John Carpenter's long-gestating western script finally surfaced here as a TV movie, a vehicle for the now grown-up Rick Schroder, formerly little Ricky who starred in the 1979 Franco Zeffirelli tear-jerker The Champ. Surprisingly, for such an avowed devotee of western maestro Howard Hawks, there's little real substance to Carpenter's screenplay, at least as realised by director Mel Damski, best remembered (or forgotten) in the UK for his comic farrago Yellowbeard. Still, there's sterling work from lovable character actor Wilford Brimley and a welcome guest appearance from Adrienne Barbeau. But this is only for Carpenter completists.

Jimmy Pearls, a directionless young drifter, kills Henry Logan's son and two other men after he found out that they murdered Jimmy's parents for their land. Trying to get away from Logan's vengeance, he goes to ground in the mountains and meets Winston Patrick Culler, an old trapper, who becomes his traveling companion and protector. Jimmy doesn't understand though why Culler is helping him...