Oblivion (1994) is a terrible movie. And it technically takes place in the future, which I try not to include as Weird Westerns or else the definition of "Western" becomes a bit vague (I believe Space Western is a separate genre). But this really is just a Western with aliens (they don't go into space), so I'm including it.

Also, this movie has George Takei, and the writers really took advantage of that. They gave him lines like "Jim, Beam me up" while drinking Jim Beam, and "great Scotty!" when surprised. I guess he really needed a paycheck in 1994.

Here's a trailer, but honestly, I wouldn't recommend watching the actual movie. RiffTrax (the guys behind Mystery Science Theater 3000) made their own audio commentary for this movie which makes it bearable. Plus that's the version available on streaming. You can watch the RiffTrax version of Oblivion on Tubi and Pluto. I should mention there's somehow a sequel to Oblivion, called Oblivion: Backlash which also has RiffTrax versions on Tubi and Pluto.

When I watched the trailer Netflix had for RIPD 2, it just showed a clip of the main character in limbo where the RIPD is explained to him. So I just assumed it'd be like the first RIPD where even though Jeff Bridges plays a gunslinger, the movie actually takes place in the modern day. And I ignored this movie. It's not like the original RIPD was any good, why would a low-budget sequel be better?

But, I finally decided to watch RIPD2 and it's totally a Weird Western. The entire movie takes place in the wild west and they're hunting down demons that escaped hell. Here's a trailer that actually shows the movie and not just a single scene like Netflix showed me.

Of course, just because this movie is a Weird Western doesn't mean it's a good movie. Actually, if you look at the other movies I've mentioned in this community, they're almost exclusively bad movies. And this is another dumb one. It's mostly the lame jokes that irritate me. Also, personally, I don't think there were enough "weird" parts in the movie. They're hunting down demons but there actually aren't too many special effects until the last act. So that's disappointing too.

If you're willing to try it, the movie is still available to watch on Netflix. And maybe Apple TV+.

This movie is from 2020 yet I've never heard of it. And it looks like it perfectly fits my definition of a Weird West too. I have no idea if this movie is any good but I still wanted to share. It looks like it's streaming on Hoopla and Shudder if you have either of those.

This is a VR-only game so I haven't tried it but the trailer makes it look like a Weird West game for anyone interested. There's also a demo available during Steam Next Fest.

I'll be honest with you, I don't play D&D and don't fully understand if this new class is "official" in any way. I just like the artwork and the name Spellslinger so I figured I'd post it here.

https://www.dmsguild.com/product/482150/Pandemonium-Spellslinger--DD-5e-Sorcerer-Subclass

Still my favorite book of all time. Plenty of mystical and crazy in the 1850s southwest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Meridian

>Blood Meridian; or, The Evening Redness in the West is a 1985 epic historical novel by American author Cormac McCarthy, classified under the Western, or sometimes the anti-Western, genre.[1][2] McCarthy's fifth book, it was published by Random House.

>Set in the American frontier with a loose historical context, the narrative follows a fictional teenager from Tennessee referred to as "the kid", with the bulk of the text devoted to his experiences with the Glanton gang, a historical group of scalp hunters who massacred American Indians and others in the United States–Mexico borderlands from 1849 to 1850 for bounty, sadistic pleasure, and eventually out of nihilistic habit. The role of antagonist is gradually filled by Judge Holden, a physically massive, highly educated, preternaturally skilled member of the gang with pale and hairless skin who takes extreme sadistic pleasure in the destruction and domination of whatever he encounters, including children and docile animals.

>Although the novel initially received lukewarm critical and commercial reception, it has since become highly acclaimed and is widely recognized as McCarthy's magnum opus and one of the greatest American novels of all time.[3] Some have labelled it the Great American Novel.[4] After multiple unsuccessful attempts to adapt the novel into a film, New Regency is currently set to produce a feature film based on the novel.

Ninjas wouldn't usually be considered "weird" enough for a Weird Western but this is a highly-stylized movie where the ninjas can basically fly. They might as well be mythical creatures given how ridiculously they're portrayed here.

Of course, like most movies I've mentioned here, this isn't a good movie. So lower any expectations. It takes a while to get started and basically the first half of the movie is "slice of life" as the main character settles into his new life. Also, there's something weird with the lighting where I can't tell if the entire movie was filmed on a sound stage or if all the backgrounds are cgi (probably both).

