Terror in a Texas Town

1958 Western

Rating: 14/20

Plot: A greedy oil tycoon is trying to drink everybody's milkshakes up. One of his thugs shoots and kills a Swedish landowner, and when his son comes for a visit, he finds out about it and gets all pissy.

Iron-hooked fury! They say you can't bring a knife to a gun fight. What about a harpoon though? This doesn't have a terribly original plot, but it opens and closes with one of the craziest Western showdowns you're likely to see--a ticked-off Sterling Hayden yielding a harpoon as he's marching down the dusty street to face the bad guy with his guns and black outfit. Slap my ass and call me Ishmael if that's not just completely badass. Sebastian Cabot is great as the oil baddie, but it's really Sterling Hayden's terrible Swedish accent that steals the show. I was distracted by having to figure out if he was supposed to be mentally challenged or not. Derivative, other than that bitchin' harpoon, but well shot with some solid character development, this isn't a great Western but it's not a bad one. And I'm not joking when I type that this might be the best Hollywood example of iron-hooked fury ever! Iron-hooked fury!