The Rawhide Terror (1934)

rawhide-terrorA B-western antique so low-budget that I’m surprised the horses aren’t guys in costumes. A bunch of ornery types in your standard dusty tumbleweed town get killed off one-by-one by a mad murderer who hides out in the brush talking to snakes and wearing an animal skin across the middle of his face that makes him look like he’s recovering from a nose job. Everybody’s trying to catch him, but they’re not doing so well. They’re also not doing so well at acting or having any screen presence. Meanwhile, co-directors Bruce Mitchell and Jack Nelson give this the short order cook treatment, slapping it together carelessly and wrapping it up quick (total running time: about forty-seven minutes) with a hair on the plate and the ham underdone. The plot description is more intriguing than the slug-paced film itself. It’s no buried treasure, but see this if you’re digging deep into the vintage B’s and want to get real subterranean.