Back in the day, there were a clear line drawn in the dirt. On one side, the good stood tall. On the other, the bad tried their best to be wicked. Both sides rode horses, but let's just say they rode in different directions. Wes Miller's Hell on the Border is a throwback to that era: the Western era.
This month, movie audiences got their first look at Miller's upcoming film, starring Frank Grillo, Ron Perlman, and David Gyasi. The film follows Bass Reeves (Gyasi), the first African American deputy U.S. Marshal, who ran down 3,000 felons, killing 14 of them. A good man who wouldn't hesitate to draw his gun to protect, Reeves reigned the west of The Mississippi River. A true defining moment in the laws of justice.
Reeves' greatest battle came against Bob Dozier (Grillo), a farmer turned outlaw who stole whatever he wanted and killed anyone who stood in his path. If you had land, he wanted it, along with your horse and money. He was the devilish kind of bad, a man who crossed the line because he wanted to.
The sneak peek, revealed on Grillo's Instagram page, begins with a group of lawmen sneaking up on a small cabin in the woods, where Dozier is laying in a bed. When a series of gun shots go off, only Dozier is left standing. Right away, the trailer shows you the menace that the protagonist, Reeves, is dealing with.
Through an action-packed montage set to a hard rock anthem, we see more cuts and slices of Reeves and Dozier circling each other, along with fleeting images of other characters played by Perlman and Fleming. We see a head in a box with a badge on it, Dozier standing tall in front of his men, and Gyasi's swagger on display as Reeves.
According to Legends of America, Reeves felt the pursuit of Dozier, a ruthless man who didn't flinch at any brand of authority, to be his proudest moment. For Reeves, it was affirmation that the good can stand toe to toe with the bad.
For Grillo, it's another challenging and fulfilling role that exhibits his desire to show himself in a new light to fans. Following his villainous turn in February's Donnybrook, Grillo here plays the "baddest mofo west of the Mississippi," according to the actor.
What you have here is a bad to the bone outlaw going up against a firm yet fair lawman. Miller (Atone, River Runs Red) specializes in these pulpy slices of Americana violence, bringing in the viewer in close for the real deal.
While Hell on the Border doesn't have an official release date, I'd safely assume you'll get it before the end of the year. If you are tired of superheroes in tights, take a ride back to the Wild West with Miller and company.
In other Grillo news, RDJE picked up his action thriller, Into the Ashes. The film will come out on July 19, in theaters and on demand. It co-stars Luke Grimes, Robert Taylor, and James Badge Dale. From the looks of it, Grillo is playing another hard-to-trust yet easy to watch character. Along with Border and August's Boss Level, this is indeed the summer to Grillo Up.
I'll see you at the movies.
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