40 Years Later, Eastwood's Weirdest R-Rated Western Still Holds Up in 2024

Summary

• Clint Eastwood directed and starred in this movie.
• He plays a mysterious stranger who saves a town from an evil mining baron.
• Although the character's origins are never explained, he is clearly supernatural in origin.

Clint Eastwood's name is forever linked with the Western genre, where he spent decades playing gravel-voiced men who ride into town and win gunfights.

When you think of Clint Eastwood movies both in and out of the genre, certain words probably come to mind: words like 'gritty', 'serious' and 'brooding'. One word that you might not think of? 'Supernatural'.

That's what makes Eastwood's Pale Rider stand out in his lineup of movies. Eastwood produced, directed, and starred in the movie about a mysterious gunslinger on a white horse who answers the prayers of an oppressed town. Over 40 years later, the film remains one of his best.

What's It About?

It's the roughest days of the Old West, and a mining baron named Coy LaHood is trying to intimidate and outright bully the local prospectors into giving up their stakes. After a group of LaHood's toughs attack the mining camp and kill her dog, a teenager named Megan prays for deliverance.

Shortly after, a mysterious stranger on a pale horse rides into town. He doesn't give his name, so the locals call him Preacher because of the clerical collar that he wears. The only other thing we know about the stranger is that he's handy with a weapon and has the marks of six bullet holes in his back.

*Spoilers Ahead!*

Preacher successfully helps the miners defend their land. He can't be bribed by LaHood, whose next plan is to kill the man. But Preacher takes down all of the mercenaries, and when he finally comes face-to-face with Stockburn the man can only sputter 'You! You!' before Preacher puts six holes in him… in a pattern exactly matching the same holes in Preacher's own skin.

In spite of the love of a local woman, Preacher's job is done and he leaves as mysteriously as he arrived.

Who Is The Pale Rider?

Over the course of the movie it becomes clear that something supernatural is going on, but who – or what – is the Pale Rider?

Many believe that the character is Death himself, with the title of the movie coming from The Book of Revelation:

'And I looked, and beheld a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.'

This theory would explain why Preacher appears in response to a prayer from Megan, and how he manages to take down dozens of men without any fear or harm.

Although the movie doesn't give any explicit explanations, Eastwood himself later said that Preacher was a ghost. That explains why he appears with six bullet holes, and why LaHood recognizes him. In this interpretation, Preacher is a man previously killed by LaHood, who returns from the dead to exact revenge.

An Underrated Classic

Eastwood's most famous Westerns will always be the ones in his Man With No Name trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). But Pale Rider holds up as a terrific movie, especially because of its moody atmosphere and gorgeous cinematography. The fact that the character of Preacher is never fully explained also makes it a great re-watch, as you'll pick up clues that you never would have noticed the first time around.

Pale Rider is available to rent on Prime, YouTube, and Apple TV.