"Thompson's own favorite novel, described by Stanley Kubrick as `probably the most chilling and believable first-person story of a criminally warped mind that I have ever encountered,' features a small-town sheriff who tortures his victims with platitudes before casually killing them. Burt Kennedy's film doesn't entirely do justice to its source material, but William Fraker's Panavision cinematography and solid performances from character players (especially Stacy Keach as the sheriff, Lou Ford) provide some compensation." --Nigel Algar