The Quick and the Dead (1994) review

Writer and director Sam Raimi is well renowned for his contributions to the horror genre with iconic films such as Army of Darkness, and the Evil Dead so its no surprise his brief plunge into the Western genre with his 1994 ‘The Quick and the Dead’ has mixed reviews.

Sharon Stone stars as “The Lady,” whose break in the aptly named town of Redemption is interrupted by an intense scene, where she saves a preacher’s life and manages to get herself caught up in the town’s annual gunslinger tournament. It’s a heart-wrenching story about revenge, poverty and personal identity. It features a star-studded cast of Gene Hackman, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russel Crowe, and an appearance from Tobin Bell in a short respite from being the friendly neighbourhood serial killer.

The story interweaves three narratives, of a preacher (Russel Crowe) trying to leave a life of crime behind, and failing miserably, The Kid (Leonardo DiCaprio)’s desperation to prove himself to his father and The Lady, searching to avenge her father’s death at the hands of the town’s tyrannical mayor when she was just a girl. Sharon Stone masterfully takes the place of a John Wayne or Clint Eastwood type cast, and reinvents it with her own twist. She is every bit the rugged, world-weary anti hero, with a sprinkle of the femme fatale she is known for in movies such as Casino and Basic Instinct.

The off kilter cinematography such as the sheer amount of Dutch angle dolly shots is disorientating and lends itself to this offbeat narrative, and allows for many legendary scenes, such as the shot through a man’s head, or Herod’s bullet to the heart being revealed via the light shining through his shadow and the poignant shots of the town’s people stripping the bodies for valuables to have a larger impact as it emphasises shock value. The style has a modern Edgar Wright quality to it, that may have led it to be unappreciated in its day, but certainly a contemporary audience may find value in it.

Ultimately, I believe that both the creativity displayed and the unique narratives, especially when subverting Stone’s previous roles, leaves ‘The Quick and the Dead’ an underrated gem in Raimi’s filmography.