‘Terror on the Prairie’ Blazes Trail Outside Hollywood, Inc.
Daily Wire's indie western doesn't play politics, just bloody shoot 'em up
Few film sets can say they had a crew member wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” T-shirt like last October’s “Terror on the Prairie” shoot.
Then again, “Terror” isn’t a Hollywood production.
The Daily Wire feature, available exclusively on the conservative platform, stars an actress Disney fired for the flimsiest of reasons. The film’s outlaw? He produced a documentary excoriating government overreach in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riots.
Gina Carano famously got fired from “The Mandalorian” for inconvenient social media messages. “Justified” alum Nick Searcy bounces from mainstream fare to conservative content, pummeling progressives from his official Twitter feed.
Together, they’re the core of this indie western, one minus the woke theatrics too many modern films deploy. They still don’t incessantly talk politics between takes, conservative or otherwise.
This crew is all business.
Makeup whiz Jeff Dawn, he of the “Brandon” T-shirt, sent “Terror” producer Dallas Sonnier his resume when he first heard about the “Terror” project.
Said resume includes some of Hollywood’s biggest films, including “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Total Recall” and “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.”
Comedian Tyler Fischer, who plays the villainous Long Hair in the film, ran into sizable headwinds for being a white male prior to “Terror.”
His agency couldn’t find work for him based on his skin color, and they told him just that.
He even developed an informal support group of white actors who share how the industry consistently discriminates against them.
“I’m not going to get into Hollywood,” Fischer says of his mindset prior to joining the “Terror” team. “I was pre-canceled.”
Yet here he is, nursing a faux bloody arm and adding his presence to the film’s outlaw gang.
Sonnier, sporting a thick knit cap and near-permanent grin, takes a hands-on approach to his producing work. At one point he shows a just-wrapped stunt, captured on his smart phone, to set visitors. A horse rider is yanked, violently, off his steed during the clip.
Sonnier beams as he shows the sequence off, giddy with its “cool” factor. This is a man in his element.
The “Bone Tomahawk” producer points at the Montana earth later, joking how the crew covered up most, but not all, of the fake blood.
Sonnier is a stickler for practical FX on his sets. “No CGI blood, ever,” is his mantra.
RELATED: Nick Searcy: It’s time to Stand-Up to Hollywood Bullies
“Terror on the Prairie” doesn’t skimp on gun violence, whether it’s Carano’s Hattie McAllister defending her turf or Searcy and co. threatening her brood.
The “cold gun on set!” cry rings out, a standard comment on a safe film environment. The warning took on a whole new meaning coming weeks after Alec Baldwin accidentally shot director Joel Souza and DP Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust.” Souza recovered but Hutchins died from the gunshot.
No live rounds are allowed anywhere near the production, Sonnier’s team says.
The set atmosphere is purposeful but light. Some crew members dress up in decidedly un-western-like wear during Halloween week, blending seamlessly with their colleagues. Jokes bounce around the set, as does Sonnier and co-producer Amanda Presmyk. Both add their years of expertise to the cast and crew as needed.
Director Michael Polish (“The Astronaut Farmer”) is more reserved, a lean figure focusing on the tasks at hand.
Screenwriter Josiah Nelson is on set, too, describing “Terror” as “iconic” in nature, a story “that can fit into the western mythology.” He’s eager to explore the female heroine played by Carano, a city slicker trying to adjust to frontier life. It doesn’t help that her husband is away when a gang of outlaws come a calling.
“She’s not a gunfighter,” he notes, but given Carano’s action chops audiences know she’ll be a quick study on the subject.
Nelson shaped the story, in part, from the oral stories he heard growing up. His great-great-grandmother had to move from her Kansas home in the 1870s following a conflict between Native Americans and local cowboys.
He cites movies like “Hush” and “Don’t Look Now” as creative inspiration.
“Terror on the Prairie” lacks the budgetary heft of most Hollywood films. Much of the action takes place along a modest strip of Montana soil. Other scenes are shot in an existing western town set employed by other westerns.
The production team didn’t skimp where it counted, though.
Gun safety is on everyone’s mind during the shoot. A short but pivotal scene involving Native Americans found Team “Terror” using authentic garb made on a reservation to bring both authenticity and respect to the shoot.
Carano, who toured part of the country in an RV before starting the “Terror” shoot, leans hard into the film’s gritty nature.
“It’s always a good day when you can smash something,” she says with a grin.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This reporter is a contributor to The Daily Wire