31 Fates Worse Than Death! (#29: The Burrowers)

First, let me make it clear that I have no intention of spoiling anything about J.T. Petty's brilliant film The Burrowers. So if you haven't seen it, stop reading these words right this very second and go buy a copy. Don't even bother with a rental because you're going to want to own it afterward. You should also buy some stamps and an envelope for the inevitable "Thank You" letter you'll want to write to Mr. Petty.

Aside from the fact that horror films set before the invention of cars are incredibly rare, one of the great things about The Burrowers is that no one goes quietly into the night. Now I'm not one to fall in love with a film solely because it has a few haunting kills (but we all know they certainly don't hurt), but what's so memorable about this undeservedly straight-to-video gem is that every single character in The Burrowers has a fate worse than simple death. Doesn't matter if they live or if they die, no one in this film has an easy life.

It also doesn't matter if the character is a man, woman, or child; if you find yourself in the world of the titular creatures, you are not leaving it gently. Yet I'm torn between who has the worst fate.

On the one hand we have William Parcher (William Mapother) who spends a chunk of the movie with slowly rotting flesh before he's poisoned by Indians and used as bait to attract the Burrowers. Then he is pinned down by a spear and devoured alive while being torn limb from limb.

On the other hand we have Coffey (Karl Geary), a man who not only has to go through the hell of watching the above happen to Parcher after he's already lost his loved ones, but when he finally finds help after days of malnurished searching he meets a fate worse than death: no reason to live. The Indian woman who helped him kill the Burrowers is tortured to death and his only remaining friend has died after the woefully ignorant Henry Victor (Doug Hutchison) ordered that his leg be amputated.

It's a tough call between the two, but Coffey gets it worse in the end. At least Parcher had the sweet release of death.

---

The 31 Fates Worse Than Death:

29. Coffey, J.T. Petty's The Burrowers.
30. Jack Goodman, John Landis' An American Werewolf in London.
31. Anton Bartok in Chris Walas' The Fly 2.