I suppose it's commendable that a guy with a diverse and varied professional background would want to produce and direct his own movie, but the result here was pretty abominable. Tom O'Mary doubles as Doc Bennett in "Sheriff of Contention" while directing behind the camera, and without really knowing, I'm pretty sure he couldn't have been very pleased with the way this thing came out. The acting and dialog is very static at times, actually most of the time, and the attempts at humor fall notably flat, as in the characterization of a barfly being blind as a bat when he insists that the dog sitting next to him is prettier than a good looking saloon gal nearby. There was more than one time when I seriously groaned throughout the picture with it's clumsy editing and the way it tried with all it's might to steer the viewer toward accepting Deputy Conley (Miguel Corona) as the serial murderer. When the hooded figure listened in on the conversation between Melissa (Wendy Wiltsey) and the parson's wife (Mari-jo Davis), the film became comically cartoony on it's way to being outright lame as a serious Western. Even many 'B' Westerns of the Thirties and Forties weren't this clumsy.
As for the principal character, I studied actor Angelo Ortega's features for a time before deciding that he looked like a cross between Martin Mull and a Sixties professional wrestler going by the name of Cowboy Bill Watts. At least the cowboy part fit, and Sheriff Tom Peavey (Ortega) did have the build and stature to be a grappler. There were a couple of scenes in which the sheriff had a conversation with a hooker named Judy (Christine Cearfoss) that continuity wise, seemed like they should have been reversed in the picture, but with everything else going on, that's probably a minor criticism. The bigger one is that this film is one that probably didn't have to be made, so if you decide to watch it, I'll quote the sign above one of the shops in Contention City - 'Caveat Emptor'. It means 'Let the Buyer Beware'.
As for the principal character, I studied actor Angelo Ortega's features for a time before deciding that he looked like a cross between Martin Mull and a Sixties professional wrestler going by the name of Cowboy Bill Watts. At least the cowboy part fit, and Sheriff Tom Peavey (Ortega) did have the build and stature to be a grappler. There were a couple of scenes in which the sheriff had a conversation with a hooker named Judy (Christine Cearfoss) that continuity wise, seemed like they should have been reversed in the picture, but with everything else going on, that's probably a minor criticism. The bigger one is that this film is one that probably didn't have to be made, so if you decide to watch it, I'll quote the sign above one of the shops in Contention City - 'Caveat Emptor'. It means 'Let the Buyer Beware'.
