Prairie Rascals (2025)

Arkansas, 1871: When Annie Harper's homesteader husband is murdered by desperadoes on the trail of hidden gold, she sets out in search of revenge - and the money. A Western adventure from Bonehill Films, starring Rosanna Lambert, Laura Frances Martin, Mylo Sermon, Amanda Lindseth, Nicholas de Jasay, Louis John Brzozka, Xanthe Baylis and Nick Riddle.

The latest cinematic offering from author and illustrator Philip Reeve - after his 2023 Arthurian offering Gwenevere - Prairie Rascals is a delightful, thrilling 50-minute tale of desperate treasure hunters in the American West.

Trapped in a loveless marriage, Annie Harper (Rosanna Lambert) is more annoyed at being left to bury her murdered ne'er-do-well husband Frank (Louis John Brzozka) than she is saddened by his loss.

Frank robbed the Confederate Army during the Civil War and hid a chest of loot at a secret location.

The psychotic Hannigan Sisters - Cat (Laura Frances-Martin) and Belle (Amanda Lindseth) - have got wind of this and relieve him of his "treasure map" before putting several bullets in Frank and setting his cabin alight.

With the local sheriff (Arran Hawkins) being too afraid of the sisters to raise a posse and pursue them, Annie decides to take the law into her own hands, stealing the sheriff's hat, gun, and horse.

Heading after the wicked sisters, Annie meets romantic, pacifist, greenhorn Charles Doolittle (Mylo Sermon) stripped to his long johns and tied to a tree.

A dilettante from the East, on a "walking tour" of the West with his gruff guide Muldoon (Nicholas De Jasay), Charles was completely unprepared for the likes of the Hannigan Sisters and found himself robbed and trussed up.

Wanting recompense for his predicament, Charles falls in with Annie on the trail of the sisters... and the buried treasure.

As with the majority of Philip Reeve's sci-fi and fantasy novels, Prairie Rascals is dominated by strong female leads, without shying away from the Western genre's requisite gun fights, heel turns and plot twists.

Released this week to the general public via YouTube and filmed in Dartmoor National Park, in England's West Country, Prairie Rascals was written by Philip Reeve and Brian Mitchell, and directed by Philip and his wife, Sarah.

Philip even wrote the lyrics for Ballad of the Prairie Rascals, which plays over the end credits. The music was by Brian Mitchell and vocals by Glen Richardson.

A jolly country-and-western ditty, the ballad serves as a "what happened next..." for the surviving characters and really makes me want a sequel to Prairie Rascals.

With many of the actors here also having appeared in Gwenevere, it's clear that Philip is attracting a great troupe of performers to his Bonehill Films.

Long may they continue to produce such wonderful little movies.

• You can read Philip's "behind-the-scenes" insights on the production here on his blog, Station Zero.

Mortal Engines' Author Philip Reeve Takes Us Back To The Old West For His New Film

Arkansas, 1871. When her homesteader husband is murdered by outlaws seeking the gold he stole in the Civil War, homesteader Annie Harper sets out alone to beat them to the place where the treasure is hidden.

In late 2023, my favourite author, Philip Reeve - creator of the peerless Mortal Engines and Railhead books - gave us Gwenevere , a delightful short film encapsulating his love of Arthurian mythology.

This week, his production company - Bonehill Films - released the first trailer for his follow-up film, Prairie Rascals, a short Western, again shot around where he lives in Dartmoor.

In the introduction to the trailer, Philip writes that this is:

"... [a] teaser trailer for our new film Prairie Rascals, starring Rosanna Lambert, Laura Frances Martin, Mylo Sermon, Amanda Lindseth, Nicholas De Jasay, Arran Hawkins, Xanthe Baylis and Nick Riddle. Music by Nick Riddle, vocals by Rosanna Lambert.

"We hope to screen the finished film locally this summer and autumn, and upload it to the Bonehill Films channel next Christmas."

Returning from the Gwenevere cast are Rosanna Lambert taking the lead role of Annie Harper, Queen Gwenevere herself, Laura Frances Martin, as "ruthless desperado" Cat Hannigan, and former Lancelot Arran Hawkins as the cowardly sheriff.

You can read about the film shoot here on Philip's blog - Station Zero - and, last year, on Twitter (aka X), he published a selection of costume design sketches for Prairie Rascals, which you can see below:

Gwenevere (2023)

Poster by Sarah McIntyre

Banished from Camelot, Queen Gwenevere (Laura Frances Martin) must travel across wild country to the abbey where she is to live out her remaining years. She is accompanied by her loyal lady-in-waiting, Laudine (Joanna Neary) and young knight Sir Ruan (Jonny Hibbs). But their journey is interrupted by the menacing Knight of the Wild Woods...

Gwenevere: a film by Philip Reeve & Sarah Reeve, starring Laura Frances Martin, Joanna Neary, Jonny Hibbs, Tessa Arrowsmith-Brown, Sasha Innes and Roseanna Lambert. Guest appearance by Alan Lee. Shields designed by Sarah McIntyre. Music by Brian Mitchell. Filmed on Dartmoor.

As a long-time fan of the work of author Philip Reeve, I was delighted to learn that he was planning to bring his passion for Arthurian legends to life in a low-budget, short movie to be shot on Dartmoor, where he lives.

The resulting film, Gwenevere, was officially released on YouTube at the end of 2023.

It is a half-hour film following the titular queen (Laura Frances Martin) after she has been exiled from Camelot for her dalliance with Lancelot (Arran Hawkins).

She has been commanded to walk across country to the abbey where she will see out her days in quiet contemplation, accompanied only by her faithful handmaid, Laudine (an outstanding performance from Joanna Neary) and reluctant young knight Sir Ruan (Jonny Hibbs).

However, passing through some woodland their way is blocked by the mythical Knight of the Wild Woods (Niall Parker).

In the ensuing melee, Sir Ruan is rendered unconscious and the ladies bear him away to a nearby village, where they learn the story of the Knight of The Wild Woods.

Gwenevere then takes it upon herself to bring an end to the monstrous knight's reign of terror.

The beautiful short film is full of ethereal visuals and lyrical, evocative dialogue - as readers of Reeve's books have come to expect - strengthening the mythological bedrock upon which Gwenevere is built.

Dream logic and otherworldly rules lay at the heart of the story, while the smoke-filled forest is a visual tie to another classic of British fantasy film, my old favourite Hawk The Slayer.