I've seen Chill Wills as a villain before, but Man, he really takes it to the limit here as outlaw Ike Slant. In an opening scene, not only does he torch a rancher's home, but shoots a woman and a crying child (off screen) before his crew makes a getaway. That was cold.

Seeking revenge for the murder of his family, former bounty hunter Talion (Robert Lansing) teams up with young gunslinger Benny Wallace (Patrick Wayne) to track the killers and bring them to justice. Talion makes no pretense of what he really feels - "I just want to make sure they all die, son". This is the first time I've seen Lansing in a lead role and I thought he had the perfect look for other Western portrayals, though I don't think I've caught him in any before. As other reviewers have noted, he has that Steve McQueen look going for him, the first thing I thought of when he showed up in the picture.

The story pretty much plays out by the book, with a nominal love interest for Talion in the person of Gloria Talbott's character, Bri Quince. It seems to me the writers miscalculated with the tease because at the end of the story, Talion rode off into the proverbial sunset leaving the disappointed girl behind. There was really no reason why the picture couldn't have pulled it off, it seemed like a loose end that should have been tied up.

The main plot element here has to do with Talion becoming the eyes for partner Benny when the up and coming bounty hunter is blinded by an Ike Slant ricochet. Some time is spent on Talion being patient with his protégé as he learns to handle his gun visualizing the minutes on a clock. That seemed a little odd to me because clocks aren't linear, but the strategy managed to work for the final showdown.

It's always cool to see Paul Fix and Strother Martin in support roles, but I have to admit, I could never get used to seeing Clint Howard as a character actor. At least as a kid; he has the perfect look as an adult for any number of roles calling for a deranged individual. Let's just say he was the complete opposite of his brother Ron.

Robert Lansing (who looks like cross between Lee Majors and Steve McQueen) plays Talion, a retired bounty hunter who finds himself back in action hunting Slim Pickens, a sleazy outlaw who along with his two partners, murdered his family and burned down his home.

Teaming up with a cocky (wet behind the ears) fellow bounty hunter Patrick Wayne, the two find themselves badly injured in their first attempt to kill Pickens, leaving Wayne blinded and Talion unable to shoot.

Lansing and Pickens are good, while young Pat Wayne is okay, though a bit miscast. Character actor Paul Fix is quite dignified in a supporting role as the film's voice of reason and the always oily Strother Martin is great and gives the film's best performance as a money grubbing backstabber.

A thoroughly average production, An Eye For An Eye is helped considerably by excellent locations and some stunning outdoor photography, some of the best I've seen. Every scene looks like it belongs on a postcard!

If you are very lucky you'll be able to catch this western as it showed up on YouTube and I could see it for the first time since it was in theaters. An Eye For Eye is a taught and lean with a fine cast of second string players. That's no reflection on their quality just their star power.

In the great MGM epic Ben-Hur one of the subplots involved Sam Jaffe who was the House of Hur steward spending many years in jail and being beaten so bad he lost the use of his legs. So he made a partnership of sorts with Ady Barber playing a big strong man whose tongue had been cut out. Each supplied the other with what he was missing. As Jaffe said in the film 'we make a considerable man'.

Both Robert Lansing and Patrick Wayne have to supply some needs for the other in An Eye For An Eye. During an encounter with gunslinger outlaw Slim Pickens, both being bounty hunters kill two of Slim's running buddies but are left injured. Lansing's gun hand is crippled and Wayne's blinded.

Probably in time they could recover, but do they have that kind of time because Pickens is out to get them. They devise an imaginary clock like gambit to use when they have to face Pickens inevitably.

The leads are fine, but the two you will remember are first Slim Pickens who started out in westerns and got first notice as a goofy sidekick to Rex Allen. Slim expanded his range considerably and while most probably remember him for Dr. Strangelove and Blazing Saddles, he could play it mean. Western fans will also recall him in both One Eyed Jacks and Rough Night In Jericho as a villain. But he was never nastier on the screen than in this film.

Strother Martin is also in this playing a nasty toad like character who'll sell anybody out for a few dollars. He's done that before most notably as one of Lee Marvin's sidekicks in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, but he brings that character to its lowest depths in An Eye For An Eye.

Not much in big budget production values, but western fans, this one's a must.