History Film / TheBurrowers

[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/220px-Burrowersposter08_3405.jpg]]

* NiceHat: Several characters. Coffey especially has a nice bowler hat, highlighting his status as an Irish immigrant and a newcomer to the West.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[RealityEnsues Coffey is not an action hero gunslinger]], and this point is hammered home when his reckless (and badly aimed) shot at a Cree Indian draws the wrath of the entire tribe and leads to [[spoiler:Clay's death.]]

* CavalryOfficer: Perhaps the most brutally sadistic and completely oblivious cavalry officer since Custer himself.

* AssholeVictim: Parcher. [[spoiler: After being poisoned by the creatures, he tries to conceal his condition from Coffey and Callaghan.]] Furthermore, as the only member of the posse conversant in Plains Indians dialects, he deliberately omits warnings [[spoiler:that he is already as good as dead and that he will only draw the creatures to him,]] insisting that the other two members stay and protect him as he grows weaker.

* KarmicDeath: The method devised by the Ute to kill the Burrowers. This involves [[spoiler:feeding the Burrowers' victims with poison, then stabbing the creatures with spears as they lie incapacitated.]]

* ForeShadowing: The hymm sung near the beginning; ''Alas! and did my Savior bleed, And did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head, For such a [[WormSign worm]] as I?''

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: While the way the creatures feed is monstrous, they do so out of basic needs, in contrast to human malice.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: While the way the creatures feed is monstrous, the film makes a point of exploring racial animosity and the consequences of Manifest Destiny.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: While the way the creatures feed is monstrous, the film makes a point of showing how the West was really won, exploring racial animosity and the consequences of Manifest Destiny.

* AnArmAndALeg: Happens to [[spoiler:Parcher while he's being eaten alive.]]
* AndIMustScream: A variation. [[spoiler: The victims are not trapped forever, but they are almost completely paralyzed. They are apparently conscious the entire time, but cannot sleep, move, or speak. They just lay there in the soil, feeling their bodies rot, until the Burrowers return for them.]]
* AnyoneCanDie: In order of death, [[spoiler: Mary-Anne Stewart, John Clay, Dobie Spacks, Will Parcher, Callaghan, Faith.]]

* AttemptedRape: [[spoiler:Dobie Spacks]] is about to put the moves on [[spoiler:a paralyzed and helpless Mary-Anne]] when the creatures cut the attempt short.
%%* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Parcher.]]
* BloodKnight: Henry Victor, who only wants to kill as many Indians as he possibly can.
%%* BuriedAlive
%%* {{Cowboy}}: Most of the characters.
%%* CampCook: Callahan.
* CavalryOfficer: Perhaps the most brutally sadistic and completely oblivious Cavalry Officer since Custer himself.
%%* CruelAndUnusualDeath
* TheDandy: Henry Victor is a psychotic breed of dandy, with his ridiculous moustache, moustache comb and tobacco pouch ''made from a Native American's scrotum.''
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The entire posse dies save Coffey, Mary-Anne was dead (or at least rotting alive) from the beginning, and the two Native Americans who know the creatures' weakness are ignorantly lynched by Henry Victor, who faces no consequences for dooming future victims and waltzes off with that smug smile on his face, none the wiser.]]
%%* DarknessEqualsDeath
%%* DwindlingParty
%%* FateWorseThanDeath: You bet.

* GaiasVengeance: A very mild example. The creatures wouldn't normally interact with humans much, but their usual diet of buffalo has been all but wiped out by humanity. As a result, they've started snacking on the next most plentiful and widespread source of easy-to-kill meat.

* IndianMaiden: Averted. She is helpful, but not a romanticized character or a love interest.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Henry Victor loves being in charge, and won't hesitate to remind others that he's the one with the authority.
%%* TheLoad: Coffey and Dobie.
%%* MacGyvering
%%* MercyKill
%%* MinimalistCast
* NiceHat: Several characters. Coffey especially has a nice bowler hat.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Coffey is not an action hero gunslinger, and this point is hammered home when he fucks up in a big enough way to [[spoiler: get John Clay killed.]]
* NobleSavage: Averted. Even the Indians do some pretty terrible things.
* NonMaliciousMonster: Despite some of the taglines, the creatures aren't evil. They're just animals.
* NothingIsScarier: The Burrowers aren't seen in full until the climax.
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: The creatures are not vampires. However, they do share some vampiric traits such as [[spoiler: a weakness for sunlight]].
* PsychoPartyMember: At times, most obviously when [[spoiler: an Indian wants to leave an infected victim behind, and the victim flips out and threatens to kill everyone.]]
%%* {{Posse}}

* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Coffey's love interest and the other missing women are discovered to have died, most likely at the beginning of the film thus rendering the entire heroic quest meaningless. Every named character dies except for Fergus Coffey and the utterly psychotic Henry Victor...who, by the way, is responsible for the deaths of two Indians (execution) and Callahan (by botching an attempt to amputate a leg that likely didn't need it). Worse, with the two Indians dead, their secret method for killing the Burrowers seems to have been lost forever. It's deeply implied that the Burrower's attacks will continue and nothing has really changed. ]]
* SuperPersistentPredator: The Burrowers are relentless in hounding humans, chasing them a great distance, long after it's clear their prey is fighting back. Probably justified that with the buffalo gone, they're starving.
%%* ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight
%%* {{Wormsign}}: As the title would suggest.

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* {{Chupacabra}}: The creatures match the concept in many ways.

!Tropes:

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Parcher.]]

* BuriedAlive
* {{Cowboy}}: Most of the characters.
* CampCook: Callahan.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath

* DarknessEqualsDeath
* DwindlingParty
* FateWorseThanDeath: You bet.

* TheLoad: Coffey and Dobie.
* MacGyvering
* MercyKill
* MinimalistCast

* {{Posse}}

* ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight
* {{Wormsign}}: As the title would suggest.

''"You'll be awake in your grave. You'll be alive when they feed."''

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Coffey's love interest and the other missing women are discovered to have died, most likely at the beginning of the film thus rendering the entire heroic quest meaningless. Every named character dies except for Fergus Coffey and the utterly psychotic Henry Victor...who, by the way, is responsible for the deaths of two Indians (execution) and Callahan (by botching an attempt to amputate a leg that likely didn't need it). Worse, with the two Indians dead, their secret method for killing the Burrowers seems to have been lost forever. It's deeply implied that the Burrower's attacks will continue and nothing has really changed. ]]

* ShootTheShaggyDog

* HeteroexualLifePartners: Parcher and Clay are long-time partners.

* Creator/ClancyBrown

Not to be confused with TheBorrowers.

* ClancyBrown

* NightmareFuelUnleaded

* AnyoneCanDie

* GaiasVengenace: A very mild example. The creatures wouldn't normally interact with humans much, but their usual diet of buffalo has been all but wiped out by humanity. As a result, they've started snacking on the next most plentiful and widespread source of easy-to-kill meat.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Averted. The characters aren't overt with their racism, but they be casually so. Most characters refer to Indians as 'skins' and a prominent black character is saddled with the nickname 'walnut'. Only Coffey refers to him by his real name, due to the kinship he feels with him due to the prejudices faced by the Irish.