Customer Reviews

More Dead Than Alive

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you're prepared to forget one of the worst music scores in movie history and the fact that this looks and plays like a TV episode, then you're in for a reasonably enjoyable time. In fact, because it plays like a tv episode, it moves along at a fair old clip. The story is a cliche - gunfighter is released from prison but can't escape his murderous past. He joins a travelling Wild West Show (owned by a wonderfully hammy Vincent Price) as a sharp-shooter, much to the ire of the current gun-sharp (who's even hammier than Price). There's a lot of talk, and the big action sequence comes at the beginning of the film which tends to throw everything out of kilter. The other factor working against this is a lack of strong villains. The jealous gun-sharp is quickly established as a cowardly blow-hard, and the only other villain of note (played by ex-grid-iron star Mike Henry) disappears after twenty minutes and stays out of the action until right at the end. Even with all this working against it, More Dead Than Alive is an enjoyable, undemanding romp. Vincent Price bites the dust in what is possibly his bloodiest on-screen death (with maybe the exception of Witchfinder General) and there's a down and dirty fight between Walker and Henry at the end (even if they do tend to throw too many things at each other). I took the risk in buying this dvd and was pleasantly surprised.

As the country changed, so does popular culture. And the Western genre, which had been a movie mainstay for thirty years at this point, began to change. The Western was traditionally one of the most stable and dependable genres. The good guys were good, the bad guys were bad, and happy endings were always in store.

More Dead Than Alive is very typical of the Westerns that took over the genre in the late Sixties and early Seventies. The good guys were not always so good, the bad guys were either not so bad, or even worse than the typical bad guy, and the ending was never a happy one.

To be really subversive, More Dead Than Alive starred a Western stalwart, Clint Walker, who came to fame as Cheyenne Bodie in the long running TV western Cheyenne. Walker plays "Killer Kane", a notorious gunfighter who is freed from prison after 18 years. Kane is determined to live a respectable, law abiding life, but can't catch a break. He can't find a job except as a sharpshooter trading off of his reputation in a Wild West travelling show owned by Vincent Price. Price already has in his employ a young sharpshooter who becomes jealous of all of the attention that Kane is getting. Kane is also being pursued by a gang of outlaws seeking revenge.

The film seems slow at times, and features a conclusion that is sure to upset traditional Western fans. Everyone does their best, but the film seems too smart for it's own good. Actors walk directly into the camera, there's a touch of spaghetti western in the dialogue and direction, which really doesn't go with the nature of the film, and the film seems to really be a subversive parody masquerading as a serious Western. More Dead Than Alive is not the worst Western, but many will find it to be slightly below average.

Made just before the "wild bunch" this features several bloody shoot-outs with vincent price getting a gun(in slow-mo)emptied into him. Much of the movie has walker unsuccessfully re-starting his life after leaving prison. His past as gunfighter keeps him from getting hired anyplace where he is known, his limited work is ruined by old enemies and some new ones, it is hard to keep track of how many people want him dead. A friendly carnival owner(price)is only out to exploit him while his other young sharpshooter tests cain's skills and patience. Painfully, he meets a good, loving woman, that he knows he can't have around when his past frequently catches up to him. The beginning hanging/prison break scene gets the movie off to a good start. My favorite scenes are when "killer kane" teaches the young cocky fast-gun lessons that are soon to be tested for real, and kane's ending fight with former "tarzan" mike henry. Clint Walker is his usual cool self with Vincent Price good in a totally different role.

1968 the middle of the Italian western craze. American westerns were being re-invented by the Italians and John Wayne was doing other things besides westerns. In the middle of this came this western. Let's be frank it is not a well made western, especailly for the time it came out. The whole movie has a TV feel and is populated by vetern TV actors. Clint Walker is not known for his acting prowless and Vincet Price is not know for his subtle acting, but they aren't the bad actors here. That honor goes to the kid gunslinger who is somewhere between a psycho and a spoiled child. The music really sucks. The sets are real live TV sets and that means they look fake.

