The Shooting

Director Monte Hellman used his beloved hunter as hunted theme for his near-existential western The Shooting. Jack Nicholson and Warren Oates are starred in this bare-bones tale of an ex-bounty hunter (Oates) with a price on his head and the cocky young gun (Nicholson) who hopes to collect. The film seems to be exclusively populated by Life's Losers; but even with portents of doom throughout, the ending is still a jaw-dropping experience. Demonstrating the parsimony he'd learned while working with Roger Corman, director Hellman shot The Shooting in Utah simultaneously with another feature, Ride in the Whirlwind, for a combined budget of $150,000. Completed in 1967, The Shooting did not receive widespread release until after Jack Nicholson achieved stardom in the early 1970s.~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide