Not that long ago, it seemed like the Western genre was all but dead. But like a revenant, it has risen from Boot Hill and must be gunned down like some unliving horror.

At least that’s the direction the traditional Western seems to be heading: take some gunslingers and pit them against the supernatural.  The latest flick to slap leather for a showdown with villains from beyond the grave is High Midnight, which Mary Lambert will direct for ThinkFilm.  Lambert knows a thing or two about nasty things returning from the afterlife, having previously helmed both Pet Sematary movies. 

The story from neophyte Denis Faye follows a haggard sheriff who joins a kooky vampire hunter to halt a dastardly army of undead at a New Mexico frontier town.  Considering the budget’s around $5 million, we probably shouldn’t expect any A-list stars, but that’s more than enough to afford some familiar genre faces.  They won’t be alone, however – High Midnight (them vamps hate sunlight, see) joins a posse of movie projects that feature Old West deputies and desperadoes battling various zombies, vampires, monsters or extraterrestrials.

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