Okay I have ripped the movie, but I like it. That is right I like it. I like it for its writing. There are some scenes between Walker and the kid thaat are honest. One scene Walker tells the kid that he never met one of his victims in the street to draw guns. Walker goes on to say that he told his victims he was coming and that was as fair as he was going to be. Another scene the kid tells Walker that he wishes he had been around the time where there were gunfighters. The kids thinks he would have so fast that he would beaten anyone. Walker tells him that he, the kid, would have been so fast that people would have shot him in the back rather than face him. Of course there is the scene where Walker tells the kid that he would have died in the old times because the kid after firing six bullets put his gun back in his holster empty. This really hits home at the end. All of this is true. This is the way the gun men fought. There were very few face to face even steven gunfights and fast draws meant you usually got killed by the slower and more accurate shot. If you don't believe me read your history. This type of truth was NOT popular with Hollywood or the Italians and of course with the audience becasue this moview failed.

The ending....well let's say it was a foreshadowing of the bleak westerns that were made by Americans in 1970s.

Bad production values yes. Great writing? Well it was truthful!

Why is this film rated R? That is the biggest question I have to pose in this review. I have researched this movie thoroughly and have found differing information. It was originaly rated GP (the equivalent of PG-13) in 1969. A 2005 re-rating saw it rated R for some violence...
Is it really a rated-R movie? No one seems to know. Some comment on its hard-edged graphic violence. Others say that although the violence was bad for the time, by todays standards the blood shown on screen really isn't that bad and only needs a PG-13... One reviewer even commented that the film was extremely clean and differed from the trashy movies of today in that it can be watched without a remote...
One reviewer mentioned that the DVD version was edited, another said that it contained both the edited and non-edited versions on different sides of the disk.
[...] called it Questionable for children...
So the question arises, "Is this really a rated-R movie."
The answer:
I don't know.
I have not seen this movie and would appreciate it if someone would write a review detailing the violence, sexual content, and language contained in this film, as I am (a Clint Walker) considering buying it for family viewing...
Any information would be appreciated...
A teenage film buff.

The story is very good. Clint Walker and the supporting cast are good also.
The problem here is the music score does not in any way go along with this movie.
I also believe that the director did not get the most out of this fantastic cast.
This could have been a whole lot better.

Great movie but this version was edited....I do not know why big studios like MGM would release an edited version of a movie...

I don't get the bad reviews! I guess people expect too much
now days. I collect Vincent Price so I had to have it and
my dad was big Walker fan and I like some of his movies.
I loved him in Scream of the Wolf TV movie with Peter Graves.
Anyway this movie is well made. Good writing and directing.
The story is an original story of a gun fighter who is set
free after serving his time but can't find a job so he takes
a job in a shooting gallery working for Price. I think it's
great I've watch numerous times. I think if your a fan of
either Price or Walker you should like this movie! Better
than any crap hollywood is spewing out these days!

Clint Walker is another undersold actor who specialized in westerns. He has an easy going way about him which makes him extremely likeable.

I was first introduced to Clint Walker through Encore Westerns' replaying of the classic TV series Cheyenne. It turned into a show I really liked. So, I figured I'd watch this Walker movie. Long and short, Clint Walker plays an ex-con fighting against prejudice to try and live a normal and peaceful life after serving 18 years.
Okay, there's a lot of potential there.
Sadly, none of it was used.
The writing was typical of the era's new breed of filmmakers. Back in that time, they went for the "symbolism" and that generation produced greats like Deliverance and Cool Hand Luke, and a lot of cynical dogs like this.
Walker is forced to join a traveling Shoot 'Em Up Show run by Vincent Price and is hounded by the show's main attraction, a young fast-gun who is just itching to test Killer Cain in a shoot-out. Of course, Walker (Cain) declines.
And it turns into one of those "I don't do that anymore" movies.
Which is fine. Only normally in an "I don't do that anymore" movie, it may be cliche, but at some point they DO "do that" again, and normally it's to save a town, save a love, avenge a murder, etc. Again, cliche, but who cares? It's a western.
This movie went so far out of it's way to seem like some kind of work of art, the story turned out thin and haphazard, laborious to watch, and in keeping with the artistic B.S. of filmmakers who thought too much of themselves, they shove a bad ending down your throat at the end.
Because, well, the movie just wasn't considered "deep" back then unless the movie left you feeling empty, disappointed, and a little ticked off.
Cool Hand Luke was great enough writing-wise to be able to do that.
This movie is not.