From Hell to The Wild West

• Written and Directed by Rene Perez
• December 26, 2017 (US)

Jack the Ripper has found a new hunting ground-the Wild West.

Ever wonder what it would be like if Charles Bronson made a Western slasher movie? Well wonder no more because you get as close as you ever will with From Hell to The Wild West. Robert Bronzi (here in the credits called ‘Robert Kovacs’) has made a career for himself simply by looking like Charles Bronson. Bronzi is a serviceable actor and does a good job at channeling Bronson.

In the opening moments the credits say ‘Based On True Events’ and by that they mean completely made up. In the story Jack the Ripper (Charlie Glackin) escaped from London when the police were closing in and came to the American West to continue his killing spree with a rather creepy looking mask.

The idea itself is not bad and implies a great deal of trashy goodness. And there is plenty of just that in this movie. But because of budgetary limitations and a distinct lack of talent on the part of those playing the victims it fails to make it to being a quality guilty pleasure. There is enough here that it gets very close to being a low budget treasurer but because of low budget and some poor acting hierarchy, From Hell to The Wild West doesn’t quite make it there. So very close but not quite there.

Our narrative is interspersed with elements set in the present day where some young college student has discovered a diary which only features in a closing shot of this movie of a woman who wrote about the serial killer. Because of what’s written in the diary and a sampling of the killer’s writing they figure out the killer was Jack the Ripper. Not that you couldn’t draw that conclusion on your own from bits set in the past.

Those present-day elements feel inserted to stretch this 70 something minute film out into its 70 something minutes. My guess is that the end product was under an hour and they needed to make this longer. It’s not that Perez didn’t have enough story here, but he started about a third of the way into the movie telling the story.

Beginning in what looks like the forest Moon of Endor (not really) we see Mr. Buchinski (Robert Bronzi as Robert Kovacs)-using Bronson’s actual name for the character-following an attractive young woman who was clearly cast because of her, um, talent walking in broad daylight. Turns out he is following her to find the killer but oops, gets mistaken for the killer by a vengeful posse. We have no idea what events brought him to this point nor does anything said or shown later really explain why he was on the killer’s trail. He just did. An additional few minutes filmed in the same place they used for the abandoned town would have done the trick.

Kovacs/Bronzi does a good job as a Bronson style Western hero. He’s strong and silent and looks like Charles Bronson. He IS channeling Bronson’s tough guy spirit with a clear unwavering moral code guiding his actions. This man knows right from wrong and everything else is just a distraction.

Eventually he partners with a marshal (Colin Bryant) who knows who the real killer is and in return for Buchinski’s help he will help clear Buchinski’s name. The two have adequate chemistry and even if it was pure fluff, the movie could have been extended with interactions between the two. But the time between their connection and the ending is incredibly short.

For a horror Western or just a horror film there is not a lot of gore but like an 80s horror movie there is a lot of boobage. Clearly that was the underlying talent that got them the job. Bonus points for being willing to show the one on your left bare. We see plenty of blood in here with plenty of squishing but no gore. No entrails or a rope of sausage meant to be intestines.

Aside from starting mid story, some of the acting is questionable. Clearly they lacked a large budget (or much of one) but the casting director was not looking for talent. They were hoping that boobs and Kovacs/Bronzi’s uncanny resemblance to Bronson would cover the $1.75 it cost to make this movie.

Another cause for the issues could be director Perez wearing the hats of writer, editor, cinematographer, and producer as well. Who was there to tell Perez “No”? That is a necessity in any creative endeavor.

But despite that what we do get here isn’t bad. Not great, but not bad either. This could have been something really special with the removal of the future elements and maybe an additional half hour before Buchinski wound up following the girl in the forest to protect her.

From Hell to The Wild West is a cheap film that almost gets there but not quite. I think dedicated Bronson fans as well as connoisseurs of cheap movies will enjoy this What If but for most it would be a tough slog. Proceed with caution if at all.