Night of the Tommyknockers (2022) User Reviews

A bit of a muddled mess

[continuumx · 4/10 · 8 April 2023]

The movie opens with the Dirk Gang robbing a bank somewhere. One of them guts the bank manager because he's a psycho and likes to stab people I guess. They get away with the loot but a bounty hunter is on their trail and the brother of the murdered bank manager vows revenge. They decide to head to the town of...(Google)...the generically named town of Deer Creek because there's supposed to be gold there. They arrive in town to find it apparently deserted. Their plan to rob the bank fails because there's no one there to open the safe. They soon find some survivors holed up in the saloon and some monsters attack. They are supposed to be Tommyknockers but they bear pretty much no resemblance to the Tommyknockers of folklore.

This movie is all over the place. Some of the cast are veteran actors like Robert LaSordo while others seem like friends of the filmmakers that were given small parts. Some of the gore effects are passable and some are laughable. The monster costumes are not bad for a low budget movie but they aren't very good either. The story is really disjointed. There are little Western movie vignettes that don't really have much to do with anything. Characters appear only to get killed off almost immediately. Things just happen without a lot of rhyme or reason. At one point, a character has a revelation about the monsters that isn't really based on anything and makes no sense considering what they have been doing but is, of course, entirely correct. Things happen that leave you wondering why that didn't happen a while ago. The ending is really rushed.

The movie isn't terrible. I have certainly seen much worse Western horror movies. It's just kind of disjointed and meandering. There's a lot of stuff that seems to have been just thrown in to pad the run time or because Western movies have this.

Not a bad western but an average horror

[stuartbentley-90743 · 5/10 · 9 February 2024]

Tons of micro-budget westerns flood the DTV space yearly, most best left unseen, but sometimes worthwhile fare emerges. The itch for more horror-westerns led me to Night of the Tommyknockers. Not good but not a disaster; it's under 90 minutes and doesn't shy away from monster gore once the bandits-vs-lawmen first half leaves its outlaws in a gold-rush ghost town besieged by gnarled Descent rejects.

If you can accept the meager production values this kind of film must scrounge up today, then this is an overly-talky obviously-cheap yet still enjoyable creature feature. Just mind the acting; although even that in regard, the actual character dynamics were fun in spite of the bad-to-average performances but I got to grade on a curve considering how rare horror-westerns are, let alone ones as relatively focused and action-filled as this.

yikes

[duneplatinum · 1/10 · 28 November 2022]

Watched this film since the same team made another film with an actress I adore. She wasn't in this one, unfortunately. SHE would have elevated it, no doubt.

Man, was this worse than expected.

Script was all over the place. Lighting who? DAY/NIGHT? Light poured through windows when it was night outside.

Costumes were straight out of a high school performance of Oklahoma, along with the acting performances. Aside from the plethora of non-actors all whom paid for their few lines, the leads were all over the place. No one seemed to be in the same movie- tone ranged from over the top stage musical-like theatrics to barely-there performing. Tough to find any real substance in the muck.

Poorly done, movie bloopers!

[ktrev-87011 · 1/10 · 17 December 2022]

So I like catching bloopers in movies! This movie of course is set in the 1800's. There's a scene where they're in the dark and use a Dietz oil lantern WITH the Dietz decal on it!!! Ok oil lanterns didn't exist until 1935 and vinyl decals didn't exist until 1943! Their lines were poorly spoken and I mean poorly! I didn't care about the tommy knockers costumes also stupid looking! I only watched because I thought it might be related to Steven King's Tommy knockers like a prequel, boy was I wrong! I wonder if this is plagiarism? It is a b rated movie after all. It only cost about $4 to watch....

This Movie Blows!!!!

[alpha-77721 · 2/10 · 26 March 2023]

There are not a lot of scary westerns to choose from so I thought I would give it a try.

This was bad, I mean really bad.

Bad story, Very Bad Acting, Overall Bad Movie.

I have sat through bad movies (and I have seen my share) but I couldn't even watch this one to the end.

