The Hunting Party

One of the few films that portray violence in an honestly disturbing light (the influence of Peckinpah is obvious). Unfortunately, the writing comes up incredibly short with these thinly developed characters and such a bizarre idea for a premise. The acting doesn't give much to hold your attention either. Not surprising that Candice Bergen can barely make a moment work, but even the enormous presence usually created by Gene Hackman & Oliver Reed seems tamed.

A gang of bandits with a somewhat chivalrous leader kidnap who they think is a schoolmarm because the leader wants to learn to read. However, their victim is actually the wife of a rich and psychotic rancher who rounds up his buddies and hunts down the gang with high powered sniper rifles. Candice Bergen is very young and beautiful and Oliver Reed is incredible at projecting haunted desperation. A surprisingly bloody and nihilistic western.

As with the Clint Eastwood western High Plains Drifter, this has also got a rapist portrayed sympathetically, which to me is just too much. In general there's just too much wrong with this western scriptwise despite the fact that It's fairly involving and has decent acting (not necessarily from little Murphy Brown though).

Crude western driven by a very unconvincing case of Stockholm Syndrome. Watch it for a weird Oliver Reed performance, a really terrible Candice Bergen, and some pretty good brutal action.