If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

A blind gunman roams through Mexico carrying a baby and seeks vengeance against a cruel Mexican outlaw and hoodlums . TV Western filmed in location and deals with a Blindman who arrives in a town ravaged by bandits . The gunfighter enemy is Alacran and his gang who terrorize themselves the villagers . There appears Canaan ( Armand Assante) , a mysterious gunslinger left nearly blind from Civil War combat at the battle of Antietam . At the beginning Canaan rescues a man from bandits , he then passes through a border town where Union Cavalry officers (led by Adam Baldwin) assigned to deliver a load of silver are under attack from brutal outlaws . With some reluctance, Canaan steps in to help the soldiers . Later on , Clay is imprisoned by the bandit Alacran (Robert Davi) and also townsfolk is living in terror of his band . In the middle of these two waring parties is a beautiful woman (Elizabeth Shue) who helps and heals Canaan . The gunfighter enters the town caught between two feuding factions, a nasty U.S. officer and a gang of Mexican bandits attempting to take the shipment , and is caught up in a struggle against them . But here is a problem however, Canaan is blind.The film packs violence , shootouts , high body-count , continuous flashbacks about Civil War , and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes . It's an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the starring Armand Assante and his enemies , Robert Davi , Danny Nucci , among others . The movie contains gun-play, action Western , thrills and bloody spectacle . Screenplay with interesting premise about a 'blind gunfighter' though its origin results to be a Japanese series starred by ¨Zaitochi¨, a blind swordsman from the 60s and being recently remade by Takeshi Kitano . This interesting theme about a blind gunslinger is also treated in other films such as ¨The Blindman¨ by Ferdinando Baldi with Tony Anthony and Ringo Starr , ¨An eye for eye¨ by Michael Moore with Robert Lansing and ¨Minessota Clay¨ with Cameron Mitchell , directed by Sergio Corbucci . An interesting casting full of usual Titus Welliver , M.C.Gainey and brief appearance by then unknown Jack Black . Special mention to Robert Davi in his ordinary role as a cruelly baddie , he is terrific, and bears a hysterical and mocking aspect , subsequently he would play similar characters . The movie gets the ordinary Western issues, such as avengers antiheroes , violent facing off , quick scenes and exaggerated baddies . It's an improbable blending of standard Western with pursuits, high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . Mediocre cinematography by Jack Conroy, but is necessary a perfect remastering , being the copy washed-out .Direction by Richard Spence (New world disorder ,Brookside , Different for girls) is well crafted, here he is more cynical and violent and less inclined toward humor and packs too much action . Spence makes a nice camera work with clever choreography on the showdown , fighting , moving shootouts and bemusing scenes . It's an outlandish , surprising and uneven story but will appeal to Western aficionados . Rating : 5,5 , riotous Western in which there's too much action and violence and excitement enough .

Armand Assante gives a marvelously assured and charismatic performance as Canaan, a blind and embittered Civil War veteran turned roving gunslinger who travels across the country with a baby in tow. Canaan stops off in a lawless small town and runs afoul of a foul gang of desperadoes led by the ruthless Alacran (Robert Davi in fine nasty form). Alacran and his men want to gain possession of a stash of silver coins that's being guarded by an ever-diminishing handful of U.S. Cavalrymen. Canaan agrees to help the desperate soldiers, but only if he gets paid 200 pounds worth of silver for his troubles. Ably directed by Richard Spence, with a neat and engrossing script by Daniel Knauf, the gritty-funky look and feel of a vintage 60's Italian spaghetti Western, a steady pace, polished cinematography by Jack Conroy, several rousing and well-staged action set pieces (Canaan's pre-credits introduction is absolutely priceless!), and a nice line in dark humor, this nifty little number makes for a fun and engrossing viewing experience. While Assante clearly owns the show with his spot-on portrayal of the wry, likable and dangerous Canaan, kudos are nonetheless still in order for the excellent supporting cast: Elisabeth Shue as feisty nurse Caroline, Adam Baldwin as the ramrod Sergeant Hastings, M.C. Gainey as vicious lackey Bull, Clayton Landey as folksy bartender Ernie Fowler, Jimmy Herman as a crazed demolitions-obsessed Native American shaman, Ian McElhinney as the shady Father Malone, and a then unknown Jack Black in a funny small part as a jerky private. This offbeat and entertaining film is well worth a watch.

I fell in love with this movie when I saw it for the first time on HBO the year it first came out. Now, being that I am something of an old west buff, I was interested to see how a movie about a blind gunfighter would work. I was not disappointed. The premise is unique. Armand Assante brought a depth to the role that gave it paths. You could relate to the character of Canaan and sympathize with him. Robert Davi borough his usual menace as Alacran, the leader of the bandits. Elizabeth Shue was alright, but could have been more developed, though she does play the lass in distress well. M.C. Gainly, who was also in the HBO movie "El Diablo" as a demolitions expert, was also in this movie, though he did not have all that many lines or scenes, was also quite bad as Alacran's hit man, but in a good, bad guy, kinda way. Jack Black has a cameo as a army sentry, which was rather funny, if a bit short. The chap who played the Bartender Ernie Fowler was cool, as was the Native American fellow who played a bomb obsessed shaman.There is also a fellow in this movie who will later appear in the HBO series Deadwood. The other characters, while cool and well acted, were not that developed and felt alittle wooden. The script needed some fine tuning, such as making the characters less wooded, but it was other wise alright. The score, which was done by Richard Gibbs of Queen of the Damned fame, was very fitting indeed. I wish a soundtrack would be put out for this movie. I have liked everything I have seen Armand Assante in and this is yet another example of why. Much props for HBO for making this movie and I hope they revisit the characters again soon.

This movie was really very good. I like westerns as a rule but don't generally like newer ones. I bought this one because I really like Armand Assante. He didn't let me down in this movie. And neither did the movie. It's very different than any other western I've seen yet. They are some gross scenes and some very good action scenes. I liked that alot. I don't like wimpy westerns. Over all a very surprisingly good movie with a great cast including Elisabeth Shue and a small role by Jack Black. If you like westerns this is a good one to get.