Here's a trailer. You can watch it on Amazon Prime, Tubi, Vudu, and Plex.

According to the synopsis, this game is a "Wild West-themed roguelite FPS" where you play as a "gunslinger in limbo, involved in a gritty war against "The Cartel", a ruthless organization harvesting souls to break free of the shackles of the afterlife." So that sounds like a Weird West to me!

Just from watching the video, I wasn't sure if it'd be a Weird West or not. Some of the architecture looks Western but other parts just look like ancient ruins. It's weird how the architecture is the deciding factor here, since there's also the game Witchfire which looks to have the same game mechanic of casting spells with a gun. But Witchfire definitely uses more European/Medieval architecture in their level design. So Witchfire doesn't appear to be a Weird Western to me. Yet given the synopsis for Soulslinger, I'll say that one is a Weird Western. It's weird where I draw the line.

Anyway, Soulslinger is in Early Access on Steam and Witchfire is in Early Access on the Epic Games Store.

In the pinned post on this community I said I was no expert on the genre and just a casual fan who wanted to share the few Weird West works I've found. I tried to drag this out as long as I could and keep the community active by only posting one thing each day but I've finally run out of things to post. You're still welcome to post here if you want, but I expect this community will just sit idle with no one actively trying to post content anymore.

I could try posting random things that almost kind of look Weird West, but I'd rather not. Otherwise, I'll end up posting things like Priest. Priest takes place in a cyberpunk future dominated by the Catholic church and under constant threat of vampire attacks. But if you leave the cyberpunk city, suddenly it's the Wild West. There's no explanation given as to why everyone dresses and talks like it's the Wild West as soon as you leave the futuristic cyberpunk city. But Karl Urban plays the villain, a vampire named Black Hat. So that's pretty great. ! It's a fun movie as long as you don't question anything. And it's a Weird West as long as you ignore all the cyberpunk stuff. See, that's the best I've got and it's a quite a stretch.

If I come across any other Weird West content I'll be sure to post it here, but I'm not going to force myself to come up with something every day. I just wanted to make this post to let everyone know this community is about to get a lot quieter. Thanks!

I know the poster makes it look animated, but this is a live action movie. It comes from the man behind the bands Misfits and Danzig. Which is to say, he's not a filmmaker. Or wasn't until recently. So even if you've set your expectations low, this sounds like a truly terrible movie.

I haven't seen it, but I found a review: > There isn’t really a story to be found in Death Rider in the House of Vampires; just a setup that allows a bunch of characters to interact. Sometimes there’s a shootout; sometimes vampires are turned to dust. > ... > There is no economy of storytelling here. Or ever. These opening ten minutes of screen time could easily be combined into three or four, and Death Rider would be better for it. It’s true throughout the film’s 90-minute runtime – there’s maybe an hour of material that’s been padded out

So I'd only recommend this to fans of Weird West who have a high tolerance for terrible movies. Here's a trailer. I can't find it streaming anywhere though.

...And another Weird Western I've never actually seen. Honestly, it looks a bit too silly for my tastes but it definitely falls within the category of modern day Weird West. Have any of you seen it? Is it worth watching?

Here's a trailer. You can watch it on Netflix, and I guess I could too!

Didn't see any posts about it in here yet so thought I'd share!

I mentioned in the pinned post on this community that once I start posting Weird West movies that take place in the modern day you'll know I'm starting to run out of ideas. Well, we've reached that point.

Ghost Town takes place in the modern day (of 1988, when the movie was made). It's about a girl who gets kidnapped by a bunch of zombies in an old west ghost town and only a modern-day sheriff can save her. I'll be honest with you, I've never seen this movie. I just came across it while looking for lists of Weird West movies and this looks right up my alley. I wish it was streaming somewhere.

Here's a trailer. And seriously, let me know if you find it streaming somewhere.

I may be limiting myself too much, but so far I've been defining Weird West as fiction that takes place in 1800s America and incorporates supernatural/fantasy elements. That is to say, I haven't been including any Space Westerns. What defines supernatural/fantasy may be a bit broad, but whether something takes place in 1800s America has been pretty easy to determine.

