Review of Death Rides a Horse

In this film, a young man by the name of Bill has witnessed the murder of his family by robbers. The murder of his father and the brutal rape and subsequent murder of his mother and older sister leave him mentally scarred and anguished. More than a dozen years later, he plans to extract revenge. Leaving the love of his life, he embarks on a journey that will ultimately change his life. During his journey, he meets one of the robbers who he discovers was left by the rest of the gang to take the blame for the crimes and serve years on a chain gang. As might be expected, sparks fly when the two first meet; however, they quickly discover they can both meet their goals far easier if they team up together. Bill is still interested in getting revenge for his family while Van Cleef, the unfortunate robber, wants to get back the money the rest of his former gang took from him. Although their relationship is tenuous the two learn to trust one another in a grudging way. At one point they are even forced to break one another out of jail.

If you’re a western fan, you surely won’t want to miss this film. The surprise ending will leave you awed. Van Cleef’s performance is truly one you won’t forget in awhile, particularly the well developed glimpses of the compassionate side of his nature which his character tries to mask behind that of a hardened convict. Through numerous scenes we see him actually acting as a father figure to the younger man, doling out advice to the young man who is still consumed by anger and rage.

A plot twist provides a nice bit of surprise, keeping it from becoming a stereotypical western revenge film.

 

only $4.50