Review of High Plains Drifter (1973) by Kevin R — 11 Jun 2009

You?re going to look awful silly with that knife sticking up your ass.

A small town called Lago in the mid west has a horrible secret that the townsfolk keep to themselves. Strangers who wander into the town are usually killed upon arrival by a local gang of hoodlums. One inauspicious day a stranger wanders into the town. When the stranger comes across three hoodlums and easily dispatches them, the town feels that the stranger may be able to rid them of the hoodlums; however, when the stranger discovers the town?s past, will he help the town or the hoodlums?

?Watch out for your feet, mam. They?re almost as big as your mouth.?

Clint Eastwood, director of Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Gran Torino, The Changeling, Pale Rider, Unforgiven, Letters of Iwo Jima, Flags of our Fathers, The Outlaw Josey Wales, and The Bridges of Madison County, delivers High Plains Drifter. The storyline for this picture is intricate and contains elements that maintain the audience?s attention. The acting is marvelous and the cast contains Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Mitch Ryan, and Geoffrey Lewis.

?The only problem you?ve got, sheriff, is a short supply of guts.?

I have always adored Clint Eastwood?s westerns. While this film is not as good as The Outlaw Josey Wales; Pale Rider; or The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly; this is still entertaining and wonderfully intricate. The flashback scenes seemed a little awkward and the stranger?s plan took a little longer than needed to unfold. Nevertheless, I still strongly recommend seeing this picture if you are a fan of Eastwood?s spaghetti westerns.

?He shot my ear off.?

Grade: B+.