| Knife for the Ladies | |
| Director: | Larry G. Spangler |
| Producer: | Steve Bono Stan Jolley Larry G. Spangler |
| Starring: | Jack Elam Ruth Roman Gene Evans |
| Cinematography: | Irving Lippman |
| Editing: | Lettie Odney |
| Studio: | Bryanston Pictures Spangler / Jolley Productions |
| Distributor: | Bryanston Distributing |
| Runtime: | 86 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Knife for the Ladies is a 1974 American Western horror film directed by Larry G. Spangler and starring Jack Elam, Ruth Roman and Gene Evans. It was the first production from the company Bryanston Pictures.[1] [2]
A private detective, Burns, is hired to travel out west to an Arizona town to investigate the murders of several prostitutes, each killed with a knife. The town has already lynched a local horse trader for the murders on the word of a small boy, Seth. Once there he meets a disgraced "two-fisted" sheriff, a sullen undertaker, and the local heiress. After proving the trader was innocent, Burns comes to terms with the sheriff, and they begin to work together. A number of subplots ensue: Burns and the sheriff shoot the man responsible for the lynching, the mortician blackmails the heiress to preserve her secret, and they discover that the heiress is using her arsenic to treat syphilis. The main plot is resolved with a surprise reveal, and Burns, the Sheriff, and his niece Jenny leave town on the next stagecoach out of town.
James Evans from Starburst magazine rated the film four out of ten stars writing, "A Knife for the Ladies isn’t a great western nor is it a good horror movie but it has its charms."[3]