Grim Prairie Tales

Grim Prairie Tales is a 1990 western horror anthology film with four tales told around the isolated campfire. James Earl Jones comes upon a skittish eastern-bound Brad Dourif huddled over a lonely campfire, and gradually the stories unfold. It's a bit awkward, but it's fine enough if you like anthology films.

The L.A. Times says it is "is too slight to be able to recommend it, but it does have its moments." The NYT has a negative review. Time Out says, "The four tales are ingeniously varied (and intelligently keyed to the character of the teller and the situation around the camp-fire); but it's the writing of the framing story and the two lead performances that make the film so special." Moria says, "It certainly uses a much more substantial framing story than the average anthology film. Indeed, for once –perhaps the only time ever in an anthology film– the framing story is better than the stories it holds together. The sequence also has two of filmdom’s great over-actors, James Earl Jones and Brad Dourif, on fine form as they play off one another."