Tué à froid

Rather than a traditional western, this one's more of a psych 101 course in sociopathy - complete with childhood trauma motivating the creep who runs the show. It's mostly set in a small Montana town, vaguely in the late 1800s, thereby meeting minimal requirements for a "western". As the starring psycho, Philippe March's Jose Desmet oozes through a quietly creepy zone between the upscale brute approach of a Broderick Crawford or Lyle Bettger, and the wild-eyed lunacy of Klaus Kinski. The result is unique for the genre, but not particularly interesting. The rest of the cast is filled with cookie-cutter characters, generating little interest in who will do what to whom. That's actually fortunate, since you'd really hate its cheesy ending if you were still emotionally invested in the outcome. No need for this notch on your oater-count gun handle.