One thing that I noticed was missing in the comments is that The Pale Rider is a ghost. The hints and clues are running right through the movie. For example while he is washing up for a meal we see a number of bullet holes in his back, tie this with the fact that when the marshall and his 6 deputees turn up later the Marshall said that he had earlier killed the preacher, also in the final shoot out the preacher comes up very close to the marshall and I wondered why is he closer than usual for a shoot out? then all becomes clear when preacher shoots him many times and the bullets go straight through and the camera makes a point of showing how they leave exactly the same pattern of bulletholes in the marshal (payback) Why would it be in the movie that he is able to dissappear at will? Consider this; when Megan is praying for help she asks for a miracle, she is later reading about the four horsemen from the book of Revelation in the Bible where the fourth horse is a pale one and the rider is Death with Hell following him. This is all very similar to high plains drifter and there is an interview somewhere on Youtube wher Clint himself says "Of course you know that he is a ghost.
Review of Pale Rider
