If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The acting in this movie is really good.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

A very Low-Budget, Alternative Western Penned by and Starring Jack Nicholson and Directed by the Minimalist and Philosophical Monte Hellman, this is Proof Positive that Quality, Engaging Movies can be Made by Thoughtful, Talented Movie Makers with just a Dab of Dollars.Along with its Sister Shoot "The Shooting" (1966), Neither Receiving an Initial American Release (Who was in charge of these things?), both Films are Now Considered Excellent B-Movies and have gained Cult Status.This one is more Bare-Bones in its Conceit than its Existential Other, it Works just as Well as "The Shooting", Just On a Different Plane of Existence. Jack Nicholson seems to Appreciate and Understand "Western Speak" and His Script, is Filled with Scant but Succinct, Spot On Dialog. When the Characters Talk it is from Experience and a Sort of Intellectual Insight. Their Words are Few but Meaningful Learned from the School of Hard Living.Cameron Mitchell is totally Believable as Nicholson's Riding Companion, and the other well Known Character Actor Harry Dean Stanton makes His Mark in a Small Role. But the whole Cast seems to be on the Film's Wavelength and All Contribute to the Experience and None Detract.Highly Recommended for Nicholson's Fine Script, Hellman's Sure Hand Direction, and a Cast of Truly Believable Actors Playing Truly Believable Characters. Everything Clicks and the Team of Independent Filmmakers Made a Western that has Stood the Test of Time and it would Not be Hyperbole to Call this a Minor Gem.

Eschewing the standard good guys versus bad guys fare formula that was the usual premise behind many a Grade B Western potboiler, maverick independent filmmaker Monte Hellman instead offers a fascinatingly stark and bleak meditation on fate, despair, and the hopeless plight of ordinary people struggling to survive in a grim and hostile world. Cowhands Wes (a solid performance by Jack Nicholson, who also wrote the intriguing script), Vern (an excellent Cameron Mitchell), and Otis (likable Tom Filer) are mistaken for criminals by a vigilante posse that's hell bent on lynching them. Hellman and Nicholson refuse to follow standard conventions as the deceptively simple plot unfolds at a deliberate pace. This movie's most notable achievement is the remarkable way it depicts the old west in a resolutely realistic and unromantic manner, with sparse dialogue and rough around the edges characters who are more concerned with just staying alive than they are with anything remotely resembling noble heroics. Harry Dean Stanton does well as scruffy outlaw gang leader Blind Dick. Millie Perkins likewise impresses as forlorn farm girl Abigail. Further enhanced by Gregory Sandor's plain cinematography, a spare melancholy score by Robert Drasnin, and a marvelously evocative use of the desolate desert landscape, this film has a real raw sense of gritty authenticity about it which in turn gives it an extra haunting impact.

A trio of cowboys, Vern (Cameron Mitchell), Wes (Jack Nicholson) and Otis (Tom Filer), stop to rest for the night at the remote hideout of a gang of outlaws led by Blind Dick (Harry Dean Stanton). In the morning, they find themselves surrounded by a vigilante hanging party and are forced to become fugitives due to a case of mistaken identity.Made back to back with "The Shooting", this is the second Monte Hellman, Jack Nicholson and Roger Corman collaboration of 1966. With Nicholson writing, starring and producing, fans of his films ought to make a point of seeing this, one of his earlier creative ventures.The point of making a second western back to back was to save money. Corman, always trying to cut costs, figured it would be less money to have the same set for two films, especially if the actors and crew largely overlapped. Hellman has said this plan may not have worked as well as intended. He concedes they saved money on travel expenses, but the film cost itself hardly changed. Of course, when you're dealing with $75,000 for a movie (almost an unthinkably low sum), how much wiggle room can there be? This film expresses a rather bleak, minimalist quality that does not sentimentalize the Wild West. On the other hand, the violence is portrayed less graphically than in the films of Sam Peckinpah like "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" (1973). Was Peckinpah inspired by Hellman? Perhaps, considering that Rudy Wurlitzer had written Hellman's "Two Lane Blacktop" just prior to working with Peckinpah.

Monte Hellman directed this more straight-forward western(compared with "The Shooting", filmed at the same time) about three cowhands named Wes, Vern, & Otis(played by Jack Nicholson, Cameron Mitchell, and Tom Filer) on their way to a cattle drive who accidentally become mixed up with real outlaws who robbed a stagecoach, killing the driver and are hunted by a group of vigilantes who aren't asking questions about innocence. When one is killed, the other two hole up with a family, forcing them to provide shelter, but that doesn't last long as fate soon catches up with them... Millie Perkins plays the daughter named Abigail. Good (if a bit talky) western is morally ambiguous but has a beautifully filmed finale.