So I was trying to think of any anime I've seen that might qualify as Weird West. And yet all I can think of are actually futuristic anime that happen to look Western. GUNxSWORD, Cannon Busters, and Trigun all look Western yet they all take place on some distant planet in the future. The closest thing I can find is Gun Frontier, which I'm pretty sure is just a straight-forward Western with no "Weird" elements (I haven't seen it).

Does anyone know of any Weird West anime? Or does all anime that takes place in a "Western" setting actually take place in the future? Given how much anime is out there, I have to assume some Weird West anime exists and I've just never heard of it.

Am I drawn to twin-stick shooters are are Weird West games just more likely to be twin-stick shooters? It's weird how many I've already mentioned here. Maybe it's just hard for me to find other Weird West games since the genre doesn't have its own tag on Steam.

Anyway, here's another one with very simple gameplay. It's one-hit kills for the enemies and one-hit kills for you. The entire game is just fending off an unending horde of enemies. Every time you defeat 50 enemies you get a boss fight. It's the perfect game for killing time on a Steam Deck.

Oddly enough, there's another game with the exact same game mechanics (and art style?) that takes place in a cyberpunk world, called Akane . I don't think they were developed by the same people but it's weird how the only real difference between the two games is the setting (cyberpunk vs weird west) and the primary weapon (sword vs gun). They even both have boss fights after 50 enemies are defeated. And I enjoy both games.

Here's a trailer. You can get it on Steam.

When I was thinking about starting this Lemmy community, I tried writing down every single Weird West work I'd seen, read, or played. In that list, I added Wild Wild West. But now that I think about it, I'm not sure if I'd call it a Weird Western.

Most Weird West works involve some sort of supernatural or fantasy element added to a Wild West setting. But does steampunk count as supernatural or fantasy? I mean, technically there weren't any giant steam-powered spiders in the Wild West but is that "weird" enough to qualify? The fact that it was steam-powered makes it harder for me to call it sci-fi. Besides, if I call Wild Wild West a Weird Western, does that mean Back to the Future Part 3 is a Weird Western too? I'm at the point where I'm questioning the definition of the genre to determine whether or not to post something.

Here's a trailer, and I'm sorry if watching it gets that theme song stuck in your head. The movie isn't streaming anywhere though.

I don't know if there's a more popular or more widely-respected Weird West game than Undead Nightmare. And it was a DLC for an existing game. Of course, it's probably so well respected because most Weird West games are from small indie developers yet this DLC was from a AAA developer expanding on an already AAA game. Whatever it was, it worked. It perfectly blended a Wild West setting with a zombie attack.

Here's a trailer. You can play it anywhere Red Dead Redemption is available.

Pale Rider and High Plains Drifter are both Clint Eastwood movies that almost fit into the Weird West category. In both movies, there aren't any visuals that would make you think they were Weird Westerns; they're both standard Clint Eastwood Westerns. Yet both movies subtly hint that Clint Eastwood's character died prior to the events of the movie and he's back as a ghost to get revenge.

So if he's a ghost, then I'd say these would qualify as Weird West. Yet there's nothing in either movie that explicitly says or shows him being a ghost. It's like these movies follow the "letter of the law" as opposed to the "spirit of the law" when it comes to my definition of Weird West. That is, they may technically be Weird Westerns by definition, but they aren't what I picture when I think of Weird Westerns. Of course, this also means these are probably the most objectively good movies out of any others mentioned on this Lemmy community.

Here's a trailer for Pale Rider and High Plains Drifter. They aren't streaming on any subscription service but you can rent them on most services.

Ritual: Crown of Horns is a fun little twin-stick shooter. You play a gunslinger who was brought back from the dead by a witch. The witch needs to perform rituals in various places and the ritual takes 5 minutes to prepare. So your only task is to keep the enemies off the witch long enough for her to complete her ritual. Which means, yes, each level lasts 5 minutes. Perfect for the Steam Deck.

I know the game only has 35 reviews on Steam and even those are Mixed, but I really enjoyed it. It might be because the game regularly goes on sale for $2 (90% off). I definitely wouldn't pay $20 for this game, but $2? It's plenty of fun for $2.

