I was contacted about reviewing Night of the Tommyknockers this past week. I had never heard of it until I was approached about it. I’m always interested in seeing a blend of horror and western, because I enjoy both of those genres. I try to find positives whenever I watch a movie that I don’t necessarily enjoy. I try to look at what the movie is trying to do and how well it accomplishes that.
The practical effects and music are highlights for the movie. Scott Glasgow’s score for Night of the Tommyknockers is absolutely fantastic. He manages to get the feel for a western while also setting the right tone for a horror movie. The practical effects help make the horror aspects of the movie land well. The effects for the titular creatures are interesting. They don’t look like anything I’ve seen before, basically as if a couple of different monsters were smooshed together and something new came out of it. I always appreciate a new monster no matter how good they look.
My least favorite parts of the movie were the inconsistencies throughout the movie and most of the acting. The acting throughout the movie was mostly not very good. It did a disservice to the story that was being told. There was no sense of urgency for most of the action scenes, that undermined what they were going for. One of the inconsistencies I found the worst were in the lighting. It some scenes it looked like it was happening during the day and then it would cut to somewhere else and it would be nighttime. The sound quality was also inconsistent with it varying wildly from scene to scene. I don’t know if it was the screener I was given.
Night of the Tommyknockers is a horror western that has a really cool concept but doesn’t make the most of it through some issues. I don’t really know if I can fully recommend this movie when it comes out on November 25th. The story is interesting and that fact that we follow characters that don’t have any redeeming qualities is something that doesn’t happen often. Not every movie can be a classic but there’s something here. I give Night of the Tommyknockers 6 sticks of dynamite out of 10.