Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns Page 8

  Blood II: The Chosen

  [Video Game; SFW]

  Release date: October 1998; Voice Cast: Stephan Weyte as Caleb, Jason Hall as The Voice, Lani Minella as Ophelia/Gabriella, Mike Shapiro as Ishmael, Ted D'Arms as Gideon; Perspective: Concept: Jay Wilson; Executive producer: Jace Hall; First-Person; Developer: Monolith Productions, Inc.; Platform: PC, Windows; Publisher: GT Interactive Software Corp.

  Sequel to Blood set in 2028, featuring the undead gunslinger Caleb who (together with Chosen members Ophelia, Ishmael and Gabriella) attempts to regain leadership of the Cabal which has morphed into a global mega-corporation.

  The game is divided into four chapters and includes the extreme graphic violence of its predecessor.

  BloodRayne II: Deliverance

  (2007) [Film; Canada/Germany; WW]

  Premiere: September 18, 2007; Main Cast: Natassia Malthe as Rayne, Zack Ward as Billy the Kid, Michael Paré as Pat Garrett; Producers: Dan Clarke, Shawn Williamson; Screenplay: Christopher Donaldson, Neil Every; Story: Masaji Takei; Director: Uwe Boll; 99 min.; Brightlight Pictures; Color.

  Billy the Kid and his vampire gang terrorize the town of Deliverance until female vampire hunter Rayne arrives. This poor vampire Western based on the video game character was released direct to video.

  Bloodstone: A Jon Shannow Adventure

  [Novel; SW]

  Author: David Gemmell; First publication: New York: Random House, 1994.

  When a church is razed and its congregation slaughtered, the Jerusalem Man returns after an absence of twenty years to fight the evil Deacon and his Jerusalem Riders. But a deadlier foe awaits in another universe.

  See: The Last Guardian

  Bloodsuckers

  (2005) [Telefilm; Canada; SW]

  Air date: July 30, 2005; Main Cast: Joe Lando as Captain Nicholas Churchill, Natassia Malthe as Quintana, Dominic Zamprogna as Damian Underwood, A.J. Cook as Fiona, Aaron Pearl as Roman, Michael DeLuise as Gilles, Michael Ironside as Muco; Story-Director: Matthew Hastings; 99 min.; Daniel Grodnick Productions, Kandu Entertainment; Color.

  In the year 2210, vampires roam the galaxy. Anti-vampire sanitation teams are assigned to put an end to the menace. The Hieronymus Unit comprises of Captain Nicholas Churchill, half-human, half-vampire psychic Quintana, and second-in-command Damian Underwood. But vampire captain, Muco has set a trap for the Hieronymus crew that threatens the future of the galaxy.

  Aaron Pearl plays space-cowboy Roman in a graphically violent film that shows influences of writer-director Joss Whedon's Firefly. Discussing the film in a promotional featurette, actor Joe Lando declared, “It's like the Old West where around every corner there's something new and dangerous and exciting.”

  Bloody Ol' Muddy

  [RPG Book; WW]

  Author: Lee Garvin; First publication: 1999; Game: Deadlands: The Weird West; Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group.

  Strange events are occurring on the Mississippi with mysterious mounds stirring to life.

  Blue Bolt Weird Tales of Terror

  [Comic book]

  “THE THING IN THE PIT” [WW]

  First publication: #117 (February 1953); Story-Art: Jay Disbrow; Publisher: Star Publications.

  An ancient Indian curse brings to life a creature of darkness, evil and total destruction.

  Blueberry: L'Expérience Secrète

  (2004) [Film; France; WW]

  Premiere: February 11, 2004; Main Cast: Vincent Cassel as Mike Blueberry, Juliette Lewis as Maria Sullivan, Michael Madsen as Wallace Sebastian Blount, Ernest Borgnine as Rolling Star; Executive Producer: Jean-Michel Lacor; Story: Matt Alexander, Gérard Brach; Director: Jan Kounen; 124 min.; Columbia TriStar (U.S.); Color.

  Marshal Mike Blueberry encounters the man who murdered his first love in a search for hidden gold in sacred Indian tribal lands.

  Shamanism, mysticism and ancient spirits play a part in an often confused tale that isvery loosely based on the comic book series by Jean “Moebius” Giraud and Jean-Michael Charlier.

