VOD of the Dead - HOMESTEAD (2023)
The older and wiser (debatable) I get the more I realize how much expectations dictate experience. It’s one of the reasons folks don’t watch movie trailers anymore, not because they don’t want to see the movie, but rather, they want to be able to view it with the most objective viewpoint possible. The hardest part about staying objective in our technology-centric world is that we are often bombarded by other people’s opinions and expectations, sometimes without looking for them. This is the trade-off for using social media and the internet at large, and while it’s not all bad it does make the process of approaching something with “fresh eyes and an open mind” somewhat challenging. Sometimes, it’s the marketing, sometimes the “stan culture” and the hyperbole of extreme opinions. So when we got wind of HOMESTEAD, a new “horror western” on TUBI, and saw it compared to “Hosue of 1000 Corpses and 1883” it’s fair to say that our interest was piqued. Does HOMESTEAD live up to the forecasted expectations, or is this another “bait and switch”?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
A family of homesteaders taken captive by a gang of outlaws. Their survival comes to rest in the hands of Irene: a loud-mouthed 12-year-old girl who's got an uncanny knack for shooting guns.
HOW IS IT?
I wouldn’t call myself the world's foremost Western fan, but I enjoy them more than most genres. Horror and Westerns don’t often cross-pollinate, and when they do the results can be somewhat mixed. On the one hand, you have movies like BONE TOMAHAWK and THE BURROWERS where the two genres are blended together masterfully. Then, you have movies like HOMESTEAD. Despite the marketing tagline, I couldn’t identify a single thing that would make this even within coughing distance of the content or tone of HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES. In fact, I would go so far as to say that this is just a plain old western, and one that is so middling it may not be effective for fans of the genre or those who are simply curious.
The story is something you have seen a million times in not just westerns, but many action dramas. A man who stole from his old gang has said gang return to claim what’s theirs and in the process, they take the family hostage. This leaves the 12-year-old daughter to defend the family, except that’s not really the case. What this is really more like is a home invasion film with very little in the way of tension or suspense. Considering the small cast and the single location, I imagined there would be more in the way of cat-mouse antics akin to films like BECKY, except HOMESTEAD seems quite content with minimal action and minimal gore. This leaves us to rely on the characters and the story to keep us engaged, which sadly just doesn’t accomplish this as well as it could have. What we are left with is a group of forgettable characters who bumble around while presenting no danger to the viewer and very little to the family they are holding hostage. While I’m usually one to find the positive in most things, it felt like grasping at straws with HOMESTEAD.
but this idea isn’t really developed further than a couple of minutes and a few drops of blood. It’s a sign of wasted potential, and while the story isn’t anything novel in its own right, it does provide a nice canvas for Western Horror which ultimately never manifests. This brings me to the performances, which on the whole are simply fine. Genre fans may recognize an aged BRIAN KRAUSE, but he is so subdued compared to his over-the-top performance in SLEEPWALKERS that one has to wonder why the filmmaker didn’t opt to go all in on that kind of crazy. The rest of the cast is similarly going through the motions with no one standing out in any meaningful way. The wild thing is, this isn’t a bad movie it’s just not an interesting or exciting one given what kind of movie it wants to be. And when you aspirationally compare yourself to something as bonkers as a ROB ZOMBIE film the expectations of the viewer are going to be thrusting for blood and mayhem, which HOMESTEAD ultimately fails to deliver on.
LAST RITES
HOMESTEAD is a shining example of unrealistic expectations and average delivery. In a world where content is so ubiquitous you could never watch the same thing twice many lives over, it’s a shame that HOMESTEAD doesn’t deliver another proper western horror film in the vain of those that have come before it.
THE GORY DETAILS
Directed By
Written By
Starring
Where can you watch it?
HOMESTEAD is available now on TUBI
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