Clint Walker, still trying to find his niche as an actor post-"Cheyenne", plays a reformed gunslinger in 1891 Arizona who is set free after 18 years in jail; unable to find work because of his reputation, he takes a job with a low-rent traveling western show. This is the old plot about the once-legendary, now-rehabilitated killer who is constantly put in harm's way by folks hoping to boost their profiles by challenging him. As a young hotshot with a bitchy-sinister stare, Paul Hampton gives one of the most excruciating performances I've ever seen. His overacting is made all the more noticeable by Walker's solemn, funereal under-playing (as if he were going to the gallows any minute). If you do watch, see if you can figure out why the early jail-break sequence takes place AFTER a group of prisoners have already been hanged. The title, presumably a twist on the old "Wanted-Dead or Alive" ploy, is mildly condescending in this context--although it serves to describe the film's handling accurately. * from ****

First off.. "More Dead Than Alive" is available on DVD. The movie is an interesting ,offbeat Western .Perhaps Clint Walker's most accomplished performance(I know, not saying much) as a paroled gunfighter(Killer Kane), not allowed a fair shake by the good citizens of the Arizona Territory. He goes into business with a stovepipe-hatted Vincent Price(subdued) as a side-show trick-shot, but his past still travels with his present.Paul Hampton is a standout as the young fast gun dead-eye(though he's never drawn on a live person).He's like a hopped-up Owen Wilson.The locations are authentic and the situations believable.The score ..kinda goofy.Well worth a look.

More Dead Than Alive turns out to be a surprisingly entertaining and fairly well-acted B movie.Clint Walker gives his typical "gentle giant" performance as Killer Cain, a convicted murderer who is released after 18 years in prison. After a senseless prison shootout in the beginning of the movie, you expert this film to be nothing more that a "shootem-up". However, once Walker's character is released from prison, the movie becomes a well-acted drama about such topics as prison reform, parole, murder, hero worship, forgiveness and the desire for fame.More Dead Than Alive's best performance is from Horror King, Vincent Price as Dan Ruffallo, a carnival barker with a traveling gun show. It's one of Price's best latter career performances.The kicker in More Dead Than Alive is the shocking surprise ending. So, if you're a fan of Clint Walker or Vincent Price, More Dead Than Alive is the film to see.

Despite its eccentric cast, MORE DEAD THAN ALIVE seems to be forgotten - for one thing, it's not even listed in the Leonard Maltin movie guide, and has never been released on video or DVD. Forgotten or not, it's one strange western! It starts off with a grisly (and lengthy) action sequence where the blood flies, then becomes sedate until near the end, where it suddenly turns grisly and bloody again! Inbetween it's a somewhat meandering but occasionally interesting western, with some bizarre directorial touches (like how many times a cut to another scene is done by someone or something walking straight up to the camera), but all the same has you wondering how this sympathetic ex-gunfighter will end up. You probably won't guess it, considering how the final scene had my jaw slack right open! Probably still worth seeing just for the chance of viewing Vincent Price in a western.