Here's a trailer. You can get it on Steam, but like I said, wait for a sale.

I don't have anything witty to say about this one, it's just Gunslinger Spawn.

He has his own series of comics but I haven't read them. I just like that you can take the Spawn character and drop him into whatever setting you want.

To be fair, I think the first half of this movie is great. There are a lot of long, slow shots which really feel reminiscent of a spaghetti western. But as it goes on, it eventually just turns into a mindless action movie with lots of quick cuts and as much CGI as they can fit on the screen. So yet another entry into the "yes, this movie is bad, but it's a Weird Western!" category.

Here's a trailer. You can currently watch it on Netflix.

Vermilion is about a ghost hunter in the 1800s who is hired to investigate rumors of a vampire running a mental asylum in the Colorado rocky mountains. So it's definitely a Weird Western and I was interested. But as the story went on, I started to notice a trend in all the characters. I'm going to give some mild spoilers in terms of the characters, but no plot points.

The main character is a 19 year old girl who dresses and acts like a boy to get a job as a ghost hunter. I figured "sure, standard Mulan scenario" and didn't think anything of it. And then on her journey, she meets a male familiar who's attracted to the male vampire. I figured "that's an interesting twist on the vampire seduction trope" and still didn't think much of it. And then the main character runs into the boy she has an unrequited crush on and the boy reveals he's actually gay and introduces the main character to his boyfriend. Sure, a gay character, that's a pretty solid reason for the crush to continue being unrequited. And then the main character reaches the mental asylum and meets a girl whose parents sent her to the asylum because she's gay and her parents wanted to "fix" her. And this point, I finally had the realization that pretty much every named character in this story is queer in some way. My "standard Mulan scenario" was probably leaning closer to trans and I just wasn't thinking of it that way.

Having queer characters doesn't affect the plot at all, but the author really seemed to go out of her way to include as many queer characters as she could. So if you're on the look-out for a queer Weird Western, maybe you'll enjoy Vermilion.

Continuing my theme of "yes, this movie is bad, but it's a Weird Western!": Jonah Hex. Of course, this is a "big budget movie with theatrical release" bad movie, not a "direct to video" bad movie. So it's not nearly as bad as GallowWalkers or Bloodrayne 2. I personally think it's a fun action movie but I won't argue with anyone who says it's dumb.

Jonah Hex has the ability to speak to the dead if he makes physical contact with them and he uses that to track down John Malkovich and Michael Fassbender's characters to get revenge. I've never read the comics the character is based on so I have no idea how closely it follows the source material.

Here's a trailer. It isn't streaming anywhere right now but if you ever get a chance to watch it, I think it's a fun movie.

Evil West is a lot of fun, but if it weren't for the modern graphics you would've thought it was made in the early 2000s. It's linear levels to reach open arenas for fighting bad guys and each level ends in a boss fight. The combat is really fun though and you get so many different weapons and moves that I legitimately forgot I had a shotgun for a good portion of the game. The boss fights were really tough for me but I thoroughly enjoyed this game.

Here's a trailer. You can get it on Steam, Xbox, or Playstation, but not Switch.

This is one of my favorite songs off my Xmas playlist. The Michael Martin Murray original is also good, but I prefer the sound of the Killers' cover, and the video only makes it weirder.

Also one of the best descriptions of American folk dancing in popular media.

The Wikipedia entry has weird west in it, so I guess so.

Such a good show. Loved Bruce in it.

Six-Gun Tarot is a good Weird Western, but the author crams a lot into this world. The sheriff is undead (possibly immortal), the deputy is possibly a werewolf, and there's a talking head in a jar. But those are just the characters. The actual plot is about the Lovecraftian Old One starting to wake up under the town.

Given how much goes on in this novel, I'm surprised it all fit together as well as it did. Although personally, I don't like cramming this many fantastical elements into a single story with no overarching reason. There is no "a portal to hell opened, so this happened" or "we've discovered a magical elixir which does ____", the author just threw whatever he wanted into it. A talking head in a jar? Sure, why not, that'll go great with this Lovecraftian horror.

I don't want to sound too critical, I did like this book, I'm just more of a "hard magic" type of person than a "soft magic" type of person. So I struggle with throwing everything into the world with no rhyme or reason. I still think this book is plenty of fun though if you can just roll with whatever happens in a story.

