High Plains Drifter

So I just watched High Plains Drifter. A mean-spirited film.
High Plains Drifter is a 1973 Western starring and directed by Clint Eastwood. However at its core High Plains Drifter is a deconstruction of the Western genre. It starts as so many Westerns do. A stranger rides into a small town in trouble. Bandits are coming to town and the town commissions the stranger to protect them. However that's where High Plains Drifter turns the whole thing on its head. 
Everything's darker than it first appears. The stranger is not a stoic gunslinger helping the town because it's right or even for the money. He's an angry ghost come back for his vengeance. As it turns out the town is not the good god fearing place that it makes itself out to be. The stranger uses his position as the town's protector to cause as much chaos and destruction as possible leaving fire and death in his wake.
Right at the outset there's something strange about High Plains Drifter. Rather than the twangy vibes of an Ennio Morricone score this movie opts for something eerier. There's a sense of uneasiness throughout as the tension builds towards sudden explosions of violence. The town steadily transforms into a red fiery hellscape under the careful guidance of the stranger. By the time the bandits show up, the stranger has done more damage than they ever could. The stranger's vengeance is not settled in a triumphant quick draw, instead it's slow methodical and brutal.
High Plains Drifter should be no one's first Western. It's an angry film that's as bitter as burnt coffee. However if you're a fan of the genre or you've ever thought that Shane was too upbeat you should definitely check it out. I give High Plains Drifter 48 out 57 bullwhips.