A George Hilton movie in which I kind of enjoy his character? That’s a first. Last of the Badmen reminded me of One More to Hell, both film having for a protagonist an adulterous ladies’ man with a loose moral code played by Hilton (although, he’s more of an anti-hero in this one) who befriends a dangerous outlaw. The good news is that this one’s better. The character of the dangerous outlaw, Tracy, was very interesting (and well played by a surprisingly cool Frank Wolff) and I liked his interactions with Kitosch, who is not as good as he appears to be, but they could have developed the relationship further (especially their falling-out). The main interest in this film is, after all, not the story, but the dynamic between Kitosch and Tracy. There is a few other elements I really liked about the film (the fact that the main bad guy is on a quest for revenge or that the other “bad guy” seems to be a better person than the hero and the psychotic tendencies of Tracy), but a lot of it could also have benefited from more development or a better execution.
I have the impression that a more skillful filmmaker would have done wonders with this one. It almost feels like the director had no idea that he had a potentially great movie in his hands or maybe he didn’t care, because this is very routine stuff despite the interesting premise. Sometime it feels like it’s going for more, but it never really does, at least the actors elevates the whole thing. Enjoyable, but too mediocre in its execution to be much more.
