High Plains Drifter stuff, if anyone gives a damn....

[Dr.Kelvinstein]

Before anyone says anything---YES, High Plains Drifter IS horror, or at least has horror elements (I mean the main character is a ghost, after all).

Anyhow, last night I watched a spaghetti Western called The Strangers Gundown (that's its DVD title, but it's more commonly known as Django The Bastard) in which the main character is a ghost who is avenging his murder. The similarities between this and HPD were too many to be simple coincidence. The end is almost identical, all the way down to a similar one-liner that gives away the character's ghostly condition. The neatest thing here, though, was that before each gunfight, Django would hammer into the ground a cross with his opponent's name and the date carved into it. If you like HPD check it out, and it's a really cheap DVD, too.

[avenger00soul]

Thanks for the info Dr. K.

[Sam The Egg]

the only horror element is for 2 seconds at the very end of the movie. Nothing is intended to be scary

[avenger00soul]

High Plains Drifter came out a few years AFTER this movie. I'll have to check it out.

[Dr.Kelvinstein]

The term for this kind of Western is GOTHIC WESTERN. It has a solid film tradition, especially in europe where many of the early Westerns over there were directed by horror veterans. Anyone who quotes Rogert Ebert so much should know that.

Also, the scene in which Eastwood takes out the bad guys in "Hell" is at least a tad macabre.

[Sam The Egg]

who was that directed at?