There is an odd juxtaposition at the heart of Legend of Hawes, the latest from one-man production line Rene Perez; this is the 28th film in barely a dozen years from the writer, director, cinematographer, composer and, we assume, caterer. With a running time of 75 minutes, Perez has made a film that feels both underdone and tediously long, with the bland central characters delivering languid sections of heartfelt exposition to each other while partaking in some heavily scored, admittedly scenic wandering.
The plot itself is a rather thin and familiar affair: a homestead is attacked by marauders; the survivor employs a drunken gunslinger to exact revenge. Think True Grit meets The Hills Have Eyes and you’re moseying into the right territory. And the marauders themselves are rather interesting foes, attired as they are like Leatherface impersonators on Halloween night, growling like a rabid King Kong. But their presence is largely wasted, these almost supernatural beings too easily dispatched and their malevolence inconsistent; sometimes they murder, sometimes they kidnap and murder, and sometimes they just horde women and children for no perceived purpose.
It all feels a little rushed; a selection of reasonably well-made and bloody – whatever budget existed has predominantly been spent on plenty of gory effects – encounters connected by a wafer-thin message-laden narrative extolling the virtues of religion and how faith will overcome evil. It’s fine, mildly interesting late-night festival fare. But you wonder what could have been had Perez perhaps spent a little more time in pre-production and on that script. There’s something interesting here, it’s just hidden beneath a disappointing veil of mediocrity.
Legend Of Hawes is released on November 11th.
