High Plains Drifter
Director: Clint Eastwood
Year Released: 1973
Rating: 2.0
Yet another Man With No Name played by Clint Eastwood rides into a small town and gets involved with their affairs - this hapless village needs serious help defending itself from criminals and they convince Eastwood to be their enforcer. It's the 'existential' tag that works against this one-dimensional picture - Eastwood's outlaw is the ghost of a former sheriff (supposedly), and his need for revenge is really all there is to the plot, as he robs the town blind (with their consent), destroys most of it, defaces the rest, rapes two women (and we are to believe they needed a good raping or two) and systematically kills a lot of the townspeople ... but the rest keep implausibly begging for him to stay (anybody ever hear of cutting their losses?). I'm assuming Eastwood - at least partially - meant for this to be viewed as tongue-in-cheek, but it's a little too brutal for that to come across.
