"High Plains Drifter" has to be the weirdest movie Eastwood made. He was always basically an anti-hero in his Man With No Name flicks, but here, he plays another man-with-no-name who might better be called the Villain of the story.
Aside from the typical blood shed, Eastwood rapes a young woman in a shocking scene early in the movie. He goes on to take several bizarre measures to help prepare a town for the arrival of some outlaws, and this is no "High Noon" or even "Rio Bravo". When the townspeople meet to express uncertainty as to what this nameless stranger is doing with their town, we share their concerns. He is most definitely not a good guy, so what is he?
We see the three outlaws, two of whom are played by Eastwood regulars Geoffrey Bridges and Anthony James, under attack by the unseen nameless man, and it is like a scene out of a horror movie as they grow increasingly terrified. We are scared for them, not of them, and they are the bad guys!
The icing on the cake, though, is Eastwood having the whole town painted red so that it looks like Hell, a place we come to think his character belongs. We barely see the bad guys do anything, well, bad. They seem more like victims, especially during the climactic scene.
A strange movie, this one. The soundtrack is constantly eerie and effective. The movie approaches acid-western style oneirism. You are not really positioned to like or dislike any of the characters, or care for them. I love movies made by icons which do things differently, which is why I recommend you check it out.
Aside from the typical blood shed, Eastwood rapes a young woman in a shocking scene early in the movie. He goes on to take several bizarre measures to help prepare a town for the arrival of some outlaws, and this is no "High Noon" or even "Rio Bravo". When the townspeople meet to express uncertainty as to what this nameless stranger is doing with their town, we share their concerns. He is most definitely not a good guy, so what is he?
We see the three outlaws, two of whom are played by Eastwood regulars Geoffrey Bridges and Anthony James, under attack by the unseen nameless man, and it is like a scene out of a horror movie as they grow increasingly terrified. We are scared for them, not of them, and they are the bad guys!
The icing on the cake, though, is Eastwood having the whole town painted red so that it looks like Hell, a place we come to think his character belongs. We barely see the bad guys do anything, well, bad. They seem more like victims, especially during the climactic scene.
A strange movie, this one. The soundtrack is constantly eerie and effective. The movie approaches acid-western style oneirism. You are not really positioned to like or dislike any of the characters, or care for them. I love movies made by icons which do things differently, which is why I recommend you check it out.