Start the new year with a bang! A modern-day action thriller that’s really a western, and a traditional western that’s really an independent British film. Over the Border is Lost Reels first double bill of 2025 and they aren’t any more explosive than this. Walter Hill’s sun-and-testosterone drenched Texas border classic, Extreme Prejudice (1987) starring Nick Nolte, Powers Booth, and Maria Conchita Alonso, and Burt Kennedy’s “feminist” rape-revenge western, Hannie Caulder (1971) with Raquel Welch, Robert Culp and Christopher Lee. Packed with guns, bullets, women, action and screening from ultra-rare 16mm film prints. Give yourself a kick in the seat of the pants and join us for our first event of the year!

Hannie Caulder (1971), directed by Burt Kennedy. Colour. Cert 15. 85 minutes.

In the early 1970s modestly budgeted Italian spaghetti westerns were riding high at the box office and so independent British film company Tigon made the unusual move to produce this rape revenge western starring Raquel Welch as Hannie Caulder. Featuring American actors Robert Culp and Ernest Borgnine, and with Christopher Lee and Diana Dors in supporting roles it’s that rare western to feature a female protagonist. The story is of the titular heroine and her quest for vengeance after she is gang-raped, her husband killed, and their house burned down by the murderous Clemens brothers (Borgnine, Jack Elam and Strother Martin). Culp is the bounty hunter she enlists for help, and Lee is the canny gun-maker they visit over the Mexican border. Directed by Burt Kennedy (and written by him under the pseudonym Z. X. Jones) it’s a highly entertaining slice of revenge melodrama. The western landscapes are nicely photographed, there’s a rousing score by Ken Thorne, and the running time is a brisk eighty-five minutes. The poster image featuring Welch in a cowboy hat and poncho has become as iconic as her fur bikini from One Million Years BC and the film has been called a favourite by Quentin Tarantino, who also named it one of his inspirations for Kill Bill. Join us for this rarely screened highly enjoyable cult western.

16mm print courtesy of Lost Reels. This vintage print has heavy scratches during the first 20 minutes and intermittent damage and lines throughout.

Extreme Prejudice (1987), directed by Walter Hill. Colour. Cert 18. 105 minutes.

Walter Hill’s Extreme Prejudice (1987) is an homage to 1980s action cinema. From the thrilling pre-credits sequence with a group of apparently deceased ex-soldiers assembling for a mission (80s regulars Michael Ironside, William Forsythe, Clancy Brown and others) to the no-holds-barred Wild Bunch-inspired finale as Texas ranger Jack Benteen (Nick Nolte) raids Cash Bailey’s (Powers Boothe) drug cartel, it’s as violent, excessive, and overloaded with testosterone as anything produced during the era. Extreme Prejudice isn’t the quintessential 80s actioner, it’s not well-known - or frequently screened enough – for that, but it’s one heck of a ride and doesn’t let up for a second. Nolte (a good guy in black) is as impenetrable as a block of marble, and Boothe (a bad guy in white) is his former friend, now a corrupt drug-lord. They’re both in love with Sarita (Maria Conchita Alonso) and sparks fly when they find themselves on opposite sides of the ensuing drug war. Join us for an action thriller the likes of which we rarely see today from a near-perfect UK theatrical release print.

16mm print courtesy of Lost Reels.