Buffalo Rider began as an obscure 1976 Western co-directed by John Fabian, George Lauris, and Dick Robinson, but its deliberately odd premise eventually made it far more memorable than its reputation as a poorly reviewed film. Rick Guinn plays a loner named Buffalo Jones who tames and rides a buffalo—eventually identified as Samson—and hunts murderous buffalo hunters across the frontier. The film’s title character was not based on the real Charles “Buffalo” Jones; according to the production history, the filmmakers did not even know that historical figure existed until years after making the movie. Critics have described the picture as an unusually meandering hybrid of narrated documentary, frontier melodrama, and animal adventure, with an apparently very short script stretched to feature length. Its most troubling material involves alleged animal “stunts,” including footage that one reviewer said appeared to show buffalo being shot and animals forced into fights. However, the available account does not establish whether those scenes involved real killings or staged effects, so the animal-cruelty implication remains unverified rather than a confirmed production scandal. The film’s second life was even stranger: RiffTrax released a satirical commentary version in 2011 featuring Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett, while Austin band The Possum Posse transformed clips into the narrated internet song series “Guy on a Buffalo.” That viral remix later reached mainstream television when a clip appeared in Yellowstone’s 2021 third-season episode “All for Nothing,” in which ranch hands attempted to imitate the film’s absurd buffalo-riding premise.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1970s
The 1976 Buffalo Western So Strange It Became a Viral Comedy Classic
Buffalo Rider / 1970s
Buffalo Rider began as an obscure 1976 Western co-directed by John Fabian, George Lauris, and Dick Robinson, but its deliberately odd premise eventually made it far more memorable than its reputation as a poorly reviewed film. Rick Guinn plays a loner named Buffalo Jones who tames and rides a buffalo—eventually identified as Samson—and hunts murderous buffalo hunters across the frontier. The film’s title character was not based on the real Charles “Buffalo” Jones; according to the production history, the filmmakers did not even know that historical figure existed until years after making the movie. Critics have described the picture as an unusually meandering hybrid of narrated documentary, frontier melodrama, and animal adventure, with an apparently very short script stretched to feature length. Its most troubling material involves alleged animal “stunts,” including footage that one reviewer said appeared to show buffalo being shot and animals forced into fights. However, the available account does not establish whether those scenes involved real killings or staged effects, so the animal-cruelty implication remains unverified rather than a confirmed production scandal. The film’s second life was even stranger: RiffTrax released a satirical commentary version in 2011 featuring Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett, while Austin band The Possum Posse transformed clips into the narrated internet song series “Guy on a Buffalo.” That viral remix later reached mainstream television when a clip appeared in Yellowstone’s 2021 third-season episode “All for Nothing,” in which ranch hands attempted to imitate the film’s absurd buffalo-riding premise.
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