Purgatory

Plot synopsis:
It is the late 1800s in a small, peaceful western town until a violent evil gang of bank robbers pay a visit. Led by ruthless, bloodthirsty Blackjack Britton (Eric Roberts), they take the bank. Things are progressing well, until a random troop of military soldiers ride into town. Then all hell breaks loose in the dusty little settlement.After the deadly shootout, the gang flees, only to be passionately chased by a large angry posse. Desperate, they ride straight through the night, but are unable to shake the mob who is determined to take them and hang them all. When the posse finally overtakes them, a running shootout begins, which eventaully kills the horse carrying all the money. Partially satisfied, the posse breaks off pursuit. Badly cut down, exhausted and without money, the dejected gang rides on, straight into a bizarre sandstorm. When the dust finally settles, they find themselves in a place no human eye has ever seen before.Here in this sleepy little town called Refuge, the people welcome them and invite them to take anything they want, absolutely free. It is a quiet little town, with no telegraph, and seemingly no guns or violence. The people look oddly familiar however. Why does that sheriff look like Wild Bill Hickock? Everyone knows he was killed almost ten years ago. And is that Billy The Kid? And Doc Holliday? Look, he looks like Jesse James! But arent they all dead? Who are they?One young man, Sonny (Brad Rowe) knows them all. He loves the Dime Store novels that write about all the outlaw heroes. Related to a member of the gang, Sonny wanted to join, until he saw how outlaw life really was. The only good guy in the dangerous group, he tries to befriend them, especially the mysterious Rose, a sweet young girl in town. He finally dismisses his crazy ideas that is, until late one night a mysterious coach arrives and drops off a woman, a woman who died in his arms in the bank robbery town! The coach vanishes into thin air, and Sonny begins a relentless pursuit of the truth, never dreaming where his search will lead, or what it will cost him.Welcome to Refuge.

Tags: cult, murder, violence

Review:
Purgatory is one such film for myself.Purgatory, a TNT TV production, is that rare old beast of the Western fused with fantastical or supernatural elements.
From dime novels and hero worship to first kills and first loves, Sonny is our conduit and the key holder to the gates of redemption for many of the Wild West's legendary characters.The cast is a veritable feast of splendid character actors playing a veritable feast of iconic real life people.
While Brad Fiedel provides a musical score of some magnificent beauty, a piece that revels in heroic swirls and escalating emotions, it darts around the town of "Refuge" like a novelist writing a dime novel soon to go down in folklore legend.Budget restrictions are hidden very well, Edel and his cinematographer William Wages prove adept at lighting techniques and scene staging.
Be it keeping things in the shade or cloaking a sequence with believable dust clouds, there's a professional touch here that puts the pic into the upper echelons of TV movies.Then there's the action, a key component for so many Western fans, and thankfully Purgatory is book-ended by superb action sequences, with the finale a skilled lesson in shoot-out choreography and machismo pulse beats.
But as a Western movie lover I found myself cheering at the film's end, even wiping away a damn fly from my eye.
Purgatory is a conscience western you can compare to 'Unforgiven', or more likely 'Pale Rider.'  It seems adapted from a scifi short story, meaning it is not dominated by its wild west setting.Someone at TNT Originals has a great skill for making movies for the small screen.
This movie is a rare gem in TV viewing: something that makes you feel good about watching TV..
The idea of making the religious realm of Purgatory into an old Western town sounds fairly bizarre, but it makes for a very fun and entertaining movie.
The plot mainly involves a gang of outlaws led by Blackjack (Eric Roberts) on the run who end up in a town that is none other than the realm of judgment itself.
The town is populuated by the worst outlaws of the old west (Billy the Kid, Jesse James, etc.) who have been given a second chance at salvation- if they can survive an indeterminate period of time without giving in to temptations to sin, they will be saved.
There's a lot to enjoy about this movie: Sam Shepard and Randy Quaid fun to watch as Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday, and Eric Roberts, overacting as always, actually makes for a very convincing outlaw.
This was a really satisfying story with great performances from the actors, even Eric Roberts who usually annoys me.The basic story is that a band of outlaws heading for Mexico get waylaid in a town called refuge where no pone carries a gun and everyone welcomes them with open arms.
But like the rattlesnakes they are, instead of accepting and appreciating this hospitality the outlaws decide to take the town for all it's worth not realising exactly what kind of place they have ridden into.This film is exactly the type of thing you get when an interesting premise is properly executed.
I don't know what those people did (good) that let them go to refuge, rather than straight to Hell, because all of the Blackjack gang (about 30) went straight to Hell, rather than purgatory.
I don't know why Jesse James, Wild Bill and Doc didn't go straight to Hell for their sins, but where given a second chance, unlike the Blackjack gang.
Purgatory plays like a ninety-four episode of "The Twilight Zone", that despite a few predictable twists, is still a lot of fun to watch and a cut above the usual made-for-television western of the last twenty years or so.Production values are good and so is the familiar cast of character actors, led by baddies Eric Roberts and Peter Stormare, with Sam Shepherd, Randy Quaid, Donnie Walberg, and R.G. Armstrong in his last western appearance so far.
