Sudden Impact (1983)

The fourth of five Dirty Harry films, this one was directed by Clint Eastwood himself. 

The story tells of a woman (Sondra Locke), who seeks revenge on the gang that raped her and her sister.

Eastwood and Locke have chemistry (they had been an item in real life), and Locke has a definite intensity. As usual with the Dirty Harry films, the villains are unfortunately one-dimensional and not convincing characters. The pleasure comes from watching how coolly Harry Callahan deals with them. 

Music by Lalo Schifrin provides additional atmosphere, and the cinematography by Bruce Surtees is spectacular.

Hang 'Em High (1968)

Western. 

A cattle herder wrongly accused of murder (Clint Eastwood) is hung by a gang of nine men. Somehow he survives. After his innocence has been established, he begins working as a marshall and sets about tracking down the villains who wronged him.

It’s remarkable how young Eastwood looks. Hang 'Em High was made after the Sergio Leone trilogy, but somehow he seems less haggard and more baby-faced than he did in those films.

The “political” thread about Oklahoma’s bid for statehood is intriguing, as this seems to be used to justify the town’s bloodthirsty love of capital punishment. 

There are elements of horror and melodrama. When the romance with Inger Stevens kicks in, it seems to become a different kind of film altogether. The results are wildly uneven but still fascinating.