  See: Renegade

  Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders

  [Radio show; TV series; WMW]

  1. First broadcast: October 17, 1932; Main Cast: Richard Wanamaker as Bobby (Season One), Billy Halop as Bobby (Season Two), Herb Rice as Buck Mason (Season One), Wong Lee, Florence Halop as Polly, Craig McDonnell as Harka, Fred Dampier, Lorraine Pankow; Creator-Director: Herbert C. Rice; Stories: Herbert C. Rice, Peter Dixon; 700 (approx.) × 15 min; Broadcaster: CBS.

  The children's radio show about an orphan boy nicknamed “The Cowboy Kid” who inherits a ranch in Texas was originally broadcast on CBS as The H-Bar-O Rangers. It began in October 1932, with the first season consisting of 78 fifteen-minute episodes. When the final story aired in December 1936, the show had broadcast over 700 episodes. None have survived to the present day.

  The H-Bar-O ranch had originally been based on the sponsor Heckers H-O Cereals. Original creator Rice changed the ranch name to “Bar-B-B” when the cereal sponsorship was cancelled in 1936.

  2. First broadcast: November 25, 1949; Main Cast: Ivan Cury as Bobby Benson (1949-1951), Clyde Campbell [Clive Rice] as Bobby Benson (1951), Charles Irving as Tex Mason (1949-1951), Bob Haig as Tex Mason (1951); Don Knotts as Windy Wales, Craig McDonnell as Irish/Harka, Jim Bowles, Athena Lord, Ross Martin, Bill Zuckert, Earl George, Gil Mack; Stories: Jim Shean, Peter Dixon; Producer: Herbert C. Rice; Director: Bob Novak; 350 (approx.) × 30 min; Broadcaster: CBS.

  The show was re-launched in 1949. The B-Bar-B riders Irish, Harka, Waco and Windy Wales, foreman Tex Mason and Bobby Benson were featured in Weird Menace storylines including “Ghost Rider” and “The Headless Horseman.” A genuine Weird Western adventure broadcast (“The Face of Jebaco,” June 8, 1953) involved Bobby Benson, Tex, the Riders and Harka's Indian tribe in a life-threatening encounter with a giant demonic creature known as Jebaco.

  Only 17 episodes of the 30-minute series have survived. One episode of an Australian version from 1953 has survived; titled “The Ghost Rustlers,” it recounts how Bobby Benson inherited the Texas ranch.

  3. A series of five-minute radio shows was produced in 1952 featuring Clyde Campbell [Clive Rice] as Bobby Benson and country & western singer Tex Fletcher. Each singing a song while Windy Wales (Don Knotts) told a short story.

  4. Members of the radio cast appeared in two television shows based on the radio show. Ivan Cury starred as Bobby Benson in a live 30-minute show produced by WOR-TV at the New Amsterdam Theater and Channel 9 Studio.

  The second series from the 1950s featured a greatly reduced cast consisting of only Clyde Campbell [Clive Rice] as Bobby Benson alongside singer Tex Fletcher and comedian Paul Brown.

  Bobby Benson's B-Bar-B Riders

  [Comic book; WW]

  First issue: May-June 1950; Publisher: Magazine Enterprises, Parkway Publishing Company.

  The comic book adaptation of the radio series soon included Weird Western themes as the Lemonade Kid became involved in storylines involving a spider-man and giant insects. Dick Ayers' Ghost Rider joined the comic book starting with issue #13.

  “HEADHUNTER OF PIRATE'S PEAK” [WW]

  First publication: #14 (1952); Art: Dick Ayers; Publisher: Magazine Enterprises.

  This classic Weird Western, involving a madman decapitating his victims and stealing their heads, features cover and interior art by Dick Ayers.

  Cover of Bobby Benson's B-Bar-B Riders #14 (1952). Cover art: Dick Ayers. © 2009 AC Comics/Nightveil Media, Inc. Used with permission.

  Bodas de fuego

  (1949) [Film; Mexico; WW]

  Premiere: April 24, 1951; Main Cast: Pedro Armendáriz as Rodolfo Carrera, Alicia Caro as Leonor Corrientes, Ramón Gay as Federico Losada, Alicia Grau as Marta, José Elías Moreno as Don Antonio, Alejandro Cobo as Dr. Mijares; Producer: César Santos Galindo; Story-Director Marco Aurelio Galindo; 87 min.; Cinematográfica Azteca; b/w.

  While a young girl recuperates at her uncle's hacienda with her boyfriend, she m
eets and falls in love with the enigmatic Rodolfo. Rodolfo's insane mother believes her son is a “beast” who may be responsible for the deaths of animals on the ranch.

  Despite her love for Rodolfo, Leonor decides to marry her boyfriend. A jealous and passionate Rodolfo takes her to his mountain cabin but her poor health and the stress results in her death. Rodolfo sets the cabin alight and willingly perishes in the fire.