They all do a great job, with Roberts and Stormare playing it nice and rowdy.Interestingly enough, co-stars R.G.Armstrong and John Dennis Johnston appeared together eighteen years earlier in the southern-fried horror flick The Beast Within..
Refuge, as we quickly discover, is actually the Purgatory of the Bible, and is populated by such western stalwarts as Wild Bill Hicock and Doc Holliday.
So Britton leads his men across the desert, which they come across a quiet little town called Purgatory, where the strange locals don't carry guns, or even curse, but they really make them welcome.
This very helpful gesture spurs Britton to stir up a racket and take over the town, but one of his men, a young wannabe, Sonny, doesn't share Britton's idea and he finds himself picking up some unusual hints of something otherworldly about the town and its inhabitants.What a nice surprise the cable TV movie, "Purgatory", actually turned out to be.
Dynamic wise, the fruitful cast gel impeccably well, involving the likes of Eric Roberts killing it, as Blackjack Britton and then you got Brad Rowe as the naïve Sonny.
No one in town carries a gun, there is no jail and everyone spends an awful lot of time in church, which leads Roberts to believe the community should be easy pickings.
Whilst it had lots of good, boisterous action, especially at the beginning and end, for me, it was too much neither western, nor fantasy.As a western, it worked fine with Sam Shepard doing sterling work as the sheriff (Wild Bill Hickock) but I'm afraid the romantic story between Sonny (Brad Rowe) and (can't find her name in any cast lists) confused and annoyed me.Idols from western folklore presumably mean less to me than it does to many and so it wasn't such a big thrill to have all these re-incarnated in one place and in one movie and whilst I could see how this 'car-park' for the living dead made the story, this was rather lost on me.
The film was well made and maybe, if I was in-tune with this element, then it might have made more sense to me.I did like the fantasy ending with the Old Indian, very surprising and quite well done.Purgatory is good for a TV movie, which was nominated for a prime-time Emmy, with a good cast and some good action, but that's as good as it got for me..
Seeing a movie with Wild Bill, Billie the Kid, Jesse James and Doc Holliday and other bad guys from the old west was truly amazing.
It is awesome how they gathered together Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Doc Holiday and other outlaws in one town to await going to Heaven or Hell.
Purgatory is a highly-entertaining supernatural/western thriller, in a genre that's rarely touched upon (see Ghost Town for another good example).
For someone who has watched (and tried to like) various westerns, I have found "Purgatory" to be THE BEST westerns (if not MOVIE!!!) I have seen in a long time.
Acting is extremely important in such movies, and most actors are quite good; sole real mistake, the casting of Randy Quaid (an otherwise honorable actor) as Doc Holiday who - since John Ford's 'My Darling Clementine'- is known to have been consumptive..
Donny Wahlberg  was most remarkable in 'The Sixth Sense ' , shot around the same time as 'Purgatory '; but here, he looks plumper, and accordingly  registers less effectively; but he is quite good in the gunfight.
A curiosity :  R.G. Armstrong, who  plays the small part of the coachman, is a real screen legend, with a career spanning upon 6 decades (he started in 1954, and was in 'The Walking', shot in 2001); because of his craggy face, strong build, and forceful personality, he played mostly Western (he was in 4 Sam Peckinpah films) and thrillers.
SOme of these inhabitants have names like Doc Holliday and Billy the Kid.TYo say more is to spoil the plot of this challenging movie that uses US Western mythology to examine beliefs about life and death.
Sam Shepard plays his role as the Sheriff/Wild Bill Hickok very well, however we perceive the real one to have been, we like him as the leader of a group of outlaws who have to learn from their past and make good this time round..
Sam Shepherd is very good, and Eric Roberts too, but Randy Quaid was a little bit disappointing, and Donnie Wahlberg, too.
This one caught my attention because horror and western are my two favorite film genres, and it's not every day you encounter a movie that falls into both categories.
Imagine what a wedding between "Bonanza" and "The Twilight Zone" would look like and you suddenly got a good idea what to expect of "Purgatory".
Following a bank robbery gone wrong and a severe sandstorm, the notorious outlaw Blackjack Britton and his large group of rovers arrive in a remote little town called Refuge.
Eric Roberts hasn't played such a good role since the early 1990's and it's always a joy to look at Peter Stormare, Randy Quaid and John Dennis Johnston.
I was hoping for director Uli Edel to emphasize a little more on the potentially great horror aspects in the story, but we still ended up seeing a competent western, so no complaints here..
no sex/no gut wrenching gore a movie for all the family and a cracking good story line good triumphs over evil and the guy gets his woman a very pleasant offbeat western yarn well worth anybodys viewing time.
A tough bunch of outlaws ride into a town named Purgatory, an idyllic garden spot in the middle of the desert, not realizing that Purgatory is not of earth and not knowing the lawmen they face are the greatest gunmen who ever lived trying to save their souls from hell by living according to the standards of Purgatory.The citizens of Purgatory are being given a second chance now that they know there is life after death.
