This was supposed to be Eastwood's fond adieu to the worlds of Sergio Leone and Don Siegel; and indeed he cuts the operatic excess of the former with the punchy economy of the latter.
Comment
02/09/06
High Plains Drifter (1973)
96
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:24
Fresh:23
Rotten:1
Average Rating:7.7/10
Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins
Genre: Westerns
Synopsis: In Eastwood's supernatural homage to his own cinematic roots -- the films of Sergio Leone and Don Siegel -- the residents of a greedy mining town conspire to murder their own sheriff when he... [More]
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Billy Curtis
Director: Clint Eastwood
Reviews for High Plains Drifter
Top CriticA funny, brutal, scary movie, daringly surreal in its mix of Western and horror themes.
01/01/00
Top CriticWhatever the reasoning, it is a gripping work, harsh and ahead of its time.
10/26/08
Top CriticClint Eastwood's first Western as director is rather fascinating due to its quasi-supernatural component.
07/03/09
Part ghost story, part revenge Western, more than a little silly, and often quite entertaining in a way that may make you wonder if you have lost your good sense.
05/10/05
Top Criticthe universal story in its most basic form
01/01/00
Clint Eastwood is the ultimate thinking man's cinematic killing machine.
12/06/05
Revenge doesn't do much for your claims to nobility, but more often than not it makes for some pretty good stories and lots of guilty pleasure.
01/23/03
Eastwood registers strongly as actor and director of this revenge Western (yet another critique of High Noon), with a style that's influenced by his mentors, the economic efficiency of Don Siegel with touches of Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns
04/13/07
Clint Eastwood's second film as a director -- and his first western -- is a minor classic.
04/03/05
High Plains Drifter will make an excellent double bill along with Eastwood's other post-modern Western, the 1992 Unforgiven.
01/22/03
This film is hardcore. Not hardcore as in lots of blood and guts, but more in that it's just plain nasty. Everyone therein is nasty, and the hero is the nastiest man in the flick.
01/01/00
There's some nice action here, and the whole thing is cloaked in an archetypal spookiness that makes High Plains Drifter work not only as a 'man with no name' Western but also as something a little deeper.
11/07/02
As a director, Eastwood is not as good as he seems to think he is. As an actor, he is probably better than he allows himself to be.
10/26/08
Top CriticClint's a supernatural amoral mythical hero (of the pulp novel kind), bent on cruelty and getting revenge for a past misdeed.
03/16/05
Eastwood's second directorial effort is mechanically stylish.
05/21/08
Top CriticOne of the best Westerns of the 1970s.
10/26/08
Top CriticPaint the town red, Clint. It's your strangest and one of your best westerns.
10/15/04
Savory Eastwood western.
11/14/05
Dark, bloody, and uncompromising; the ultimate deconstruction of the Western genre.
10/03/02
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube 
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds