The Desperate Riders is a 2022 American Western film about a race to stop an outlaw from marrying a boy’s kidnapped mother.
Produced and directed by Michael Feifer (Last Shoot Out; Catch the Bullet; Shooting Star; The Siege at Rykers Station; Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield and many others) from a screenplay written by Lee Martin (Hang Town).
The Feifer Worldwide-Milestone Studios production stars Drew Waters (Shooting Star; Mongolian Death Worm; The Lycanthrope), Trace Adkins (Old Henry; Apache Junction; 13 Minutes), Tom Berenger (A Tale of Two Guns; D-Tox; The Sentinel), Vanessa Evigan, Sam Ashby (Sweet Magnolias), Victoria Pratt (Mutant X), Rob Mayes, Brock O’Hurn (The Resort), Cowboy Troy, Erin Bethea (Fireproof), Peter Sherayko (Tombstone), Vernon Walker (Catch the Bullet) and Torry Martin.
Plot:
Kansas Red (Drew Waters) rescues young Billy (Sam Ashby) from a card-game shootout. The boy asks Red for help protecting his family from Thorn (Trace Adkins), an outlaw who’s just kidnapped Billy’s mother, Carol (Victoria Pratt).
As Red and Billy ride off to rescue Carol, they run into the beautiful and tough-as-nails Leslie (Vanessa Evigan), who’s managed to escape Thorn’s men. The three make haste to stop Thorn’s wedding to Carol with guns a-blazing. But here’s the catch: does she really want to be rescued?
Reviews:
“It’s not the most original of plots to be sure, nor is the opening act of The Desperate Riders anything special in its execution either. The action is fairly blandly shot and everything looks way too clean, especially when characters are supposed to have been on the trail for days. In other words, The Desperate Riders is an utterly generic direct to video Western…” Voices from the Balcony
Release date:
In the US, Desperate Riders will be released by Lionsgate theatrically in select locations and on Blu-ray, DVD and On-Demand on February 25th 2022.
Cast and characters:
Drew Waters … Kansas Red
Vanessa Evigan … Leslie
Sam Ashby … Billy
Victoria Pratt … Carol
Cowboy Troy … Finnegan
Rob Mayes … Deputy Harms
Trace Adkins … Thorn
Erin Bethea … Marianne
Brock O’Hurn … Thatch
Peter Sherayko … Linstrom
T. Graham Brown … Gridley
Tucson Vernon Walker … Longley
Fred Yanda … Casey
Torry Martin … Slim
Kevin Harris … Portman
Jerry Bestpitch … Leech
Roy Snow … Father John
Keith Gentry … Patch
Filming locations:
Beech Grove Historic Venue – Nashville, Tennessee
Cool Springs House – Brentwood, Tennessee
Historic Collinsville – Southside, Tennessee
Historic Rippavilla – Spring Hill, Tennessee
Warren County A & L Fairgrounds, McMinnville, Tennessee
Trailer:
