Cowboys Face Off With Witches in Strange Dalton Gang Romp ‘The Pale Door’

Alci Rengifo

“The Pale Door” is all geek fest. It’s an entry in that genre tailored for midnight movie status, the horror western. Little concern does it have for depth, or even historical accuracy, it just wants to pit some cowboys against evil witches. A movie like this feels more like a set of ideas the filmmakers just threw at the wall like paint. Actor Devin Druid, who plays the movie’s innocent, virginal lead, was pulled in precisely by sheer premise alone. “I got the email with the log line and I just saw, ‘cowboys with witches,’ and that was all I needed. I was in,” he told Entertainment Voice.

The “Thirteen Reasons Why” star plays Jake, the youngest of the Dalton gang. Yes, the famous Dalton gang of Old West lore. Jake tends to live under the shadow of his older brother, Duncan (Zachary Knighton), the de facto leader of the crew. He’s the kind of older criminal who wishes his brother won’t get into the family business. The rest of the Dalton gang includes Truman (Noah Segan), Lester (Stan Shaw), Dodd (Bill Sage), and Brenda (Tina Parker). Because it is the Daltons, they plan to rob a train carrying what should be a pricey trunk. During the robbery Duncan is seriously injured and the trunk turns out to be carrying Pearl (Natasha Bassett). She offers to guide the gang to a nearby town where Duncan can see the local doctor. Pearl takes them to what amounts to a brothel, run by Maria (Melora Walters). While Jake tries to care for Duncan, it soon becomes apparent the lush vixens at this establishment are actually witches, serving dark powers and in need of a pure blooded victim.

Director Aaron B. Koontz makes “The Pale Door” with the spirit of a trashy, low-budget macho grindhouse. At times the movie feels as if it’s slipping out of its own genre, with whacky dialogue out of place for the 1800s and ghastly witch makeup out of early Sam Raimi films. “I liked the way the script was written where the antagonist of the movie is this coven of witches, but the movie was about underestimating their strength. There’s an actual story and narrative behind it. I love horror. I think we’re in a really cool moment of horror, where you’ve got inventive and innovative filmmakers using it,” said Druid.  

While the Dalton gang are all essentially archetypes carried over from other westerns, Jake stands out as the innocent, nice member of the gang unaccustomed to all this violence. Druid tells us, “No matter the time frame, the story of humans and people trying to find themselves and take care of one another is something we can empathize with. That was my approach, thinking of it less as cowboys. It’s more about this boy trying to find himself and learn to take care of himself and how this plays along with this group of characters. Most of the actual period prep work comes with the amazing sets and awesome costume and wardrobe. It’s also about just making sure with my script supervisor that I’m not just saying ‘like’ with every other word (laughs).” 

“The Pale Door” has the grindhouse tradition of also posing as a buddy movie, with an assortment of colorful characters making up the Dalton gang. Duncan is the alpha leader playing dad to Jake, and someone like Brenda is the token pistol-packing female member of the gang. “It was definitely interesting. I was the youngest cast member, which is something that I’m used to. I tend to be the baby on set a lot. But characters also get killed off in the movie, no spoilers, but actors then get to go home and the numbers start to dwindle. We did a lot of night shoots, so there was mostly sleeping all day and working through most of the night. There wasn’t much palling around or catching up. The vibe on set was kind of like the Dalton gang, where Jake is the younger one and the others are like aunts and uncles who kinda pick on you and laugh,” said Druid.  

Don’t forget this is a horror film after all. By the third act the brothel denizens all turn out to be witches, shedding their alluring surface look for gruesome specters. By the end it’s a clash to the death between the outlaws and the “servants of evil,” one of which we see getting burned at the stake two centuries earlier in Salem. Koontz has no shame in having a charred witch transform mid-copulation with a Dalton and screech, “I thought daddy likes it dirty!” But even within pure goofiness, an actor can tap into reservoirs of fear. Druid is in a film where ghouls start popping out at any given moment, which is far from ideal for his type of mood. “There are a lot of things that can scare me. One of the ones I really brought into this film to channel through Jake is this idea that he wants to be able to protect his family and those he cares about. He doesn’t just want to stand by while all this horror happens. Personally, a lot of things can make me anxious and scared, like unpredictability. I’m a type A, militaristic person, I like to have structure and a plan. I like to know the timing of when x is going to happen. I don’t love unpredictability, I don’t love spontaneity,” said Druid. 

“The Pale Door” releases Aug. 21 on VOD.