About halfway through the movie is about as far as I could watch.

The storyline had potential BUT the acting was truly that bad. It wasn't just one or two actors, but all of the actors were that bad. I was surprised that Tom Sizemore agreed to do this move.

If you choose to ignore this review and watch this movie, do not say that you were not warned!!

Worst low budget western movie, ever.

[wrightrebecca · 1/10 · 7 December 2022]

I don't understand why people gave it high scores. It had no real good content and terrible acting. I got bored and it was too predictable. The story was lame. Just a low budget, no suspense, not scary, kinda dumb movie. Not worth watching.

The tommyknockers acted like upright monkeys on a caffeine high! Lol Just dumb.

The acting of main character just walking all non chalant while bullets fly and talking so slow as a matter of fact kinda way. Nothing spectacular.

Other characters were acting to hard in scenes. Nothing special or likable.

I have seen other westerns that hands down have a remarkable story. This one will easily be forgotten or maybe not. Remarkably horrible movie.

Awful

[robertjberry-55128 · 1/10 · 7 April 2023]

There's "A", "B" and then this thing which is chock full of bad acting, horrible special effects and no direction. Bad lighting contributes as does the acting which is just pitiful. Watched 5 minutes and wish I could get this time back. Don't get me wrong, I'm all in for a good "B" movie but this looks like a bad grade school production. Some actors I recognize from 90's movies and I know have some talent. I guess they need the work but for this movie, I think they should have passed. The other "actors" seem to forget their lines at times. I'm certain queue cards were behind the camera. WHY did I try this!

Waste of time

[kirachloe · 2/10 · 5 April 2023]

Oh my, I can't believe I wasted my time on this. The intro was just PAINFUL ... I have seen better acting at the community playhouse downtown.

Then the meat of the movie started. I am not sure what was worse, the absolutely waste of a script, the poor timing of the directing, the even poorer camera work, or the even worse scene staging.

Sad too. It seemed a few of the actors actually had some talent and were hoping to make a go of it. And unlike many low budget films, this one actually sported more than just 4 people for the entirety of the movie. There were actually moments of good acting, but a VERY few bright spots can't make up for the rest of the problems.

Hope no one was hoping this film was gong to be their 'big break'.

Only took 30 seconds to get a rating.

[jay_louder · 1/10 · 27 March 2023]

I watched the 1st 30 seconds and knew this could be bad. Started out with some miners. It felt like what a high school play may look like on television. After that I thought to give it just a little longer. Nope. I got about 10 or so minutes in and knew what to expect. I am okay with a movie being so bad that it is good sometimes. This was not going to be that movie. Maybe this movie got better as it went but I will never find out. I have never watched an opening 10 minutes of a movie this bad in a long time. If you find it for free then check it out just so you see what I am saying. Otherwise, do not pay for this movie.

A fun and generally enjoyable Western/Horror hybrid

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 8/10 · 1 December 2022]

After participating in a bank robbery, a group of outlaws hides out in a remote town to decide their next move when they're suddenly confronted by a race of humanoid creatures known as Tommyknockers revived from a local gold mine and must band together with the remaining townsfolk to survive.

This was quite the fun and solid creature feature. One of the better elements of this one comes from the rather fun setup that gets this going rather nicely. The initial discovery of the creatures inside the mine through the accidental discovery of the gold supply stored there and being released through the excavation of the gold provides a decent enough explanation to have the creatures be released while also offering up enough of a reason for why no one knows anything about them. The secondary subplot involving the posse setting out to find the robbers who have control of the money from inside the bank and finding them in the same town where the creatures are decimating the local population offers quite an enjoyable starting point for this one. As well, there's also the rather fun creature action built up from this setup. With their humanoid stance and appearance, they look impressive enough without taking their claws and teeth which manage to allow the proper kind of graphic gore in the Action sequences. Those allow for a solid series of encounters in the various recesses of the town with a lot of sequences in the local bar or out on the streets of the town which offers some stellar scenes overall. The frantic final half, featuring a slew of different encounters within the town as the creatures launch an attack on the townspeople while they race to get the creatures stopped gives this several solid action scenes in the mine which combine to give this a lot to like. There's not much to dislike here but it does have some minor issues. The main drawback with this one is a rather underwhelming middle half where it tends to stumble around to several different sidestories without doing much of anything with the main characters. Since it introduces a slew of characters in the residents of the old town that got robbed, the series of characters on their trailer to stop them, and then the resident of the new town they arrive at, everything tends to be dropped to a standstill that halts the momentum of the film quite early on. There's also the issue of what we know about the creatures being quite limited even though that's clearly not that important due to no real reason who would know anything about them but can be seen as something holding it back for some.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Bried Nudity, and a sex scene.

