A gunman (Craig Hill) returns to his earlier life when the Carter / Castle brothers shoot his friends and he is threatened with being separated from his son.
The hands of the Gunfighter is one tense psychological western with plenty of coldblooded moments. Once the brother of three Badmen gets shot in the back, shocking acts of violence spins out of control - a young man, his wife and dog are killed, the bad guys set a jail cell on fire with a prisoner inside, and Dan challenges a Castle brother to a strange duel, Russian roulette style. Then shoots him dead. Phew! This western serves up one mean menu. It's less spaghetti and more of the traditional side with shades of Anthony Mann-Stewart westerns. The ending is quite shocking in a Shakespearean tragedy way. It's a fairly watchable western and has some exciting action scenes, but it's little on the grim side with a tragic ending. I like my westerns with light and shade and good endings but if you want a western that doesn't mince words and shows how violence begets violence then this would be up your alley. One thing, though, you do think about it way after it's finished as there are some strong message/scenes.
