Rent The Legend of Hawes (2022)

Western meets horror ... - The Legend of Hawes review by NP

A curiously produced film, inconsistent in tone. Very talky scenes are followed by often boringly staged action sequences that tend to drag. Shortly after we’ve been introduced to the characters - Emily Whitcomb as Harriet, the lone survivor of a vicious attack and the gunman she hires Hawes, played by Mike Markoff – there’s a long scene with a widower and her young son, that serves no purpose, and is never referred to again.

Director and co-writer Rene Perez has proven prolific in low-budget horror and, despite the erratic nature of ‘The Legend of Hawes’, is an interesting name nonetheless. Visually, this has a washed-out look, as if the saturation has been filtered down, giving an oddly grey sheen to the often-sunny locations. Also, Perez has decided to liberally embellish the film with faux scratches and blurs from time to time, perhaps in a bid to liven up the very long dialogue-heavy scenes.

I find it hard to be too critical of this; it was clearly made with little budget and boasts a convincing cast of actors who do their best to breathe life into the lacklustre characters. The rampaging murderers who make lives miserable in this Wild Western location are a curiously interesting bunch of outlaws, growling behind their effective flesh masks, although we learn little about them. There’s a refreshing pro-religion theme lightly sprinkled throughout too, which doesn’t happen often. My score is 6 out of 10.