Category Archives: Films of Sam Raimi

THE QUICK AND THE DEAD-United States-1995

Sharon Stone as Ellen

Gene Hackman as Herod

Russell Crowe as Cort

Leonardo DiCaprio as Kid

Directed by Sam Raimi

Written by Simon Moore

A lone woman rides into the town of Redemption and enters a quick draw competition. Her sole reason is icy cold revenge against the town’s ruthless land baron; the man responsible for the brutal murder of her father years ago. That is the entire plot of “The Quick and the Dead” in a nutshell. However, before you think I’ve gone off the deep end in reviewing a western for a horror film blog, allow me to explain. First of all, let us take note of the cast. There is a who’s who of sci-fi and horror alumni in the reels of this oat opera. There’s Lance Henriksen of “Aliens”, “The Terminator”  and “ Pumpkinhead”  fame, Keith David from John Carpenter‘s masterpiece “The Thing”, Tobin Bell from the” Saw” series, Roberts Blossom from “Deranged” and “Christine” and Mark Boone Junior from “Se7en” and “Memento”. That’s enough genre talent to make your own horror film with.

Now let’s look at  the lead cast; all of whom have either starred in great films prior to The Quick and the Dead, or have gone on to stardom since then. Sharon Stone (“Casino”, “Basic Instinct”) is great in her role as Ellen, the woman set on revenge against her father’s killer. In that duster and those leather pants, six guns by her side and a swagger in her hips she is Annie Oakley cum Jim Morrison as she blasts her way to the inevitable showdown. I will argue that next to “Casino” this is her finest hour as an actress. Equally brilliant is Gene Hackman as Herod, the town leader against whom she seeks retribution. Hackman is a master at playing villains of this caliber, and while some may argue that it’s merely a re-hash of his performance in “Unforgiven”, I say so what? No one plays a role like this quite the way Hackman does and I don’t think anyone ever will. Then of course we have Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio; both of whom have gone on to major stardom with their films “Gladiator” and “A Beautiful Mind” (Crowe); and “Titanic” and “Inception” (DiCaprio). In “The Quick and the Dead” their roles are smaller, but no less important.

Finally, we come to director Sam Raimi. Yes, that Sam Raimi. The man who made a star out of a guy named Bruce Campbell. The man who made us believe a man could swing from a web and look cool as hell doing it. The man who dragged us to hell and beat the hell out of our senses with The Evil Dead and the great sequels that followed. The Quick and the Dead has the Raimi stamp all over it. If you don’t believe me then compare the camera tricks in the film to the ones from his horror films. Especially awesome is the ‘bullet through the head’ cam. Yes sir, this is Raimi’s baby all the way.

I’ve watched “The Quick and the Dead” at least once a year since its release in 1995. Every time I watch it I come away from it with the feeling of having been entertained for the ninety or so minutes that I’ve invested my time in it. The film impresses me with the fact that it features a strong female lead in a genre that has long been dominated by men.

So there you have it; “The Quick and the Dead”. A western film with its feet dipped in the horror gene pool and all wrapped up in a neat little package with the Sam Raimi seal of authenticity. Isn’t it adorable?

Okay, scratch the ‘adorable crack’. That was a little bit too Perez Hilton.

TRIVIA

Sharon Stone hand-picked ‘Russell Crowe (I)’ to be in this film. The studio was initially unsure about this choice because Crowe was a complete unknown to the American audience.

Sharon Stone was so insistent that Leonardo DiCaprio appear in the film that she paid his salary personally.

Bruce Campbell had a cameo appearance during a wedding scene, but the scene was cut. Campbell says Sam Raimi created that scene for the specific reason of giving Pat Hingle something more substantial to do and was never intended to be in the movie in the first place. Campbell was also visiting the set on his day off when Raimi drafted him to play a skid-row character in several background shots. Although all of Campbell’s appearances ended up on the cutting room floor, he is still listed high up in the credits.

For obvious reasons, this is the only Sam Raimi film to date (2002) where his trademark beige 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 doesn’t appear in its original form. However, according to Bruce Campbell, the car makes an appearance in the form of a wagon’s chassis. He claims the car was disassembled and the chassis was used for the wagon.

½

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