires the incompetent Randolph and asks who in town wants to be a deputy to stand up against the oncoming vampire and his werewolf army. Despite all Tess has done for her fellow citizens, she has no takers. So the Sheriff gets ready to face the bloody onslaught that will occur at high moon alone…
As amazing as it was to catch High Moon At Blackwood in a theater, I would kill to see it through a windshield at a drive-in. It brought me back to sitting in the car in San Antonio, smoking a big joint while watching Guillermo Del Toro‘s Blade II. Sure, a movie as action-packed as High Moon At Blackwood has plenty of room on an indoor screen to wreak havoc, but these movies were made to run wild in the night in the great outdoors, all while you eat nachos. You can come close by sneaking a windshield wiper into the theater, then wave it in front of your face occasionally to get the effect. But we need more drive-ins, as the people need to back up their pickups and spread the lawn chairs for movies like High Moon At Blackwood.
"…would kill to see it through a windshield at a drive-in."
