Reverend Thadeous Sutton (Bill Shaw) and citizens have gathered for the hanging of Frank Clements, who curses the preacher and all of his family before he dies. A century later, that curse -- and the undead gang -- continue to haunt the preacher's grandson and his family. And when it comes to bad hombres who can't be killed again, things look pretty rough.

Directed by Alan Stewart from a script by Clay McBride (who wrote Look Who's Toxic, another movie Stewart was involved on) and James Desmarais, this film pits a Vietnam vet, a woman interested in the history of the Clements outlaws and the professor who is the grandson -- also played by Shaw -- of the preacher from the opening of the film.

Shot on the Western set and using cowboy actors from Texas Safari Ranch in Clifton, Texas, it's kind of weird that the bad guys look nothing like the cover and are killed with normal bullets, but hey -- it's a low budget regional horror movie that somehow got a video release and then was brought back for today's boutique video rediscovery market.

The actual blu ray is great, with extensive commentary that shows how a movie like this could be made and make money. The extra features are way more interesting than the actual film and allow me to recommend this, as there's a lot of great information within this release.

The other night my mate really wanted to watch a Western, but I insisted on watching a horror film. What do you do in that sort of situations? You search for a compromise and choose to watch a horror-western. Now, experience already taught me that these genre amalgamations are usually very substandard. "Ghost Riders" definitely confirms this unwritten rule. This obscure and righteously forgotten late 80's flick is indescribably dull, derivative and gore-free. The plot, as you can undoubtedly guess from the title, revolves on the vengeful return of an outlaw posse in ghostly format. In the late 1800's, they were lynched by an angry mob and now they are back to extract revenge on the descendants. I wish I got a nickel for each time I wrote this synopsis down in a user comment! I'd be rich by now! The ghost riders can only be killed with an antique shotgun that lies hidden underneath the bed of one of the descendants, but he lies half dead in an old cemetery throughout half of the movie. The screenplay is full of dull and completely irrelevant dialogs as well as completely gratuitous padding footage. There's even an extended scene following the hunting method of a spider that caught a mosquito in her net! If I wanted to see that, I would have switched to the National Geographic channel. There's absolutely no gore or gruesome make-up effects, since the ghosts use guns, and their costumes look like cheap leftovers from a thrift store. The only good thing I can write about "Ghost Riders" is that it caused me to have Johnny Cash's awesome song "Ghost Riders in the Sky" stuck in my head for several days already now. I suggest you listen to that on You Tube instead of seeking out this film.

"Ghost Riders" involves the ghosts of notorious Texas outlaw Frank Clements and his bloodthirsty gang,who return every 100 years as gunslinging ghouls to exact bloody revenge against the ancestors of the preacher who had them strung up in 1886.A Vietnam vet plus some teenagers are stalked by these ghostly cowboys.Fairly enjoyable horror western which owes a lot to "The Evil Dead" and "Rio Bravo".The acting is stiff and there is only a little bit of gore with some nasty looking gunshot wounds.Thankfully the action almost never lets up and the film is entertaining from start to finish.If you liked "Ghost Town" or "The Shadow of Chikara" give this one a chance.7 ghostly cowboys out of 10.