The Scarlet Worm (2011)

An aging killer trains a young hired gun in a plot to assassinate a meek brothel owner performing barbaric abortion acts on his prostitutes.

Director:

Michael Fredianelli

Writer:

David Lambert

Stars:

Aaron Stielstra, Dan van Husen, Brett Halsey

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aaron Stielstra	...	Print
Dan van Husen	...	Heinrich Kley
Brett Halsey	...	Mr. Paul (as Montgomery Ford)
Derek Hertig	...	Lee
Kevin Giffin	...	Hank
Rita Rey	...	Annabelle
Eric Zaldivar	...	Gus
Mike Malloy	...	Mathis Reed - Love Cowboy
Robert Amstler	...	The Rifleman
David Lambert	...	Will Hardtmuth - Cattle Rustler
Raymond Isenberg	...	The Pugilist
Jojo Myricks	...	Big Mercy
Lou Michaels	...	Indian Shaman (as Lucio Hernandez)
Ted Rusoff	...	Print's Attorney (voice)
Michael Forest	...	Judge Hanchett (as Mike Forest)

Storyline

A middle-aged hired gun named Print (Aaron Stielstra) is obsessed with having style and poetry to his assassinations. He has been working with loyalty for his boss, Mr. Paul (Montgomery Ford), for years. But his latest assignment - the killing of a brothel owner (Dan van Husen) who mandates cruel abortions on his whores - presents two challenges: he must train a young understudy during the assignment, and he's been told to pull off the killing "quick and dirty" -- which may not leave time for Print's usual, obsessively imaginative methods.

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Plot Keywords:

abortion | prostitute | hired gun | spaghetti western | pig | 

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Taglines:

In the old west, the lucky ones died first. Luckier still were the ones who were never born at all!

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Genres:

Western

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 August 2011 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Agua Dulce, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wild Dogs Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The hat Brett Halsey wears throughout the film is the exact same hat he wore for a similar character 40 years earlier in 'Roy Colt and Winchester Jack (1970)'.

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Connections

References An Enraged New World (2002)

User Reviews

Gritty, off-beat - worth your time

Nowadays I reckon we're lucky if we get a great western every decade or so. This doesn't qualify for great, but it is good. If you're expecting "Hollywood" - raise your expectations... this is better.

The action in the movie plays well. With influences of Peckinpah mixed with ("early not quite there yet") John Woo; credit where it's due, it didn't get unreal.

The dialog could have been tweaked better, I reckon, there was ample opportunity through the settings which were done well. The scene in front of the barber shop is an example of where the script could have gone deeper, and pushed this movie into great. Overall I liked the pacing, the arc and the various spread of characters. It didn't get overly deep into the characters, but neither were they shallow - there's an edge to all of them. I thought Montgomery Ford did a fine job.

One thing I really liked about this western? It treats the audience with a bit of respect - allowing me to draw my own conclusions; meeting with my expectations in terms of credibility, there were no "cop outs" in plot. What happened was a logical, if whacky series of events.

If you really like westerns, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I am very surprised by the low rating the movie seems to have - strange; maybe good, hard-boiled westerns are just out of style...