  Thirty years later the fire refuses to be extinguished and continues to burn as a symbol of their everlasting love and passion.

  The Boise Horror

  [RPG Book; WW]

  Author: John Goff; Game: Deadlands: Hell on Earth; Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group.

  Boise, Idaho, the home of the Templars, is at the mercy of the monster known as the Boise Horror. The posse must stop the creature before it claims further victims and undermines faith in the Templars.

  Bonanza

  (1959) [TV series]

  Main Cast: Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright, Pernell Roberts as Adam Cartwright, Michael Landon as Joseph “Little Joe” Cartwright, Dan Blocker as Eric “Hoss” Cartwright.

  1. Adventures of the Cartwright family and life on the Ponderosa Ranch.

  “TWILIGHT TOWN” (5:04) [WW]

  Premiere: October 13, 1963; Guest Cast: Davey Davison as Louise Corman, Stacy Harris as Mr. Corman, Doris Dowling as Katie O'Brien, Walter Coy as Masterson; Producer: David Dortort; Story: Cy Chermak; Director: John Florea; 60 min.; NBC; Color.

  Ambushed in the desert, Little Joe Cartwright awakens in the bizarre town of Martinville and is asked to take the job of sheriff and stop local gunslinger Felix Matthews (Michael Milker). The cowardly nature of the townsfolk drives Little Joe to anger as he attempts to motivate them to protect themselves. But their actions begin to make sense when he learns of a curse that hangs over the town and its people. An interesting rare excursion into the Weird West for Little Joe Cartwright.

  “HOSS AND THE LEPRECHAUNS” (5:12) [WW]

  Premiere: December 22, 1963; Guest Cast: Sean McClory as Professor James Aloysius McCarthy, Roger Arroya as Bobby, Frank Delfino as Timothy, Clegg Hoyt as Dorsel; Producer: David Dortort; Story: Robert Barron; Director: John Florea; 60 min.; NBC; Color.

  Hoss is convinced he's on the trail of leprechauns after finding their hoard of buried gold dust. A comedy episode that touches on the weird.

  2. [Comic book]

  “A GHOST TOWN SPEAKS” [Text Story; WW]

  First published: Bonanza #9 (August 1964): Publisher: Gold Key.

  An interesting one-page story of a Ghost Town personified through the thoughts of a ghost.

  “THE WITCH'S CURSE” [Comic Strip; WMW]

  First published: Bonanza #21 (August 1966): Publisher: Gold Key.

  A woman is accused of being a witch and placing a curse on a wagon train's oxen. But the Cartwrights realize the cattle are suffering from anthrax and placing other cattle in greater danger than any witch's curse ever could.

  Bone Wars

  [Novel; SFW]

  Author: Brett Davis; First publication: Riverdale, NY: Baen, 1998

  Competing paleontologists dig Montana fossil beds in 1876 with little success but elsewhere a foreign bone digger has uncovered dinosaur bones that he wants taken off the planet. Aliens and Sitting Bull add to the science fiction Western mix.

  Based on real-life paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh.

  See: Two Tiny Claws

  Bonelli, Giovanni Luigi

  (1908-2001) [Comic book writer-publisher; Italy]

  Born in Milan, Italy, Bonelli is one of the most influential figures in Italian comics history. His first published work in 1926 was followed by employment at Editrice Vecchi S. A. in the 1930's. In 1939 he became publisher of L'Audace and created his most popular and enduring creation, Tex Willer, in 1948. His son Sergio eventually took over duties of his publishing house Bonelli which has been responsible for many Western “fumetto” series.

  Selected works: Il Giustiziere Del West (1947), Occhio Cupo (1948), Tex Willer (1948), Plutos (1949), I Tre Bill (1952), Yuma Kid (1953), El Kid (1956), Hondo (1956), Kociss (1957), Yado (1957).

  Book o' the Dead

  [RPG Book; WW]

  Author: Lester W. Smith; First publication: 1997; Game: Deadlands: The Weird West; Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group; Archetype series.

  The secrets of the undead Harrowed and the evil manitou who control them are revealed in this sourcebook. Includes the Harrowed adventure “The Dark Canyon.”

  Boomtowns!

  [RPG Book; WW]

  Authors: John Goff, Tony Lee, Lisa Smedman and Joseph Wolf, with Hal Mangold; First publication: 1999; Game: Deadlands: The Weird West; Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group.

  Guide for creating Boomtowns in the Weird West complete with miniature scale maps.

