HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?) in '70s Horror and Sci-Fi Forum

0 Points

Forum Jump

HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)

Author	Comment
MikeTheMook	HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	Lead	[-]
Jan 3 07 9:17 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I just thought I'd throw this out and see what some of your opinions are. Would you classify this film as horror, or a horror sub-genre? There's no denying the supernatural elements, and I don't think Eastwood himself ever clearly defined just what his character was. It seems pretty clear to me it's an avenging ghost of the murdered sheriff. Therefore, to me, this can be looked at as a horror film set in a western backdrop. It has some downright creepy scenes in it, especially at the end when Eastwood steps out of the shadows in the background behind Geoffrey Lewis, silhouetted in flames.
	Remove this ad
WadeVC	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#1	[-]
Jan 3 07 9:46 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Being a HUGE Clint Eastwood fan (at least as it pertains to his westerns); and High Plains Drifter is one of my favorites, I guess it could be viewed as having elements of horror mixed in. Personally, I don't consider it as such...but it will be interesting to see how many (if any) do.
Monsterpal	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#2	[-]
Jan 3 07 9:56 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'll buy HPD as a horror-western. And that would make it the best of its sub-genre.
Rakshasa	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#3	[-]
Jan 3 07 11:11 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I'm a big Clint fan, and High Plains Drifter is one of my favorites. Defining it is tough. I like to think of it as an ambiguous western ghost story. I certainly like to believe Clint is not the sheriff's brother (as I THINK I've heard Clint say was in the original treatment), but rather an avenging angel of death. Of course, that last shot of Clint de-materializing into the desert heat vapor is my biggest argument for him being the ghost of SOMETHING. Is it real, or is it a mirage.... Anyway, the ambiguity is why I think I love it so much. As Dana Andrews says at the end of Curse Of The Demon: "Sometimes it's better not to know..."
rvoyttbots	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#4	[-]
Jan 4 07 1:17 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Definitely a ghost story. There is the scene where Billy Curtis presses him for his name and Eastwood replies, "You know who I am" or something similar. And the eerie music certainly adds to a sense of horror especially during the climax.
captainmarvel1957	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#5	[-]
Jan 4 07 6:01 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I could see High Plains Drifter being considered a horror film. And Pale Rider as well. About the only variation that Eastwood makes from Shane in that film is the inference that the Pale Rider is a ghost. Isn't he? He just fades away at the end of the film---or am I getting that mixed up with the end of High Plains Drifter?
Rakshasa	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#6	[-]
Jan 4 07 10:58 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	He fades away at the end of High Plains Drifter. *edit - I had the line wrong!
MikeTheMook	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#7	[-]
Jan 4 07 11:01 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Actually, at the end of the movie the little guy says to him, "I never did know your name", to which Eastwood replies, "Yes you do." Best wishes always, Technical Tom ;)
Rakshasa	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#8	[-]
Jan 4 07 11:13 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	That's it Mike! Absolutley. An interesting thing about the film is that in the flashbacks of the sheriff being whipped to death, it's clearly not Clint. That always confused me as a kid, as I would think "If Clint was the sheriff, how come there's a different guy in the flashbacks?" As I said earlier, I've read that originally the sheriff was going to be Clint's brother. I believe the whole avenging angel/ghostly aspects came in after that was originally conceived. James Lipton and Clint discussed this very issue when Clint was on Inside The Actor's Studio. Clint basically said he wanted to leave it ambiguous so the audience could decide what was going on. Great stuff. Glad you started this thread, Mike!
MikeTheMook	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#9	[-]
Jan 4 07 11:22 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	There is one closeup profile of the sheriff they show in flashback, where his face from the side is similar to Clint's, though clearly not him.
Rakshasa	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#10	[-]
Jan 4 07 11:44 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	There are a couple of shots of the whipping were you can see that the guy is much older than Clint. Once again (sorry for being repetative), I think this was because originally he was supposed to be Clint's brother.
	Remove this ad
MikeTheMook	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#11	[-]
Jan 4 07 11:55 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	You know I heard, and I can't recall where, that in the original script, Clint was supposed to be the dead sheriff's brother. Where did I hear that? ;D But seriously, you're right Rak. They kept two different actors in the film, and added the supernatural elements for something a bit ambiguous. That left it up to the audience to decide what was going on. "Is this the same guy, back from the dead, or what?"
CAPTAINCOMPANY	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#12	[-]
Jan 4 07 3:57 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hey guys! Although I am a huge fan of "High Plains Drifter", I have always wondered how much of the plot that Clint "borrowed" from Sergio Garrone's 1969 "spaghetti western", "Django il Bastardo/Django the Bastard" (released stateside in 1974 as "The Stranger's Gundown") In Garrone's film, Antonio de Teffe (a.k.a. Anthony Steffen) plays a Civil War era confederate soldier whose unit has been duped and subsequently massacred by their corrupt commanding officers. De Teffe's character survives, and spends the rest of the film as an ambiguous "avenging angel" (much as Eastwood does in "High Plains") The main difference being that de Teffe purposely repesents himself as a "ghost" in order to more effectively exact his "vengeance from beyond the grave". "High Plains Drifter" is definitely a superior film, but it definitely owes a debt to Garrone's earlier film. Bryan
Rakshasa	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#13	[-]
Jan 4 07 4:48 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hey B, I'm not familiar with that film, but it sure sounds similar. By the way, did I mention that the sheriff was supposed to be Clint's brother? DOH!
Bill Warren	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#14	[-]
Jan 4 07 5:00 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Doesn't seem to me to be horror, since there isn't an attempt to horrify. But whoever said it's ambiguous as to whether Clint's character is a ghost or not is on the money. I think we're not supposed to be able to decide for sure if he's a ghost.
Monsterpal	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#15	[-]
Jan 4 07 6:20 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Perhaps he's an "avenging angel" rather than a ghost. Still supernatural, but it would account for why he's not the same man in the flashbacks. Of course, if he had been the same man, everyone in Lago would have recognized him immediately.
Rakshasa	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#16	[-]
Jan 4 07 9:33 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* But whoever said it's ambiguous as to whether Clint's character is a ghost or not is on the money. That was me (Rakshasa, aka Doug)! (; Of course, Clint could still be the same guy (the sheriff), just in a different physical guise. *Quote:* Perhaps he's an "avenging angel" rather than a ghost. I concur with this possible concept. In fact, I mentioned it twice already in this thread (doesn't anybody read my posts?!.....(;
gugon	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#17	[-]
Jan 4 07 10:25 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	And furthermore, it's the ambiguity that makes it so effective. http://www.necromerica.blogspot.com
Rakshasa	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#18	[-]
Jan 4 07 10:37 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	...And the sheriff was originally Clint's brother! And...and.....ooooohhhhhhh......
captainmarvel1957	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#19	[-]
Jan 5 07 4:22 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It's been so long since I've seen either High Plains Drifter or the one I mentioned, Pale Rider, but isn't there a scene in one of them where his shirt is off and we see that his back is riddled with bullet holes?
MikeTheMook	Re: HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)	#20	[-]
Jan 5 07 6:53 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	That scene where Eastwood's back is riddled with bullet wounds is from PALE RIDER. Hey, where's Rakshasa been? We haven't heard from him yet.
	Remove this ad

<< Previous Topic Next Topic >>

Add Reply

Yuku free message boards

HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)

HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)