Review of High Plains Drifter (1973) by Sd W — 25 Dec 2014

I watched this movie in the early 70s on t.v. with my dad and I think it was one of those Premier Sunday Night movies of the week. This movie made a strange but strong impression on me.

This movie is different than any western ever made even for Eastwood because most westerns up to this point in time were nothing but shoot 'em up movies. It's not a typical good cowboy v bad cowboy with a gun fights, Indians, and saloon drinking. We've all seen it before. IMO this story could be a true story of any western town where the law is simple, people and the sheriff are scared, resources are scarce, and the bad guys basically will kill you in a heartbeat. If you look past the ghost story idea, this story is easy to believe. While watching Eastwood being whipped I was thinking how many times this really happened in the old wild west and all those bodies have never been found.

Even as a kid I knew that Clint came back as the ghost of Sheriff Duncan to exact revenge on his killers. It's no coincidence that his ghost returned just before the killers got out of prison.