Taglines: A secret lost in time for over 130 years is about to be discovered.
Last of the Dogmen movie storyline. Modern bounty hunter Lewis Gates is hired to track down three dangerous fugitives who have escaped into the Montana wilderness. When the fugitives are found murdered, Gates has a mystery on his hands.
Accompanied by anthropologist Lillian Sloane, Gates ventures further into the mountains and discovers an isolated settlement inhabited by a Native American tribe thought to have been wiped out by white settlers a century earlier. The two gradually begin to gain acceptance within the tribe, but when Gates’ vengeful ex father-in-law, Sheriff Deegan, leads a posse into the mountains, Gates and Sloane must prevent the tribe from being massacred a second time.
Last of the Dogmen is a 1995 American Western adventure film written and directed by Tab Murphy, and starring Tom Berenger and Barbara Hershey. Set in the mountains of northwest Montana, near the Idaho and Canadian borders, the film is about a bounty hunter who tracks escaped convicts into a remote region and encounters an unknown band of Dog Soldiers from a tribe of Cheyenne Indians. The film was shot on location in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, as well as in Mexico.
About the Story
Distraught but skillful bounty hunter Lewis Gates (Tom Berenger), accompanied by his horse and faithful companion Zip (an Australian cattle dog), tracks three armed escaped convicts into Montana’s Oxbow Quadrangle, at the persistence of his unforgiving father-in-law, who blames Gates for his daughter’s tragic death. Gates sees the convicts but hears shots. Investigating the scene, all Gates finds is a bloody scrap of cloth, “enough blood to paint the sheriff’s office,” a bloody rifle shell, and an old-fashioned Indian arrow.
Gates takes the arrow to archaeologist Lillian Sloan (Barbara Hershey), who identifies it as a replica of the arrows used by Cheyenne Dog Soldiers. Gates doesn’t think it’s a replica and, after some library research, develops a long list of people who have disappeared into the Oxbow. He also finds a story of a “wild child” captured in the woods in the early 20th century.
Now, he’s convinced that the fugitives were killed by a tribe of Dog Soldiers, a hardy band of Native Americans who somehow escaped the 1864 Sand Creek massacre and survived for 128 years, secluded in the Montana Wilderness, killing anyone who threatened to find and expose them. Gates convinces Sloan to join him in a search for the band. The two enter the Oxbow and begin to search. They survive many mishaps and bond throughout their journey, eventually venturing deeper into the wilderness than Gates has ever gone before, around 50 miles in.
Nearing the end of their supplies, Sloan suggests heading back. As the two are packing their gear, they are suddenly attacked by Cheyenne Indians. Sloan, speaking the Cheyenne language, deescalates the situation, and the two are taken captive by Yellow Wolf (Steve Reevis). Taken to the Cheyenne encampment hidden behind a waterfall, the duo meet the village leader Spotted Elk (Eugene Blackbear), who tells them of the escape and salvation of the Cheyenne 128 years ago, as well as his own run-in with the “white people” when he was a child.
Gates and Sloan slowly become friendly with the Cheyenne. However, Yellow Wolf’s son is sick, wounded after the gunfight with the convicts. Despite the elder’s concerns, Sloan convinces Yellow Wolf to allow Gates to ride into town to obtain medicine. In town, Gates robs the pharmacy and is chased by local law enforcement, including Sheriff Deegan, his father-in-law (Kurtwood Smith).
After escaping, Gates meets Yellow Wolf in the wilderness, and they return to the Cheyenne camp. By this time, the sheriff has gathered a posse and sets out to hunt down Gates both for robbing the store and to find Gates’ female companion, whom the sheriff believes Gates has hiding in the Oxbow.
Last of the Dogmen (1995)
Directed by: Tab Murphy
Starring: Tom Berenger, Barbara Hershey, Kurtwood Smith, Steve Reevis, Andrew Miller, Gregory Scott Cummins, Helen Calahasen, Eugene Blackbear, Dawn Lavand
Screenplay by: Tab Murphy
Production Design by:
Cinematography by: Karl Walter Lindenlaub
Film Editing by: Richard Halsey
Costume Design by: Elsa Zamparelli
Set Decoration by: Paul Joyal, Macedonio Ramos
Art Direction by: Ricardo Spinacé
Music by: David Arnold
MPAA Rating: PG for adventure violence and mild language.
Distributed by: Savoy Pictures
Release Date: September 8, 1995
Views: 218
