Stephen King Raves About Horror-Western Killing Faith — and Its First Scene Will Floor You
Horror master Stephen King enjoyed Killing Faith, a nod that could turbocharge the thriller’s buzz.
Stephen King has a new must-watch for anyone who lives on the border between horror and dusty Westerns. He hopped on Twitter to boost a movie called Killing Faith, and his take makes it sound like the kind of grim, left-field genre mashup that sneaks up on you.
What King said
"KILLING FAITH: A quasi-supernatural Western that has echoes of Cormac McCarthy. The first scene, involving a child and a horse, is an authentic shocker."
That was King on Twitter, and if he is flagging an opening scene with a horse as a gut punch, brace yourself.
The basics
- Cast: Guy Pearce (Alien: Covenant), DeWanda Wise (Jurassic World Dominion), Bill Pullman (Independence Day)
- Setting: 1849, out on the American frontier
- Premise: A formerly enslaved woman believes her daughter is possessed, because everything the girl touches dies. A physician, convinced it is a disease and not demons, joins them on a trek to find a faith healer.
- Vibe: Horror-Western hybrid with a quasi-supernatural edge and that McCarthy flavor of dust and doom
- Release: In theaters now
If that plot sounds like a road movie heading straight into a moral woodchipper, that is kind of the point. The mom is pushing into the supernatural for answers; the doctor is clinging to science; and the girl is a walking death sentence. That tension is the hook, and apparently the movie does not waste time making you squirm.
King has been in recommendation mode
He has been on a roll lately with shout-outs. After recovering from hip surgery, he caught up with Mike Flanagan's The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix and called it scary, propulsive, and sharply written. He even compared Flanagan's standing in horror to the kind of cultural footprint Quentin Tarantino has in cinema. In other words: high praise.
Meanwhile, more King is right around the corner
If you want fresh King material, IT: Welcome to Derry, a prequel to the recent IT movies, drops on October 25. Trailers are loaded with winks and nods for Constant Readers, so expect a scavenger hunt of Easter eggs.
Bottom line: Killing Faith is in theaters now, and it sounds like a bleak, unnerving ride. If King's calling out that opening horse scene, you might want to steel yourself before the lights go down.