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Traditionally demonic possession isn't about virtue because the lore is everyone is guilty. It's about weakness meaning you invite them in not by sinning but by failing to stand your ground.

If you pay close attention during the movie, it's EXTREMELY subtle, but in some scenes you can see Michael's reflection in the windows of the house already showing him as the monster he becomes at the end.

The thumbnail was used for an old Creepypasta, and I could never find the source. After all these years, I have finally found it.

I rarely disagree with Ryan, but here I think I'll have to. I like William's moral quandary because it pivots on his being responsible for planned violence, but that violence reaching a step further than he anticipated in the act of killing the child. When his "acceptable" violence breaches into "unacceptable" territory, he is forced to reexamine why there is an "acceptable" amount and what his breach into "unacceptable" means for him. You were right when you mentioned his depiction as a hypocrite, but a glaring hypocrisy is such a gold mine for character analysis and existential crisis.
Todd disappearing into the ether, though, I got nothin'. That felt uncalled for and strange.

2:34 i have so many questions about how the hell my favorite youtube video essayist movie reviewer is also a championship level dodgeball player, but you know what? I think imma just move on with my life

HEY! I worked on this 20+ years ago. I was the unpaid helper for Almost Human (Buffy and Angel effects) and worked with all of the practical effects. Fun trivia: the small town is the set for Spectre AL from Tim Burton's Big Fish 👍

The "hell hounds" in this film are some severly unsettling monster-designs. They become even creepier when it's revealed what they (probably) are.

I think its worth noting that, to most people, harming a child is much more horrific than adults.

My personal theory is that he had been "programmed" for violence by his time in the war. Paranoid about being sent back, he kills the Confederate soldiers. This gets him into the mindset of causing bloodshed, almost as a PTSD response. Then, when a soldier tries to pull a gun on him and he kills them, it unleashes the full PTSD-style outburst. During this outburst, a kid is killed, and upon seeing this as he is coming down from it, it snaps him back to reality into a sort of "What have I done?" moment. But, he can't show any weakness to his gang because he has no real control over them. Plus, he would be a hypocrite because this was all his fault anyway. So, as humans do, he shoves it down and pretends the hypocrisy doesn't exist. The entire movie is him being given opportunity after opportunity to attempt redemption, but as so, so, so many people do, he refuses. He thinks he is in too deep, or the cognitive dissonance has hit too hard, and he just can't make the necessary choices that would redeem him.

Its kinda weird how Weird West doesnt really have any movies.

The movie is "Deadbirds" for anyone not patient enough for the video.

I am surprised there isn't more horror around the time of the American Civil War, for the first time for many Americans funerals were had with no body, sometimes people returned "from the dead" or just disappeared since dogtags weren't a common practice, some American soldiers would pin paper notes on their uniform but it wasn't always going to be found or would be too damaged to read.

So much room for the paranormal to enter the picture, zombies, ghosts, ect.

FINALLY. When I was a kid, I saw a dvd at the rental store with a little boy with pointy teeth poking up out of the floor and was so freaked out that I had a nightmare about it that night. I could never figure out what movie it was until now. Definitely gonna watch it to conquer my weird child fears. Thank you!!!

Good luck with the dodgeball tournament, Ryan. Just remember to Dodge, Dip, Duck, Dive, and Dodge.

0:57 You mean the wicky wicky wa, wicky wicky wa, wicky wa, wicky wicky wild, wicky wicky wild wild west

Incredibly underrated film. Western horror is a genre combination that needs more takers.

You really put a warning that says “major spoilers for the entire movie” almost two minutes before even saying the name of the movie, and in between showing clips of character deaths and monster reveals

I like how semi casual everyone is about killing weird mutated demon dogs. They just shoot it and walk off after going "well that was weird."

The scene of Will running through the cornfields is so good, the twist is both completely unexpected (if you think the dog is the demon), yet entirely believable when it's revealed. That is extremely impressive storytelling

Obscure horror movies with similar themes you might enjoy:
2008's The Burrowers. Creature feature set in the wild west, depressing atmosphere with some black humor.
2008's Splinter. Creature feature set in modern rural Oklahoma. Good action, desolate atmosphere.
2005's Isolation. Creature feature on a farm in rural Ireland. Feels like a fever dream. So obscure I've only seen one reviewer mention it.

Could also include Ravenous but I think those three are less well known.