A Decent Indie Western/Horror

[robertkennedy-11798 · 6/10 · 18 April 2023]

A nice addition to the western/horror genre. The Mahal Brothers make great looking Indie films when compared to most, and they are usually a fun watch. "Night..." continues that trend. An interesting story, quality sound, and great looking creatures. I'm sure people will have issues with the lighting consistency, but for me it wasn't an issue because we can actually see what is happening as opposed to the usual pitch black screen in most horror movies. The acting performances were hit or miss which is par for the course in Indie films. Again, not an issue for me. Angela Cole owns this movie hands down. She's fantastic. Richard Grieco, Denny Nolan, and Shawn C Phillips were standouts for me as well. If you dig Indie Horror, give it a try.

Excellent Low Budget Indie Western Horror

[skinnerramone · 8/10 · 25 November 2022]

I can unequivocally say Night of the Tommyknockers is Mahal Empire's greatest movie to date. I say that as someone who really enjoyed their previous outings, including Party Bus to Hell, Attack of the Unknown, Death Count, and Bridge of the Doomed.

There is a real dearth of Western-Horror movies but Night of the Tommyknockers is a quality addition to the genre. It has a real western feel, but it doesn't skimp on the horror. Fans of the genre will be very pleased with the result.

Robert LaSardo (CSI Miami) and Richard Grieco (21 Jump Street) put in outstanding performances as outlaw bank robbers while Hollywood legend Tom Sizemore (Blackhawk Down, Heat, Natural Born Killers) shines as the local lawman. Shout out to Indie Horror staple Shawn C Phillips for his great performance in Tommyknockers. Always love seeing Shawn show up when we're watching a movie.

The practical effects in Tommyknockers are top notch. The creatures look fantastic. Mahal Empire movies have higher budgets than your average indie horror movies, and it shows. Most of the action takes place at night, but this movie is well lit and you can always see what is happening. Too often lately movies are so dark it's impossible to follow what is going on, Tommyknockers does not make this mistake. The sound mixing is excellent, and volume levels are consistent, I find too often with Indie Horror I'm always adjusting the volume but again, Mahal Empire movies have more of a big budget feel and are very well polished when it comes to lighting and sound. Director Michael Su (Death Count, Bridge of the Doomed) really outdoes himself with Night of the Tommyknockers, which I think is his best effort to date.

If you like western movies and horror, you'll definitely want to check out Night of the Tommyknockers!

The Descent, Part 3

[gressman07 · 7/10 · 22 March 2023]

The prequel to The Descent I've been wanting for years! Not really but it could actually serve just as well. To be honest that's largely if not entirely my reason leaving a review.

Enjoyable western horror/action/comedy thing, I was going to give it a personal rating of 6, which I'd say is an accurate rating with a +1 personal bias for being the unofficial Descent prequel I'll never otherwise get.

Fits into the relatively unexplored western horror territory along with The Burrowers and Bone Tomahawk, this likely being weakest and definitely least serious of the 3 but still a good time.

PS 600.

One Surprise After Another!

