Terror in a Texas Town

Starring: Sterling Hayden, Sebastian Cabot, Carol Kelly, Eugene Mazzola, Nedrick Young
Directed:  Joseph H. Lewis
Studio: Arrow Academy
Format:  Blu-Ray
Disc Release Date: July 11, 2017

 

About:

For his 41st and final feature film, Joseph H. Lewis was able to combine the two genres in which he had excelled. The man in the director s chair for My Name is Julia Ross, Gun Crazy and The Big Combo, Lewis was one of the all-time greats in film noir. But he was also a fine director of Westerns, having made A Lawless Street, 7th Cavalry and The Halliday Brand, all of which especially the last remain underrated. Terror in a Texas Town would bring his noir sensibilities to the American West, resulting in one of his finest works.

McNeil (Sebastian Cabot, The Time Machine) is a greedy hotel owner who wants to take control of Prairie City, the Texas town of the title. Keen to drive the local farmers of their land, McNeil hires a gunman, Johnny Crale (Nedrick Young, who would pen the Oscar-winning screenplay for The Defiant Ones the same year), resulting in the death of a former whaler. The dead man s son, George Hansen (Sterling Hayden, The Killing), arrives in town to inherit the farm and set the stage for revenge armed with only his father s old harpoon…

Terror in a Texas Town was written by Dalton Trumbo, one of the Hollywood Ten blacklisted by the film industry and forced to write under pseudonyms or to use fronts . Two years before he helped break the blacklist with on-screen credits for Otto Preminger s Exodus and Stanley Kubrick s Spartacus, his work was credited to Ben Perry, but it demonstrates a psychological depth and political dimension that is undoubtedly that of Trumbo.

 

My Review:

Terror in a Texas Town is not your standard Western filled with Gun Slinging. Its Bully Vs Swedish Whaler, Who Wins? George Hanson returns home after a long time at sea only to find out his father was killed and the rest of the town is being chased off and or killed for land they live on. A Greedy Banker hires a one Handed evil Gunslinger Assassin to help get this land which may or may not have oil on it. The Final Show Down pits A Gun VS Harpoon and a small town that may be doomed.

The plot was fun but has been done before granted it does bring in a few different elements to the table like a Whaler whom stands up for the town at the end of the film. He’ not a gunslinger but does have a Harpoon to face the bad guy during the showdown. Action wise were looking at a killer killing a few guys but we don’t get any big shoot outs. The Bad Guy does get under your skin some so you do hater the guy which is a plus. Acting wise its decent, the lead is rolling with a Swedish accent I think which may or may not bug you. I Found it OK.

Overall the film was a good watch, not a classic western but does bring a few different things. Its pretty short at 80 minutes and it’s not a hard watch. If your into westerns, I say give it a shot. But just know it’s not a big action film and some may find the acting off at times.

With that said I give this film a 3.5 stars out of 5 as I did enjoy the film.

Extras

 

  • Brand-new 2K restoration from original film elements produced by Arrow Films exclusively for this release
  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p)
  • Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM Audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Introduction by Peter Stanfield, author of Hollywood, Westerns and the 1930s: The Lost Trail and Horse Opera: The Strange History of the Singing Cowboy
  • Scene-select commentaries by Stanfield
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Vladimir Zimakov
  • FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector s booklet featuring new writing by Glenn Kenny

 

By Masked Avenger

CEO/Webmaster of soreelflix.com. The Name Is James and I love Film ranging from Silent 20's to highly CGI Blockbusters of today. Westerns, Horror, world film, basically anything that peaks my interest I own it But Asian Films are what I Prize the most and Half of My collection Consists of Asian Films. Thanks to the Film 5 Deadly Venoms I Hail From The US, Maryland Is where The Ninja Studies and views the Scrolls of Film That Shine on his 46" Screen. I own a sword, I can do a thousand upside down situps, and I randomly disappear in smoke when I'm not writing movie news and or reviews.

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