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

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HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)

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VoodooRob		#61	[-]
May 4 12 4:14 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I am surprised the supernatural western genre never caught on. Are there any other of the genre? I noticed a mention of the term Goth Western. I cannot imagine! Hellbilly Hollywood - write-ups, reviews, and random info on horror, sleaze, and grindhouse. From movies to video games to comics to trailers to music, HH covers it all.
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Lawrence Fechtenberger		#62	[-]
May 4 12 9:31 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Bluesman Mark wrote: While it may not qualify as an out & out horror film, HPD has inarguable supernatural elements in it, Oh, we can argue about them.
Lawrence Fechtenberger		#63	[-]
May 4 12 9:33 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	SteveZodiak wrote: I've never thought of the identy of "the stranger" to ambiguous. At the end, when the guy asks him who he is, the stranger, says" you know", the guy gets a weird fearful look, and the camera pans to the name Jim Duncan on the newly carved grave marker. Not ambiguous to me, despite whatever Clint may have said afterward. But if the Stranger is the sheriff's brother, then they have the same family name. That could be the point of panning to the grave marker.
Lawrence Fechtenberger		#64	[-]
May 4 12 9:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Rakshasa wrote: I 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.... I cannot remember exactly where I read this, but I do remember reading an interview with Eastwood in which he said that this was actually a phenomenon he had seen several times in the desert--the heat somehow makes people become suddenly visible or invisible at certain distances. He did not mean for this to be proof that the Stranger was a ghost, but another bit of ambiguity.
Monsterpal		#65	[-]
May 4 12 11:32 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	He's a mirage.
msotis		#66	[-]
May 5 12 11:05 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Monsterpal wrote: He's a mirage. "Mirage? That's where you keep your automobile...". Curly Howard "Mordecai, do 'dis... ... Mordecai, do 'dat."
Rakshasa		#67	[-]
May 6 12 12:57 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Nice, MSOTIS! I had no idea he was in PLANET OF THE APES. Very cool... Links To All The Classic Monster Stills I've Posted: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/30758
msotis		#68	[-]
May 6 12 2:19 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Haha Rak! I couldn't make up my mind just which thread to put it in.
Godziwolf		#69	[-]
May 7 12 4:02 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	VoodooRob wrote: I am surprised the supernatural western genre never caught on. Are there any other of the genre? I noticed a mention of the term Goth Western. I cannot imagine! Tremors and Near Dark come to mind.
VoodooRob		#70	[-]
May 8 12 7:23 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Godziwolf wrote: VoodooRob wrote: I am surprised the supernatural western genre never caught on. Are there any other of the genre? I noticed a mention of the term Goth Western. I cannot imagine! Tremors and Near Dark come to mind. Yeah, I can see that. But I was thinking more so the wild west meets the supernatural. Too bad Hammer never did one! Hellbilly Hollywood - write-ups, reviews, and random info on horror, sleaze, and grindhouse. From movies to video games to comics to trailers to music, HH covers it all.
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Gadfly		#71	[-]
May 10 12 7:31 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	First, for those interested, CostCo (at least the one in Manassas, Virginia, and I'll assume the others) is currently selling High Plains Drifter along with Destry Rides Again and Winchester '73 in a combo pack for just $9.99 total. VoodooRob wrote: Godziwolf wrote: VoodooRob wrote: I am surprised the supernatural western genre never caught on. Are there any other of the genre? I noticed a mention of the term Goth Western. I cannot imagine! Tremors and Near Dark come to mind. Yeah, I can see that. But I was thinking more so the wild west meets the supernatural. Too bad Hammer never did one! Hey, who needs Hammer? We've already got Billy the Kid vs Dracula and Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter. What more could you want? Seriously, though, one of my favorite Bonanzas was an episode titled "Twilight Town" (currently available here) in which Little Joe encounters a real ghost town. They add a note of ambiguity toward the end as to whether Joe's adventure was real or imagined, but I'd say the indicators in the program lean toward "real". And the ambiguity gives a doubting Ben Cartwright the opportunity for a consoling little speech to his insistent youngest son where Ben says, "When a man knows something, he really knows - deep down in his heart - he doesn't have to prove it or argue - just knowing is enough." Gadfly
clore103051		#72	[-]
May 10 12 9:33 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	If you want a supernatural western, you could do worse than SUNDOWN: THE VAMPIRE IN RETREAT. Hey, it's got Bruce Campbell as Van Helsing, David Carradine as a vampire plus Dabbs Greer and Carpenter regular George "Buck" Flower also show up: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098412/
Grant		#73	[-]
May 10 12 10:43 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Not to have a one-track mind (though I seem to), but if you DO subscribe to the theory that he's a ghost, where does the situation with the two women put him? Could he be considered an incubus, so to speak?
