Terror on the Prairie is a 2022 American Gothic Western film directed by Michael Polish and written by Josiah Nelson. Produced by The Daily Wire, and Bonfire Legend, and distributed by The Daily Wire and Voltage Pictures. The film follows a family of pioneers as they defend themselves from a vicious gang of outlaws hell-bent on revenge on the Montana plains. The film features the cast of Gina Carano as Hattie McAllister, Donald Cerrone as Jeb McAllister, and Nick Searcy starring as The Captain, with Rhys Jackson Becker, Gabriel-Kane Day Lewis, Tyler Fischer, Heath Freeman, Samaire Armstrong, and Matthias Hues all featured in supporting roles.
Several years after the end of the Civil War Jeb and Hattie McAllister struggle to raise their adolescent son Will and infant daughter in the wilds of Montana. Hattie expresses her desire to return to her families own land against Jeb’s wishes to be self reliant and to be capable of raising their family on the own. After Jeb leaves to go to the town to look for work, four strangers arrive and ask Hattie for some food and water—although, once she sees they have collected scalps and are killers, she kicks them out. However, the outlaws do not go far. Instead, a stand-off emerges after repeated attempts to break into the McAllister cabin are foiled by Hattie and Will.
Film Threat’s Alan Ng gave the film a score of 8.5 out of 10, stating that “If you like your westerns gritty, violent, and viscerally brutal, you’re in for a fun popcorn night at home.” Ng also spoke positively of Carano and Searcy’s performances. Wade Major of CineGods, awarding three out of four stars, described Terror on the Prairie as “below the surface, it’s a grueling — and often gruesome — meditation on the lingering self-inflicted wounds left by the American Civil War in far-flung locales like frontier Montana and beyond.” Major spoke highly of Searcy and Day Lewis’s performances, though of Nelson’s screenplay had stated that it “largely hews to formula, but it’s a competent effort with well-drawn, if archetypal, characters and strong, credible dialogue.” Christian Toto wrote, in his review for Hollywood in Toto, “Terror on the Prairie lags a bit in the middle thanks to a protracted stand-off. Perhaps a bigger budget would let the production insert flashbacks or other scenes to enhance the story. Otherwise, the film charges forward, letting us marvel at how Hattie improvises on her children’s behalf.”
