Purgatory starts is set in the old Wild West where Blackjack Britton (Eric Roberts) & his gang rob a bank in a town, soldiers unexpectedly show up & after a shoot-out that leaves both soldiers & some of the bank robbers dead Blackjack & his gang flee the town with an angry posse in hot pursuit. Blackjack & his gang without rest & eventually come across the small town of Refuge where no-one carries a gun, even Sheriff Forrest (Sam Shepherd) & his Deputy (Donnie Wahlberg) are unarmed. Blackjack & his gang see Refuge as easy prey, they intend to rest up there for a while & then rob the place when they leave. Howeversomething about Refuge isn't quite right, why are the townsfolk so peaceful? Why are there no guns? Why do so many of the townsfolk resemble famous dead outlaws?
Made for & originally shown on telly (by the TNT Network) this fantasy Western was directed by Uli Edel & while the premise of an old American Wild West town that acts as a half way stop for dead criminals who during their lives at least had some humanity to prove that themselves fit to enter Heaven rather than spend eternity in Hell doesn't exactly sound brilliant I was surprised at how good Purgatory was. Don't get me wrong though, Purgatory isn't any sort of forgotten masterpiece or even approaching that but as a quirky little oddball mix of genres & styles I did like it. The character's are strong here, by the time the final stand-off came & the final shoot-out blasted into action I was really into the offbeat story & likable character's. Various famous Wild West outlaws are featured, Jesse James, Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid & Wild Bill Hickock all make an appearance & are seen trying to save themselves from spending eternity in Hell but to do so they must spend ten years in Refuge & not so much as lift a gun let alone use one. The story unfolds gradually, we learn little bits & pieces at a time rather than one big reveal which is alright but once the town's secret does finally come out the films almost over & we haven't had that big twist where the whole story is thrown up in the air so the final realisation is maybe a little flatter than it could have been. Also there's no real explanation why Refuge is out in the middle of the desert or if the townsfolk are already dead how they can be killed again by Blackjack & his gang. At 90 odd minutes long it doesn't outstay it's welcome & there's enough time for the story to take shape & unfold.
Some may be put off by the lack of action or horror elements, there's a couple of shoot-outs but nothing amazing. The film has really good production values, the sets & costumes & effects are really good with shots like dozens of men on horseback riding along firing guns although there is a silly CGI computer effect at the end which seems very at odds with the old Wild West setting. Despite featuring several real historical figures Purgatory obviously makes no serious attempt to be factual or realistic.
Very well made with a rock solid cast of pros including Eric Roberts, Sam Shepherd, Randy Quaid, Peter Stormare & Donnie Wahlberg while Purgatory was one of the last feature film appearance's by R.G. Armstrong. The cast all give good performances.
Purgatory is a surprisingly entertaining & sometimes touching little fantasy Western that really had no right to be as good as it is, on paper it sounds like a disaster but in reality Purgatory is a good solid offbeat film that won't appeal to all but is much better than many would expect.
Made for & originally shown on telly (by the TNT Network) this fantasy Western was directed by Uli Edel & while the premise of an old American Wild West town that acts as a half way stop for dead criminals who during their lives at least had some humanity to prove that themselves fit to enter Heaven rather than spend eternity in Hell doesn't exactly sound brilliant I was surprised at how good Purgatory was. Don't get me wrong though, Purgatory isn't any sort of forgotten masterpiece or even approaching that but as a quirky little oddball mix of genres & styles I did like it. The character's are strong here, by the time the final stand-off came & the final shoot-out blasted into action I was really into the offbeat story & likable character's. Various famous Wild West outlaws are featured, Jesse James, Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid & Wild Bill Hickock all make an appearance & are seen trying to save themselves from spending eternity in Hell but to do so they must spend ten years in Refuge & not so much as lift a gun let alone use one. The story unfolds gradually, we learn little bits & pieces at a time rather than one big reveal which is alright but once the town's secret does finally come out the films almost over & we haven't had that big twist where the whole story is thrown up in the air so the final realisation is maybe a little flatter than it could have been. Also there's no real explanation why Refuge is out in the middle of the desert or if the townsfolk are already dead how they can be killed again by Blackjack & his gang. At 90 odd minutes long it doesn't outstay it's welcome & there's enough time for the story to take shape & unfold.
Some may be put off by the lack of action or horror elements, there's a couple of shoot-outs but nothing amazing. The film has really good production values, the sets & costumes & effects are really good with shots like dozens of men on horseback riding along firing guns although there is a silly CGI computer effect at the end which seems very at odds with the old Wild West setting. Despite featuring several real historical figures Purgatory obviously makes no serious attempt to be factual or realistic.
Very well made with a rock solid cast of pros including Eric Roberts, Sam Shepherd, Randy Quaid, Peter Stormare & Donnie Wahlberg while Purgatory was one of the last feature film appearance's by R.G. Armstrong. The cast all give good performances.
Purgatory is a surprisingly entertaining & sometimes touching little fantasy Western that really had no right to be as good as it is, on paper it sounds like a disaster but in reality Purgatory is a good solid offbeat film that won't appeal to all but is much better than many would expect.