amarok		#74	[-]
May 11 12 10:07 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	There have been whole books about ghosts/spirits/incubi/poltergeists/what have you engaging in hanky-panky with the living. Some cultures see ghosts as being more "substantial" than Western civilization usually thinks of them.
bbra		#75	[-]
May 25 12 11:41 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	If High Plains Drifter is a horror film, it fails for me (except for the eerie shot with Eastwood's character appearing in the flames). It is, however, a very good western, a wonderful fable of vengeance, and an extremely satisfying movie. But, admittedly, I'm a simple minded girl when it comes to art, literature, and movies. An action film should move, a science fiction film should extrapolate, comedy should amuse, horror should horrify.
Grant		#76	[-]
Jan 28 13 11:22 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	amarok wrote: There have been whole books about ghosts/spirits/incubi/poltergeists/what have you engaging in hanky-panky with the living. Some cultures see ghosts as being more "substantial" than Western civilization usually thinks of them. The comedy flipside is THE SPIRIT IS WILLING, where Barry Gordon's character has a "Summer of ' 42" kind of scene with a female ghost!
Grant		#77	[-]
Jan 28 13 11:36 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Not to overanalyze it, but there's one set of opposite ways the story treats the two women when it comes to the rape scenes. Even though she isn't pictured in a good light generally, the Callie character puts up a real struggle. But the Sarah character, who's pictured as brave and self-reliant, stands there for a couple of seconds with a shocked look, as if she's immediately giving in to being dragged to the bedroom, even before it happens. Sure, she already has an attraction for him, but is that the only reason for standing there till she's grabbed? Does she see him as a "unstoppable force" by now?
Godziwolf		#78	[-]
Jan 29 13 10:46 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Grant wrote: Not to have a one-track mind (though I seem to), but if you DO subscribe to the theory that he's a ghost, where does the situation with the two women put him? Could he be considered an incubus, so to speak? His motives and back story seem inconsistent with an incubus. The concept seems most like an Egyptian ka -- sort of a cross between a revenant and a doppleganger. The twist is that his reincarnated form is apparently not physically identical to his original one. I sort of subscribe to the idea that he's a corporeal spirit of vengeance. He's not necessarily Jim Duncan in either actual form (he's not a zombie) or in actual spirit, but he certainly seems to possess Duncan's memories, and his motives seems to be to avenge Duncan's personal tragedy. He could well just be Duncan's brother -- as some versions of the script make him -- but Eastwood himself tends to reject that idea, and it's somewhat inconsistent with the script itself. (No one knew Duncan had a brother?) Last Edited By: Godziwolf Jan 29 13 10:53 AM. Edited 1 times.
Godziwolf		#79	[-]
Jan 29 13 10:59 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	VoodooRob wrote: Godziwolf wrote: VoodooRob wrote: I am surprised the supernatural western genre never caught on. Are there any other of the genre? I noticed a mention of the term Goth Western. I cannot imagine! Tremors and Near Dark come to mind. Yeah, I can see that. But I was thinking more so the wild west meets the supernatural. Too bad Hammer never did one! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weird_West#Films Here's a list. I forgot about some of these. Another variation is the supernatural samurai movie, which follows a lot of the tropes of a supernatural western. 13 Assassins is a good example. The movie strongly suggests that one of the assassins is not human.
drmedula		#80	[-]
Jan 29 13 12:15 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	A number of Spaghetti Westerns contain either horrific or vaguely supernatural elements. As already mentioned, many fans consider HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER to be an unofficial remake of DJANGO THE BASTARD (aka THE STRANGER'S GUNDOWN). DJANGO KILL (aka IF YOU LIVE, SHOOT!), another "unauthourised"' Django sequel, has a similarly ambigous tone, and was considered notoriously violent in it's day (it includes a scene of a man being torn apart by a mob with their bare hands). On the other side of the spectrum, THEY CALL HIM HOLY GHOST features Gianna Garko as a white-clad gunslinger with a dove on his shoulder who introduces himself as "Harold" (wink, wink). Last Edited By: drmedula Jan 29 13 12:26 PM. Edited 1 times.
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HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (Is It Horror?)