More Dead Than Alive (1969) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Notorious gunslinger "Killer" Cain (Clint Walker) gets out of prison after eighteen years for killing a man and he can't quite learn to deal with the current times. He ends up working for a traveling show ran by Dan Ruffalo (Vincent Price) who makes money showing off gunfighters from the past. Before long Cain's past is trying to catch up with him and a young kid (Paul Hampton) who becomes jealous.MORE DEAD THAN ALIVE is certainly a flawed picture but at the same time it's one that's very much worth watching if you're a fan of the genre. The strange thing about this picture is that fact that it's incredibly old-fashioned and you have to wonder why the studio would make a picture like this when the various Italian Spaghetti Westerns were taking over theaters. Was this an attempt to try and milk money out of people who weren't happy with the new style?With that being said, what I enjoyed most about this picture were the performances, which I found to be excellent. Walker dose an excellent job in the lead role as a man wanting to get away from his past and not return to violence. I thought Walker was very believable in the role and he certainly made the character someone you cared for. Price is wonderfully delightful in his role as the carnival barker who always has the smart thing to say. Anne Francis does a good job in the role of the love interest and there's no question that Hampton is great as the villain.The film's plot is pretty predictable and I'd argue that the film really doesn't do anything original. The story of a bad man trying to stay out of trouble really isn't anything original and there's certainly nothing fresh done with it here. The film does go on a bit too long but as I said there are quite a few very good things about it. Not only the performances but you get some nice cinematography, some great locations and there's no doubt that the film is fun for what it is.

See it – "Even the fastest gun can be beaten. Things are different when the target can shoot back." In this largely unknown western, Clint Walker plays a reformed convict who vows never to use a gun again. Things change when he has trouble finding a job and agrees to become the main attraction of a traveling wild west show. But when the star trick-shooter gets jealous, there could be trouble. This is one of the most unique westerns ever made. It has a great story, a smart script, and a shocking ending. The only problem is that there is a gunfight at the beginning and at the end and nothing in between. If you get bored easily, stay away from this one. Otherwise, enjoy a one-of-a kind western.

In this above-average but gritty western, a reformed gunman named 'Killer' Cain (Clint Walker of "Cheyenne") emerges from prison after serving an 18-year sentence for murder and struggles to earn himself an honest living. Veteran television director Robert Sparr's turn-of-the-century oater "More Dead Than Alive" functions as a morality play about redemption and poetic justice marred by a downbeat Old Testament ending. Essentially, the theme of this low-budget but well-made horse opera is that you reap what you sew. In other words, what goes around comes around. Sparr is sparing with his use of slow-motion violence, but the death scenes are rather gritty. Nevertheless, watching Vincent Price die from multiple gunshots to the chest is something that you don't always see, and "More Dead Than Alive" is one of those westerns made when slow-motion violence in movies was in vogue. Certainly, Sparr pulls no punches in this western and Walker is thoroughly sympathetic as the ex-convict who wants to do nothing more than settle down with the lovely Anne Francis rather than ride the owl hoot trail. Life is particularly cruel to Cain, who grew up on an army post and rarely saw much of his father, and he finds it even more difficult to follow the straight and narrow. Initially, when he left prison, he told himself never to touch a gun again. Of course, our protagonist isn't fortunate enough for this to happen. He gets a job as a bouncer at a saloon, but he is fired when the owner learns that Cain gave him a false name. Cain is basically a transient who cannot hold onto a job for any length of time, until he meets the savvy and sagacious Dan Ruffalo (Vincent Price of "The Last Man on Earth") who puts him to work in his 'Wild West' traveling,'shoot'em up' sideshow. Mind you, Ruffalo's current attraction, a swift-drawing, sharp-shooting kid named Billy Valence (Paul Hampton of "Women of the Prehistoric Planet"), isn't pleased when Ruffalo replaces him with Cain. Ironically, Valence can shoot the wings off a gnat at thirty paces, but he doesn't have the intelligence to survive as a gunslinger. Primarily, he is a hot-headed youngster who understands nothing about being a gunslinger. In a sense, the relationship between Valence and Cain is the stereotypical relationship between an older man, a mentor, and a younger man. Meantime, Cain meets a beautiful young lady, Monica Alton (Anne Francis of "Bad Day at Black Rock") when she is painting a ghost town. Eventually, they become a couple, b up justice never lets up pursuing Cain and nothing of his redemptive acts saves his life. Sparr keeps things moving along at a normal pace until the surprise ending.

Yes, this is a change of pace from the standard American western. Instead of the usual action and movement, we get a lot of dialog exchanged in enclosed places, as if this were a TV drama from the early 1950s. While the results aren't bad, they're not recommended, either, which is unfortunate since there are ingredients here for a good movie, and the eclectic cast is better than average. In what other movie can you find "Cheyenne," (Clint Walker), "Dr. Phibes," (Vincent Price), "Tarzan," (Mike Henry), and "Altaira" from "Forbidden Planet," (Anne Francis)? Incidentally, while Clint Walker and Mike Henry possessed two of the finest physiques ever to strut across the silver screen, neither man takes his shirt off in this movie. What a waste!