The Mystery of the Hooded Horsemen

To all you lovers of B-westerns, hold on tight...I am about to say something really, really mean. I've seen at least a hundred or more of these movies in the last six months and of all the cowboy heroes, the lamest I have seen is Tex Ritter. I know he had a lot of fans since he made so many movies, but I just can't see his appeal. Since these are particularly cheaply made films (even for Bs), the acting is among the worst and his singing, generally, is pretty limp. When you see a Ritter film and compare it to a Roy Rogers, Tim McCoy or Three Mesquiteers film, the quality difference is very noticeable--and not for the better.

In this installment, Tex investigates a group of hooded killers. They are NOT the KKK neither are they particularly scary. For example, there is one shootout scene where at least 100-200 shots are fired--and at the end, only one guy is hit! These must be the most myopic villains in film history--as the gang of a dozen or more don't manage to have even one of their bullets land!! The only bullet that hits its mark is one of Tex's--and for that, the community wants him to head a vigilante crusade--though they have no idea WHO these men are. All they know is that Tex's gun can apparently hit something...occasionally. But, when Tex dresses up as a hooded rider, d, now things look bad as the community now think HE is one of the dreaded gang (and you know that they are bad due to the skull and crossbones on their silly uniform). Can Tex extricate himself and find the real baddies? And, can he manage to sing a song that doesn't make your ears bleed? Well, as for the latter, no. His song "I'll Ride, Ride, Ride" is particularly painful--with all of its 'woo-woo-woos'! Of all the Ritter movies I've seen so far, this is probably the worst due to dopey villains and really, really bad acting. Only for die-hard fans who can look past all this. Limp and silly.