NOW ON TUBI! In Brett William Mauser’s horror Western feature, Sundown, miners in the 1800’s strike gold far away from town, out in the wilderness. That night, David (Jason Lee Boyson) dreams of a ghostly woman in green (Lisa Butala) outside of camp.
Later that night, before they begin the journey back, before they can load up their horses, they wake to find one of the four men dead, along with all but one of the horses. To compound this mystery, they wait for a sunrise that never comes, and decide to start the journey back despite the unnatural extended night.
They start hearing eerie sounds in the murky darkness, and David fires his gun wildly in a panic, striking Pete (Mike McCullough). He is not badly injured, but wants to kill David. Paul (Jake Jecmenek), the oldest man, insists they keep the peace. They encounter a town days before they expect to, where there shouldn’t be a town. A woman in the saloon (Cory Brooks) tells them this is Sundown, and she says they are welcome as long as they follow the rules, which she provides.
This is a peculiar set of six specific edicts, all of which seem straightforward, if somewhat odd. As the men try to get a hotel room and a livery stable for their horse, they find everything is closed. The only other people they meet are an old man sitting outside the hotel and a young woman named Scarlet (Yazmin Luna Lopez) who approaches Pete.
Lisa Butala appears as the mysterious woman in green in Brett William Mauser’s horror Western Sundown.
“… they wait for a sunrise that never comes …”
David and Paul decide to leave town, but one of the rules is that no one leaves before sunrise. They are torn about this dilemma, but soon face another challenge as their horse (and their gold) goes missing. The townspeople they encounter seem to be following a script in a fashion reminiscent of game NPC’s, repeating the same phrases. It turns out Scarlet is a prostitute, pushing them to break the rules, one of which is “don’t go poking the w***e after 2.” As soon as they discuss this rule, the bells sound for 2 AM.
Clearly, they have stumbled into a ghost land, where they see figures from the past. Paul recognizes a man from his days as a soldier. David sees a woman who looks like his lady, Coraline (Cory Brooks), but it’s not her, and he pays an awful price for not understanding that she’s an illusion. Paul is old and world-weary, weighed down by guilt. It seems like he has seen too much and has many sins to atone for. As the rules are broken, consequences come quickly. Will Paul and Pete find a way out of the town, or will they be stuck here forever? What happens come sunrise?
Sundown moves at a leisurely pace, spooling out deliberately, reluctantly revealing the secrets of the town. Mauser plays out these events as a morality play, in a cautionary tale about trading your soul for gold. The resolution comes off as preachy and disappointingly predictable, but it is in line with Mauser’s website claims that he makes “non-woke” films. There is likely an audience who will appreciate that.
The performances are understated and quiet, presented in dark cinematography, where most of the action happens in shadow. There are too many characters to keep track of, which dilutes the story, and it’s not always clear what is happening, but in the finale, it all comes down to one key idea about not breaking the rules. Confusion gives way to clarity in a story to be enjoyed in a quiet meditation.
Learn more at the official Sundown website.
"…moves at a leisurely pace, reluctantly revealing the secrets of the town..."
