The opening hook is a real grabber. In fact, the movie's best scenes are the action among the other-worldly rocks and spires. 'Other-worldly' is apt since a caped figure called the Phantom Killer occupies the rocks with a deadly rifle and a shattering scream. So Ken's got a lot to contend with, since he doesn't even know his real identity or why cowboy Sykes and his gang are trying to kill him. Plus, just who's side is the Phantom really on; first it seems one and then the other. Good thing Ken's got Tarzan, the wonder horse, to help. And what matinee hero would be complete without a cute girl helper trailing along (Parker). Oh sure, it's standard matinee fare except for the creepy Phantom angle, and a couple of plot twists. At the same time, credit outstanding cinematographer Ted McCord for many of the complex scenic compositions. He later graduated to a string of A-productions including Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (1948). Unfortunately, my DVD copy had a lot of fuzzy sound, a consequence I guess of the many copies in circulation (IMDB Trivia). Nonetheless, the hour amounts to matinee time well spent and with an unexpected ending.

Some elements of melodrama and even Gothic horror are part of this poverty row western starring Ken Maynard entitled Tombstone Canyon.Ken's been sent for by a rancher who knows something of his parentage which Ken is unaware of. Growing up in an orphanage Ken has no clue of his background.There's a fellow who for years has a hideout in Tombstone Canyon where he does a whole Zorro act terrorizing one outfit run by Frank Brownlee and his son George Gerwing. But he's got a hideous look to him, more the Phantom of the Opera unmasked than Zorro. And he's as touched as the Phantom was living down in those catacombs of the Paris sewers.A whole lot of killings, a manhunt for Maynard who is blamed for all of them including a sympathetic sheriff before Ken puts it all together about himself and the Phantom. A bit of an unusual western for the Saturday matinée kid crowd, but entertaining.

In Tombstone Canyon, orphaned cowboy Ken Maynard comes to town to find out about past and tangles with a nasty group of thug cowboys and the disfigured Phantom, a black robed fiend who scares the hell out of all who enter the canyon, a sort of western version of the Phantom Of The Opera mixed with a bit of Batman, who at that time was still a few years off.This has excellent cinematography, good earthy performances by Maynard and the rest of the cast, and lines like "Turn around hombre! I'm a gonna' drill you right between the eyes!", that are pulp western gold.There's a thrilling climax atop some giant rocks and an ending that appears to have anticipated Return Of The Jedi by fifty years!Great stuff.

Within the context of a B western, Tombstone Canyon is close to perfect. Yes, it looks a lot like every other cheap western of its time, but the early 1930's were a great time for westerns. Ken Maynard never falters for the entire run time of this movie.As the movie starts we are introduced to the place known as Tombstone Canyon. Ken rides in to find himself unwelcome and the desired target of many ill-intended shots. Between the gang of bad guys and the mysterious phantom Ken has his hands full, but fortunately Jenny Lee happens to be riding through and fires a few helpful shots of her own. It is then that Ken learns more about Tombstone Canyon and the mysterious screaming phantom who kills as many of the Lazy S cowboys as possible. The phantom is not Ken's worry, however. He has traveled to meet a friend who has a secret to reveal, but by the time Ken arrives he finds out that his friend is murdered. Alf Sykes, owner of the Lazy S does not want Ken to learn anything, so he does everything he can to destroy Ken. The phantom also confronts Ken and threatens him. It is only at the end that Ken learns the secret someone wanted him to know, and the phantom's identity is revealed.Even if the plot was done hundreds of times over the years, it was done right in this 1932 movie. Most of the credit must go to Ken Maynard for making Tombstone Canyon so much fun to watch. His on screen personality was at its most captivating. Few western heroes looked as good and had the ability to act as well as Ken Maynard.