If the movie leaves you somewhat confused the first time around, you might try fast forwarding through it a second time like I did to pick up the pieces. That might clear up a a thing or two, but you'll still have to put up with some of the unresolved issues the flick has to offer. Most notable of these is the fate of Telly Savalas' character Don Carlos. In keeping with the erstwhile religious backdrop of the story, Don Carlos is crucified and left hung out to dry after being shot by one of his own henchmen. But what ever became of him - did he die? Interestingly, Savalas' entire screen time in the first half of the movie was played shirtless, but it did look pretty hot out there.
There's a great scene of Stella Stevens in one of the Priest's (Robert Shaw) dream-scape recollections, that of an angel of death bearing a dagger. It's too bad nothing ever came of that tidbit. Alvira (Stevens) arrives in town seeking the one who murdered her husband, tricked out as a coffin sleeping vampire wannabe. But again, the astonishing symbolism is allowed to fritter away to nothing, even after someone offers - "Now do we kill the witch girl?"
One thing for sure, the movie never goes where you think it might. Martin Landau appears as a Colonel on the trail of the mysterious revolutionary Aguila/the Eagle, and with the help of a blind man, identifies Robert Shaw's Priest as the one who killed the man in the Montes grave. The Priest concocts a story for Alvira Montes that he helped her husband kill himself so his name would live on as a martyr for their revolutionary cause. I say concocts, because if you study the flashback scene with the young and hairless faced Shaw, a man who looks like Alvira's husband in a picture shown earlier simply dies from bullet wounds, and quite unceremoniously at that. I'm open to other interpretations however.
If the picture wasn't surreal enough, you'll find yourself going 'huh?' right as it breaks into a party scene to the tune of "The Battle of New Orleans". It's not Johnny Horton's voice, and it's got additional lyrics compared to the commercial version. Dropped in where it is makes it seem like a mid film intermission.
But hey, if you're not in too serious of a mood, you might have some fun with this one, even as it teeters precariously on the traditional spaghetti Western fence. I can say this at least with some certainty, it's the only movie I've EVER seen where a character picks his nose on screen (a Mexican near the beginning of the film). The title of the movie would probably have been better served up as one of Clint Eastwood's spaghetti classics, but "High Plains Drifter" sounds a whole lot cooler.
There's a great scene of Stella Stevens in one of the Priest's (Robert Shaw) dream-scape recollections, that of an angel of death bearing a dagger. It's too bad nothing ever came of that tidbit. Alvira (Stevens) arrives in town seeking the one who murdered her husband, tricked out as a coffin sleeping vampire wannabe. But again, the astonishing symbolism is allowed to fritter away to nothing, even after someone offers - "Now do we kill the witch girl?"
One thing for sure, the movie never goes where you think it might. Martin Landau appears as a Colonel on the trail of the mysterious revolutionary Aguila/the Eagle, and with the help of a blind man, identifies Robert Shaw's Priest as the one who killed the man in the Montes grave. The Priest concocts a story for Alvira Montes that he helped her husband kill himself so his name would live on as a martyr for their revolutionary cause. I say concocts, because if you study the flashback scene with the young and hairless faced Shaw, a man who looks like Alvira's husband in a picture shown earlier simply dies from bullet wounds, and quite unceremoniously at that. I'm open to other interpretations however.
If the picture wasn't surreal enough, you'll find yourself going 'huh?' right as it breaks into a party scene to the tune of "The Battle of New Orleans". It's not Johnny Horton's voice, and it's got additional lyrics compared to the commercial version. Dropped in where it is makes it seem like a mid film intermission.
But hey, if you're not in too serious of a mood, you might have some fun with this one, even as it teeters precariously on the traditional spaghetti Western fence. I can say this at least with some certainty, it's the only movie I've EVER seen where a character picks his nose on screen (a Mexican near the beginning of the film). The title of the movie would probably have been better served up as one of Clint Eastwood's spaghetti classics, but "High Plains Drifter" sounds a whole lot cooler.