  Boos and Arrows

  (1954) [Animated short feature; WW]

  Premiere: October 15, 1954; Story: Izzy Klein; Animation: Myron Waldman, Gordon Whittier; Director: Seymour Kneitel; 6 min.; Famous Studios, Harvey Films Inc., Paramount Studios.

  Casper the Friendly Ghost befriends young Little Feather but frightens the Indian tribe who later name him Little White Cloud when he saves a baby from a vulture.

  Boos and Saddles

  (1953) [Animated short feature; WW]

  Premiere: December 25, 1953; Story: Larz Bourne; Animation: Myron Waldman, Larry Silverman; Director: Isadore Sparber; 6 min.; Famous Studios, Harvey Films Inc., Paramount Studios.

  Casper the Friendly Ghost enters Gun Gulch Saloon and spooks the local cowboys before making friends with the young Billy the Kid. Casper becomes sheriff of Gun Gulch after scaring outlaw Desert Dan out of his boots and into jail.

  Border Phantom

  (1937) [Film; WMW]

  Premiere: June 7, 1937; Main Cast: Bob Steele as Larry O'Day, Harley Wood as Barbara Hartwell, Don Barclay as Lucky Smith, Karl Hackett as Obed Young; Story: Fred Myton; Producer: A.W. Hackel; Director; Roy S. Luby; 60 min.; Supreme Pictures, Republic Pictures; b/w.

  With an ancient curse placed on a hacienda owned by Obed Young and shadows lurking in every corner, this Western about a woman (Wood) charged with the murder of her uncle occasionally ventures into horror Western themes.

  Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery

  [Comic book]

  Horror and mystery anthology title.

  “LEGEND OF THE TOTEM” [WW]

  First publication: #50 (October 1973); Story: Arnold Drake; Art: Jack Sparling; Publisher: Gold Key.

  “Do you see the horned bear on the totem pole? It's alive and watching!”

  Bounty Killer

  [Comic Book; WW]

  First publication: May 2006; Story: Michael Westerman; Art: Erfan Fajar, Donny Hadiwidjaja; Publisher: Americanime Productions.

  A mix of American and Manga styles with a hint of the supernatural in a Western featuring a bounty killer known as “BK” and his African sidekick.

  Brackett, Leigh

  (1915-1978) [Author]

  The “Queen of Space-Opera” was born in Los Angeles, California. Brackett's first short story, “Martian Quest,” and her later Eric John Stark series (1949-1976) were clearly influenced by Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Western genre.

  The year 1946 saw the publication of Lorelei of the Red Mists, a co-authored story with acclaimed science fantasy writer Ray Bradbury, and marriage to fellow science fiction author Edmond Hamilton. Brackett moved into film and television on a regular basis in the 1940s, contributing to various genres including Westerns, crime and suspense dramas (including work on Alfred Hitchcock's television series). Her final work before her death, the first draft for George Lucas' The Empire Strikes Back, won her a posthumous Hugo Award in 1981.

  Selected screenplays: The Vampire's Ghost with John K. Butler (1945); The Big Sleep with William Faulkner and Jules Furthman (1946); Rio Bravo with Jules Furthman and B.H. McCampbell (1959); Gold of the Seven Saints with Leonard Fr
eeman (1961); Hatari! with Harry Kurnitz (1962); El Dorado (1967); Rio Lobo with Burton Wohl (1970); The Long Goodbye, from Raymond Chandler's novel (1973); The Empire Strikes Back with Lawrence Kasdan (1979)

  Brainburners

  [RPG Book; WW]

  Author: Steve Long; First published: 1998; Game: Deadlands: Hell on Earth; Publisher: Pinnacle Entertainment Group.

  Recovering from their time on Banshee, the mentally scarred Sykers seek some well-earned rest in the Wasted West. But the Brainburners have other ideas.

  Brautigan, Richard

  (1935-1984) [Author]

  Born in Tacoma, Washington, Richard Gary Brautigan wrote twelve novels in his relatively short lifetime. He is best remembered today for Trout Fishing in America. Writing to his agent Robert P. Millson on February 15, 1967 Brautigan stated:

  ... I'm plotting a Western novel that I will write this year, I've always wanted to write a Western and so that's what I'm going to do. I think it will be an interesting novel and I will be starting work on it soon....

  The resulting novel was The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western which received mixed reviews.

  On September 14, 1984 Brautigan borrowed a handgun from a friend at a Japanese restaurant in San Francisco. He had been drinking heavily throughout the afternoon after bumping into his former wife Akiko. That evening he returned home and shot himself. His body wasn't discovered until some days later.