RELEASED TO TV IN 1999 and directed by Uli Edel, "Purgatory" chronicles events circa 1888 when a gang of outlaws led by Blackjack Britton (Eric Roberts) holds up in a mysterious hidden town called Refuge where the inhabitants seem overly gracious and pacifistic.
The town of Refuge isn't just for outlaws; it's the "last chance" for the "marginally good," as phrased in the movie; it evens says something like the inhabitants were plucked from the incorrigibly wicked.
Some contend that James deserved immediate damnation because he was a notorious bank/train robber, but the movie implies that he was corrupted by the Civil War during his developing years which involved the bloody guerrilla warfare in Missouri/Kansas and therefore he is given a "last chance" in Refuge .As for the dubious chronology, Holliday might have been a relatively recent arrival and therefore the reference to "10 years" in regards to Hickok's death actually meant "about 10 years." So the events could be taking place in 1888 or even 1889.The movie suggests that Sonny was read-up on famous Western figures and so recognized clues to their real identities.
In other words, it wasn't like he instantly recognized these individuals and was 100% sure of their semi-infamous identities based on dime-store novels.Lastly, some complain that the movie supports the questionable idea that shooting people makes you a candidate for eternal life.
Purgatory is a western about a gang of outlaws that,running away from the possey,find themselves in a city called Refuge.
So,there you can find legends like Doc Holiday,Jesse James,Wild Bill Hickok or even Billy the Kid. Outlaws doesn't have a clue about what's coming down...
What is wrong with a change once in while?If you are looking for something different than other modern westerns, like the hero getting the girl and only the bad guys die, skip 'Purgatory'.
If, however, you want a very well directed action/western film, with a remarkable cast, watch this movie.
Randy Quaid, in a disappointingly serious role, was relegated to a second string supporting actor, while Sam Shepperd (Forest) played a believable Sheriff trying to the right thing in a bad situation.As I was watching this film, I kept thinking of "The Quick and The Dead" and half-expecting Sharon Stone to appear as a recently-deceased gun-slinger.
No special effects are necessary for me, just a great story.I felt the same way about this movie as I did about the first "Angels in the Outfield."  That gives you an idea about what movies I really like.The plot outline tells you that this town, which the people call Refuge, is actually the place where it is determined whether you are to go to heaven or hell.
It's a place where people who have done bad in life, but are "marginally good" have a last chance to avoid the worst of the afterlife.*****THE NEXT PARAGRAPH MIGHT BE A SPOILER BECAUSE IT TELLS OF AN EVENT VERY NEAR THE END OF THE MOVIE.
Near the end of the movie, and against this town's peaceful sheriff's desires, he is forced to use his guns.
Wild Bill Hickok, referred to as "The Prince of Pistoleers" by journalists, was one of the best shooters in history and this movie's portrayal of the actual, but unusual and little known way he wore his guns made Purgatory all the more interesting for me..
In this case, a quartet of deceased historical Western figures decides to stand up for their town after being challenged by a still alive member of the Blackjack Britton gang.The way the story unfolds is what makes it so unique.
The way it's all revealed though is with a keen focus on where the story needs to go if the spiritual angle is to be made believable.I can think of one improvement I would have made when it came to the inevitable showdown between the good guys and the Britton gang.
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.
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.
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.
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..
This film starts out with a band of desperadoes led by "Blackjack Britton" (Eric Roberts) who decide to rob the bank in a town called "Sweetwater".
I found this movie rather entertaining really...while mostly laid back in style, it has enough action and story to keep your attention all the way through...Something else it has is mystery and a healthy amount of surrealism too...when I watched it the first time years ago, I liked it because it didn't throw wild west cliche's at you all through it, but mixed in quite a bit of mysterious religion as well...After watching it for a second time, it became clear that the movie has a soul...No, it isn't a blockbuster, but it fills you with a warmth, strangely enough, that leaves you satisfied at the end....
Also Wild Bill Hickok (Forest) was killed in 1876 by Jack McCall and since Doc Holliday died in 1887 that means the story takes place in at least 1887 which means "Forest" was in Refuge at least 11 years and they actually said in the movie that if they stay in Refuge for 10 years and don't drink, touch a gun, even go into the saloon, or pretty much any other sin they would go to Heaven.
Then goes into the one shop, the others get the rest of the gang, and then you hear a shot for the shop and the first time I saw the movie I thought they actually got Billy.
Disobeying the rules of Refuge for a good reason!I believe this story is where you get a last chance to get it straight to go to Heaven or go to Hell !.
On the surface it is about former Gunslingers '" Wild" Bill Hickok, 'Billy The Kid', Jessie James, and 'Doc' Holliday living in a town called Refuge (which is really Purgatory) which lies between Heaven and Hell, waiting until the time The Lord calls them home ( to Heaven)., but in between then they must live on the straight and narrow, otherwise it is Hell.
The gang ends up in a town called Refuge and Sonny meets Rose, and falls in love with her.
Once in a while, it's a pleasure to watch an un-nuanced story where the bad guys and the good guys both get what's coming to them.