the savage land
"Trying to protect his beloved, a naïve hired hand enlists a cynical U.S. marshal to guard her wagon against a mysterious killer targeting travelers along the Overland Trail."
The most treacherous path road is the one your heart sets out on...
I’ve always loved Westerns and the mythology they encompass but wanted to put a spin on this well-worn genre. The THE SAVAGE LAND is part adventure yarn, part police procedural, as two disparate men take to the Overland Trail to hunt—or be hunted by—a serial killer.
It’s 1861. Pioneers head West by the thousands hoping for a better life—that is, if the long, arduous journey doesn’t kill them first. In the city of Independence, Missouri, we meet our protagonists: Prentice Hendrick, a naïve stable-hand who idolizes the gunslingers who roam the open plains; and Elmer Thorogood, a cynical U.S. marshal saddled with gambling debts who’s just missed out on a substantial bounty. Prentice convinces Thorogood to sign up as escorts for a wagon train ferrying Betsy, the girl he’s in love with, back to her husband out West. The wagon train faces many adventures on the trail, but grows increasingly anxious as it encounters a series of gruesome deaths along the way. Prentice deduces they’re the work of one person, but in all of Thorogood’s years as a lawman, he’s never heard of such a thing. As the wagon train procedes forward--and the bodies pile up--Prentice and Thorogood bump heads over whose doing the killings--and whether they're the next victims. THE SAVAGE LAND is a Nicholl Fellowship, Shore Scripts, and American Zoetrope quarterfinalist; an official selection of the Oaxaca Film Festival; and Best Screenplay winner at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival.
It’s 1861. Pioneers head West by the thousands hoping for a better life—that is, if the long, arduous journey doesn’t kill them first. In the city of Independence, Missouri, we meet our protagonists: Prentice Hendrick, a naïve stable-hand who idolizes the gunslingers who roam the open plains; and Elmer Thorogood, a cynical U.S. marshal saddled with gambling debts who’s just missed out on a substantial bounty. Prentice convinces Thorogood to sign up as escorts for a wagon train ferrying Betsy, the girl he’s in love with, back to her husband out West. The wagon train faces many adventures on the trail, but grows increasingly anxious as it encounters a series of gruesome deaths along the way. Prentice deduces they’re the work of one person, but in all of Thorogood’s years as a lawman, he’s never heard of such a thing. As the wagon train procedes forward--and the bodies pile up--Prentice and Thorogood bump heads over whose doing the killings--and whether they're the next victims. THE SAVAGE LAND is a Nicholl Fellowship, Shore Scripts, and American Zoetrope quarterfinalist; an official selection of the Oaxaca Film Festival; and Best Screenplay winner at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival.