The Night of the Returning Dead - Recap

Jim rides up to the mouth of a cave near Mill’s Creek, draws his gun, and goes inside. Artie is waiting with rancher Carl Jackson and Sheriff Ned Briggs. Jackson insists that if they want to see the horseman, the cave is the best place to be. Briggs reminds them that it has shown up for the last three weeks, and Jackson’s stable boy Jeremiah has seen it. Jackson is skeptical of Jeremiah’s claim, noting that he believes in spirits. When Jim wonders why Jeremiah comes to the cave at night, Jackson says that he goes there to be alone and plays the flute. Artie asks if Jeremiah might be waiting for the horseman, but Jackson doesn’t know why the stable boy would do that.

A coyote starts howling outside and Jim and Artie go to investigate. The skull-faced horseman rides down the tunnel and sees them. Jim fires a flare bullet and the horseman throws a knife at them, missing. As the horseman retreats, Jim and Artie both fire at it but the bullets have no effect. When they run outside, they see the horseman on a cliff almost a quarter mile away. It glares at them for a moment and then rides away.



The agents go to Jackson’s home Jackson insists there must be some kind of rational explanation. Jim points out that he shot the horseman five times in the head and it couldn’t have had bulletproof clothing. Briggs wonders why the government has sent two Secret Service agents to investigate a ghost, and Jim explains that they received an unsigned letter in Denver saying that the truth is in the cave. The agents point out that only one man knew they were in Denver: President Grant. Elizabeth Carter, Jackson’s fiancée and the local schoolteacher, rides up and Jeremiah takes her horse.

Jeremiah takes Elizabeth to the stable to tend to an injured bird that she has brought him. The stable is filled with other animals that Jeremiah tends to. Jackson brings Artie and Jim in and explains to Elizabeth that the night rider came back. When Jim asks why Jeremiah goes to the hills at night, Jeremiah says that he plays for whatever is out in the night. Jim accuses him of drawing the night rider, but Jeremiah says he doesn’t know who hears the music. The agents tell Briggs to lock Jeremiah up in Jackson’s smokehouse until he gives them straight answers. Briggs tries to take Jeremiah away, but Jeremiah casually tosses him to the ground. The stable boy warns Jim not to do anything, and then goes on his own to the smokehouse. As he leaves, Elizabeth insists that Jeremiah is innocent. She tells the agents that Jeremiah arrived six weeks ago, and Jim points out that was when the sightings began. He sees the flute, confirms that Artie can play it, and suggests they go back to the cave.



As Briggs and Jackson put Jeremiah in the smokehouse, he warns them that the dead only walk to seek out evil and he’s done no evil. Elizabeth confronts Jackson and asks him to release Jeremiah, but Jackson defers to Jim, who takes his orders from President Grant. Jim is mounting up and explains to Jackson that he has rigged the saddle with a shotgun shell in the saddle horn. If someone mounts up when the safety is off, it fires dynamite. As the agents ride off, Elizabeth goes to the smokehouse and hears Jeremiah singing inside.

At the cave, Artie plays the flute while Jackson and Briggs watch and Jim lurks at the cave entrance. The night rider comes out and Jim jumps him. However, the night horseman easily knocks Jim out and runs to the agent’s horse. As Artie, Jackson, and Briggs look on, the dynamite in the saddle horn goes off but the night rider is unaffected. He rides back into the cave and out the other side, and Briggs and Jackson find his discarded cavalry hat. The band on the inside has the name Colonel Beaumont Carson, a Confederate officer who died 13 years ago with the others in a fire that Jackson himself set.



Jackson and the others return to the ranch and release Jeremiah. The rancher tells him to prepare Elizabeth’s carriage for a trip to town. As the stable boy walks off, Artie suggests that Jeremiah hates Jim’s guts. Jim doesn’t care and still believes that Jeremiah knows the identity of the night rider... man or ghost.

In Mill Creek, the agents take their horses to the stable while Jackson orders Jeremiah to escort Elizabeth. He and Briggs then go to see two of the town’s ranking citizens, rancher Tom Kellogg and Judge Bill Mott. Jackson figures that Jeremiah knows something about the night rider and the agents will eventually get it out of him, putting the four of them at risk. Kellogg says that he’ll have his men take care of it and Mott assures them that he’ll find his men innocent later. As Kellogg and Jackson leave, Mott assures Briggs that once the agents are disposed of, they’ll get the information out of Jeremiah.

At the stable, Jeremiah grabs a gun and confronts the agents. He complains that Jim hit him too hard and put too much powder in the saddle horn, and Artie asks why Jeremiah dropped his fake accent. He complains that it was too over-the-top and demonstrates his mimicry talents by imitating the two agents. Jeremiah gives them a passkey and warns that the mask got torn in the fight. Jim tells him that “Carson” isn’t coming to Mill’s Creek, because it’s too dangerous for Jeremiah when Jackson’s men open fire with real bullets, not the blanks that Jim and Artie used earlier. Jeremiah says that it’s time to play their ace and then demonstrates his ability to concentrate and unsettle the nearby horses. Sweating, Jeremiah relents after a minute and says that he’ll stay to get some rest.



Jim and Artie go to the hotel as Jeremiah comes out of the stable. He hides and sees some men ride after the agents, and then concentrates. Meanwhile, the horsemen try to ride down the agents in an alleyway but their horses suddenly rear up, throwing them. Their friends show up with guns, but Artie gets the drop on them and tells them to drop their weapons. Once they do, Artie puts away his gun and lets Jim take them on, knowing his partner can handle them. They hear horses whinnying and run out to see the thug’s horse ride off.

The agents find Jackson and the other men, and Briggs reports that all the horses in town have run off. Jim tells them about the failed attack, and Elizabeth runs out to tell them that Jeremiah is in the stables, half-crazed with fear. They go there and Jeremiah tells them that the night rider talk to him. There’s a note on a post, warning everyone to stay in their houses that night and signed Col. Beaumont Carson. Jackson denies knowing Carson and Jim claims the letter has the same handwriting as the one they received in Denver. Jeremiah tells them that the night rider said that he will speak through the stable boy at the courthouse that night. Elizabeth tries to reassure him and Artie insists to Jim that they’ve misjudged Jeremiah. Jim promises Jeremiah that they’ll be with him until that night and Elizabeth offers them her home.



Once the agents leave with Jeremiah and Elizabeth, Kellogg tells Jackson to get rid of all of them. Jackson is reluctant to kill Jeremiah, and Mott says that it’s better if they kill everyone at the courthouse that night. When Jackson realizes that Elizabeth will be there as well, Mott tells Jackson to choose between himself or his fiancée.

That night at the courthouse, everyone gathers and Jeremiah continues his charade. He tries to walk away but is “possessed” by Carson’s spirit. “Carson” says that his family and servants were murdered 13 years ago after he fled West to avoid the Civil War. They took refuge in a shack but four men robbed them, tied them up, and set the shack on fire. As Jeremiah talks, Briggs and Kellogg go for their guns and Artie secretly draws his gun, watching them. Outside, the horses stampede into town under Jeremiah’s unseen influence. The building starts to shake apart and Jackson begs Carson to stop. The horses finally pass and everyone goes outside to discover that the horses only hit the courthouse.



Back inside, Jeremiah continues his performance as Carson, telling them that the horses will return the next night and destroy the town. The only thing that will stop them is the truth from Jackson. Jeremiah comes out of his trance, claiming to have no memory of what happened. Elizabeth wonders what her fiancé knows but Kellogg suggests they wait until morning. She reluctantly agrees and takes Jeremiah to Jackson’s ranch with Jim and Artie as escorts. Once they leave, Kellogg tells the others that they can get to Jackson’s ranch first and dispose of them.

At the ranch, Elizabeth goes in to make coffee and Jeremiah says he needs sleep. When Jim, Artie, and Elizabeth go inside, they find the four men waiting for them. Jackson looks on as Kellogg and the others take them to the basement and lock them up. Jim goes through the supplies, including salt, flour, sugar, and powdered pepper, and suggests they need a mixing bowl. Artie finds a stove pipe and the agents detach it and start filling it with the “ingredients.”



Upstairs, Kellogg assigns each man to dispose of one of their prisoners, unaware that Jeremiah is outside the window and knows what they’re doing.

Jim and Artie finish their makeshift cannon and Jim uses a hidden explosive as the propellant. As they work, Jim explains that Jackson and his men killed Carson, and Jeremiah witnessed the murders. He worked for Carson and had gone out that night to sleep with the animals. When he came back, he could only identify Jackson in the firelight. When he went to town a week later, everyone was leaving because the war was starting and there was no one to report to. Jeremiah traveled with a carnival, tending the animals and searching for Jackson. When the carnival came to Mill’s Creek a month ago, Jeremiah recognized Jackson. He went to the Secret Service and convinced them to help him with his plan to trick Jackson into confessing.

Kellogg, Mott, and Briggs go to kill their chosen targets, leaving Jeremiah for Jackson. Jackson is busy drinking and outside, Kellogg tells the other two men that they’ll have to dispose of Jackson afterward. They’ll claim that Jackson went mad and killed the others and then they had to kill Jackson. When they enter the cellar, the agents fire the cannon, releasing a burst of blinding powders. The agents make short work of them and Jim has Artie fire three shots into a bag.

Outside, Jackson hears the shots and assumes that his conspirators have done their jobs. An eerie whistling sound fills the air and Jackson follows it to the stable. The music stops, but the night rider emerges from the shadows and tells the rancher that he’s been waiting a long time for him. Jackson shoots the approaching apparition in the chest but the bullets have no effect. As Jim arrives at the door, Jeremiah drops down from the hayloft and shoots the gun out of Jackson’s hand. Sobbing, Jackson confesses to killing Carson and his family. Jeremiah shows them “Colonel Carson”: a skeleton in a uniform rigged with strings that Jeremiah manipulated like a puppet.



The next day, the cavalry take away Jackson and the others. Jeremiah mounts up and the agents ask him where he’s going. Jeremiah says that he’s heading home, but he admits that he hasn’t found it yet and plans to keep looking until he does.



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