Memorable, crazy movie

A different way of telling a story

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

HARD BREED TO KILL is a very rare and very low budget Mexican western that recently was given a high definition release thanks to Vinegar Syndrome. I watched it on Amazon Prime. Although the film suffers from the usual problems associated with low budget filmmaking - i.e. choppy editing, poor production values, a generally cheap feel - it's a surprisingly efficient little thriller that works well on a very small scale.The story opens with a massacre at a farm. Everyone is killed by a gang of bandits led by imported American actor Slim Pickens, no stranger to the western genre. The only one spared is the wife, who is taken by the bandits. However, her husband isn't actually dead, and he soon recovers enough to give chase. That's the whole story.This western resembles a slasher at times in its depiction of the hero killing off the bad guys one by one. The special effects are limited, but at least the Mexican locations look good. The action is perfunctory but the direction is pretty decent with suspense being built throughout. Somewhat inevitably the ending is a bit of an anticlimax, but otherwise this is impressive given its lack of budget.