[ajdrej · 10/10 · 28 November 2022]

I saw this movie a couple of days ago, and, I have to say it's full of surprises. The plot, the music, and, the scenery in this one is spectacular. Every character is so interesting---this movie takes place in the 1870's, so, that makes things way more complex. Don't be so quick to judge the characters, surviving in the wild wild west was hard even without those Tommyknockers. And...it's not just one plot....there's about 5 plots going on. I give a shout out to Angela Cole's stellar performance as Betsy! It's just one surprise after another--I enjoyed the ride watching this one...you will too!

Western Horror done Rite

[shagee7977 · 10/10 · 25 November 2022]

It's always exciting when I get a screener from The Mahal brothers for a review. Yeah it's a honor and thrill. When I saw it was "Night of the Tommyknockers" I was beyond excited.

One of my favorite directors Michael Su of the genre,takes the helm. After seeing him do such a great job with "Death Count" I couldn't wait to get this going.

This is the old west like you never saw before. You have the good guys, the bad guys and ancient monsters in the mix. It opens up with a group of miners blasting in mines searching for gold. One of the miners respecting legends with Irish descent tells of the leprechauns and there gold then speak of the legendary Tommyknockers. He claims this blasting will release the monsters and take back there gold if stolen from them. Not fearing these creatures the miners are blinded by the gold but soon violently meet there deaths and release these creatures. The little town of Deer Creek, Nevada are terrorized by not only these creatures but also a fleeing gang are set in robbing the town bank. We also have legendary Tom Sizemore play Marshall Steed, thrown in to make things even more exciting.

Beautifully directed from a very well Written story. The movie grasps you by the neck from the claustrophobic opening and excellent set up to an explosive satisfying end.

The pairing up of Bj Mezek and Jessica Morris is really great casting. They really worked off each other and made a great team of all the craziness. They were so fun and believable would love to see there saga continue.

But not to be forgotten and equally paired on the other side of the law is Richard Grieco and Angela Cole. Angela Cole is a little firecracker and can have sale her own among the ruthless robbers led by Grieco. Along with Robert Lasardo as a character named Lucky. Once again his craziness scores big fun. Greed and double crossing are often disturbed by our creepy creatures from hell. With the three main storylines set up we just can't help but sit back and turn up the sound and enjoy a well made fun western/Horror. You never actually know what path this movie will take and she ends you want more. The creatures are truly horrifying and the make up and whole set up of the Tommyknockers are horrorific.

Now let's not forget this is a horror movie and you will not be disappointed with the good ole fashioned splatter effects and even an intestine ripping scene. Great job to Vincent Guastini and his team of magic makers. We have a good ole fashion monster movie with great looking creatures.

All this is made even more magical by great music by Scott Glasgow. His score completed this movie.

Another win from The Mahal Empire and totally recommend.

Enjoyable western horror

[LazyLobbyist · 8/10 · 24 December 2022]

I love westerns and I love horror movies, so I was excited about seeing this movie.

Of course, being a big fan of westerns, I'm picky about them. Too many modern day westerns miss the old school look and feel of the classics. They try too hard to be modern.

This movie captures that old school feel. The costumes are great, the scenery is on-point, and the characters have that "good/bad" feel about them - they aren't perfect, just like real people.

Richard Grieco does a wonderful job - he should do more westerns!

As for the horror aspect: it's a horror movie, so there are monsters, blood, deaths, and - of course - plenty of fun moments.

This movie looks a LOT better than its budget would imply.

Forget the "1" scores. This is a solid 8.

An interesting western film for 2022

[jenson_c-26140 · 9/10 · 20 January 2023]

NIGHT OF THE TOMMYKNOCKERS opens with a group of miners who've dug too deep. They are attacked by creatures known as "tommyknockers" (a creature found in American folklore, but not like this!). Meanwhile, an outlaw group known as the "Dirk gang" plans a bank heist. The heist turns into a siege as the escaped tommyknockers wreak havoc on the town until they get their gold back. Night Of The Tommyknockers is a good bit of genre-blending fun to close out 2022. If you're a fan of the classic western but you want something new thrown into the mix, Mahal Empire Productions have got you covered with this one (think Feast meets Potter's ground)