Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

A different way of telling a story

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

"More Dead Than Alive" is a good, solid Western drama. It doesn't really do anything special, and this viewer wouldn't consider it to be that offbeat, if indeed that's what it was going for. It's actually pretty familiar altogether, utilizing classic themes like the criminal who wants to leave his bloody past behind him, but can't deny who he was, and the changing times for the American West. It's got a little romance, and some potent violence in the "Wild Bunch" tradition. Certainly, it *looks* gorgeous (as does its leading lady, Anne Francis), and it is nicely acted.It's largely a vehicle for jut jawed Clint Walker, as the aforementioned former outlaw who vows to serve out his 18 year sentence. He gets out in the winter of 1891, and really tries to live a normal life. But most people won't give him a break, with the exception of traveling sideshow proprietor Dan Ruffalo (Vincent Price), who's attracted by the fact of "Killer" Cains' notoriety and hires him as a sharpshooter. He ends up raking in the big bucks, to the consternation of whiny "kid" (32 year old Paul Hampton), who doesn't like his star status to be threatened in any way.Walker is an old school tough guy, but also is able to create a reasonably likable character. You do want this guy to catch a break, even though the odds are against him. Hampton is memorable at being annoying and pathetic; now this is a character whom you *don't* like. The beautiful Ms. Francis adds a real human element since she is able to judge Walker as the man he is now, without factoring in his reputation. Familiar faces like Mike Henry, Harry Lauter, and Emile Meyer turn up, but it's Price that provides the film with whatever panache it has. He's clearly enjoying himself, but isn't excessively hammy. It's a treat to see him in this sort of setting.As was said, there's nothing great about this one - although there is one decent action sequence early on - but it remains watchable for 102 minutes. Viewers will be struck by the violent, unexpected ending.Seven out of 10.

You know, I really can't complain about most of the acting in this film. Clint Walker, Anne Francis and the always wonderful Vincent Price do their parts very well, and individual scenes are very well shot and acted.The setting was the Old West coming to an end, and the people who made it finding it hard to adjust to more "civilized" times. "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" hit on these themes the same year and a lot better. This was convoluted, at best.WHere I think this movie lost the war was in the editing room, where someone had to take all these scenes, and string them together in a coherent movie. A great example is the opening of the film, where there's this elaborate prison break in a military prison involving hiding in caskets brought in for a hanging. And then we never see those characters again (I don't think) and they have nothing to do with the rest of the plot.I think part of the problem was Walker himself. He comes off as such a nice guy that you don't believe for a moment he killed 12 people. Or it was 12 complete misunderstandings.Vincent Price is pretty good in this. While he's mostly remembered for horror films, they only comprise 25% of his credits. He did a lot of roles like this and he did them well. Anne Francis is great as a liberated woman trying to reform a fallen man.What hurts the movie is Paul Hampton as the young gun, Billy. Honestly, his performance is so over the top, so grating and so silly, it just ruins the rest of the movie. One wonders why the more experienced actors didn't tell him to ratchet down a bit.Now that I've checked the spoiler box, let's get to the ending. A "Lawyer" who has been seeking Kane out throughout the whole movie shows up at his ranch where he's living a nice life with Anne Francis, and then shoots him in his front yard because he killed his father 20 years before.I think this is part of where the western was trying to be "Daring" and "Bold" instead of being a conventional western. But it just didn't fit because the rest of it WAS a conventional western.Final point, reading everyone else's comments. Yes, the music was strange and totally inappropriate for the scenes it was used in.

This is a western with great direction and a very good cast. It's not your run of the mill shoot'em up. I saw this movie many years ago and have not forgotten it. I have searched high and low for it, but, cannot find a copy anywhere. It's worth the watch!

The first few scenes of "More Dead Than Alive" are fairly interesting. But as the movie progreses the title seems to fit the movie in a whole! Clint Walker plays Cain. He is in prison for murder. An escape goes down and he remains...yeah right. He is released and in search of a job in which Vincent Price plays a traveling sideshow owner who takes him on as a fastest gun entry. Blah blah blah blah blah. The only problem with this film is that it goes action packed to boring. It is truly MORE DEAD THAN ALIVE!