There are 4 books in this series, although I should admit I've only read the first one.

I think this will become a theme anytime I mention a movie here: yes, this movie is terrible, but it definitely falls into the Weird West category! It's about a half-human half-vampire hunting down Billy The Kid (who is also a vampire).

Now, you may be thinking to yourself "hold on, wasn't there already a terrible Bloodrayne movie that took place in the 18th century?" And yes, yes there was. This is the sequel. And it's worse.

Here's a trailer. You can watch it right now on YouTube, Tubi, Vudu, Plex, or Roku if you can handle bad movies.

Maybe a little lighter on the "west" side of things and a little heavier on the "weird" side of things. Nevertheless there is a lot of "western" here to justify it! This is one of my favorite graphic novels

I don't hear it talked about much. It's from the co-creators of Dishonered & Prey but has the feel of what Fallout 1 & 2 would play like if they came out today IMO.

Western setting where a new gold rush for dark stone pits gunslingers, lawmen, saloon girls, etc against tentacles, the undead, mutated gangsters, snakemen, and lost technology as they travel between worlds.

It's coop and there are different missions, most of which have randomly generated maps that are created from a deck on you explore, giving it endless replayability. Characters gain experience, skill, and gear but also can become injured or mutate (nothing the church or surgeon in town can't fix for a price).

It also has tons of expansions. While the physical games add up in cost and require a lot of organizing, you can give it a try on tabletop simulator.

There's even a Japanese themed set that can combine with the Western ones.

A “Psychedelic Western.” Surreal, meditative, and a Neil Young soundtrack. One of my favorites. Also an insane cast!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Man

rn on hboMAX

Atomic Robo is a comic book, mirrored on the web, about alternate history. In this arc, the eponymous hero has been sent back in time to the Old West... where he finds an old enemy who hasn't met him yet.

Not sure if a perfect fit, but a comedy western rpg with a bit of a supernatural element. If you haven't already you should check it out!

8 books, one short story, and one kids book... enveloping one weird Western tale in a world that has moved on.

I think this one is perfect for this instance. I have had it on my wishlist and tried the demo back in development. Creepy, western and fun!

West of Dead is a really fun game. It's a cover-based twin-stick shooter, so there's a top-down view and you crouch behind cover in between shooting bad guys. It's also a roguelike, so you get random weapons each run and unlock permanent perks with the currency you collect. I'm typically terrible at roguelikes but I fell in love with this one and actually beat it.

Here's a trailer. You can get it on Steam, Switch, Xbox, Playstation, wherever.

Ghoultown is an American rock band with Weird West themes in their lyrics. I wish the songs were a bit better but at least they're consistent in their theme. And this is already a niche within a niche so I can't really complain.

Typically, the Weird West genre is comprised of pulp novels and fairly mindless action movies. It's hard to take the genre too seriously when the premises are so ridiculous. But Cold As Hell does an amazing job of crafting fully-realized characters in a complex world. Yes, this is a story about an undead gunslinger trying to take down necromancers, vampires, and werewolves, but the authors treat it all with respect.

The main character is a relatively moral person who joined a gang in his youth. The gang started becoming more violent and brutal so the main character started to have doubts. And his gang murdered him for it. But an angel resurrects him and makes him a Hand of God, tasked with hunting down creatures cursed by hell.

One interesting aspect of this is his body heals extremely quickly and he feels no pain. So he can get shot multiple times and as long as his muscles and tendons are still attached, he can keep fighting. But this also means he's numb to the world. He can't get drunk, he can't feel a kiss, he can't indulge in any vices. So while he's able to continue walking the earth, he can't really do anything to make his time enjoyable. He isn't happy being a Hand of God.

Also, not every cursed creature is evil. There are werewolves who are just trying to lay low and stay out of everyone's way. And the main character doesn't like indiscriminately killing every cursed creature, which pisses off his angel handler. So the series isn't just a bunch of "go kill the bad guy" stories, there's a lot of nuance involved.

There are 2 books in the series so far, with a third planned for next year. Also, there's a 3.5-hour audible-exclusive prequel called Dead Acre which is narrated by Roger Clark (who voiced Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2). I highly recommend the whole series.