Amateur theatrics undermine "Border Shoot-Out" writer & director Chris McIntyre's wide-open-spaces epic "Hell to Pay," about enmities left over from the American Civil War. The only thing that distinguishes this pedestrian western that is the roll call of guest stars who starred in either western movies or television series. James Drury, Peter Brown, William Smith, Tim Thomerson, Buck Taylor, Lee Majors, Andrew Prine, and Denny Miller flesh out the cast. Ostensibly, they deliver the best performances in largely supporting roles. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast should never have gotten in front of a camera. Similarly, McIntyre could benefit from a course in film direction. The abysmal Sable Ranch sets look cobbled together. While McIntyre's skills are lacking as a director, he has written a tolerable horse opera with some good dialogue. This brother versus brother saga has a lot to do with the American Civil War. The villains still bear a deep-seated grudge toward the outcome of the war and take advantage of an African-American woman in one scene. Ultimately, everything boils down to a flamboyant gambler Chance (William Gregory Lee of "Mexican Sunrise") and a former Union Army officer Kirby (Kevin Kazakoff of "Universal Soldiers") who are related to each other. They are so alike that they act like one person. They are reunited with each other when the stagecoach that Chance is riding in pulls up on the trail at the sight of a Union Army officer. Whether he knew it or not, McIntyre seems to be channeling John Wayne's entrance in John Ford's immortal classic "Stagecoach" with this scene. The coachman, Johnny Behan (Peter Brown of "Laredo") refuses to let Kirby to hitch a ride until his Kirby's brother Chance lets him board the conveyance. All Kirby wants to do is settle down and bust sod, while his flippant brother Chance prefers to keep on gambling. You would think that McIntyre would have had Kirby and Chance team up again during the finale, but these two don't. Not only do the no-account the villains try to kill the town marshal (James Drury),but they also give Kirby a hard time. After appearing briefly in a ride-through-a scene, Sheriff Boone (Lee Majors of "Will Penny") rides back and saves the day. He has a shoot-out in the saloon with the chief bad guy, one-eyed saloon owner Dell Shannon (Bo Svenson of "Inglorious Bastards"),and kills him. The end credits thank Kevin Costner and Robert Vaughn for their contribution. Although it was shot in Hi-Definition Cinema on a Sony Cine Alta 900, "Hell to Pay" looks pathetic. Out of all the guest stars, James Drury fares the best. Shoot this western and put it out of our misery!

When I was in my early 20s The Over The Hill Gang came out and the oldtimers were such folks as Pat O'Brien, Chill Wills, Walter Brennan, Edgar Buchanan, Andy Devine and a bunch more old character actors who gave us so much pleasure on the big screen. It came out in 1969. In 2005 Hell To Pay came out and while the leads were young, the players in various supporting roles were a bunch of players I knew from back in the day from current TV westerns. They're the best part of this film.

Kevin Kazakoff and William Gregory Lee star here as a pair of brothers who split the family with their differing views on the Civil War. Kazakoff became a war hero in the Union Army while Lee just sat out the war and sharpened his poker hand and his connections with various loose women.

Kazakoff has settled on a new claim and wants to be a farmer. Lee hasn't seen any need to reform, but as we know in these westerns family ties in the end are the strongest of all.

However the real treat is to see a whole slew of people who starred in TV westerns back in the day back for a last hurrah. Several men and one woman Stella Stevens who it is certainly adding something to anything she appears in.

Best in the film of the oldtimers is James Drury as the town sheriff and Peter Brown as the town banker.

Not the greatest of westerns, but nostalgia fans like me will enjoy it.

This movie promises ten legendary Western stars.

Those stars would be Buck Taylor (Newly on Gunsmoke),James Drury (The Virginian),Denny Miller (Duke Shannon from Wagon Train),Andrew Prine (who was on numerous cowboy shows but was also Simon King of the Witches),William Smith (who as we all know makes any movie better; he was also Joe Riley on Laredo),Bo Svenson, Peter Brown (Chad Cooper on Laredo),Tom Thomerson (who was Theodore Ogilvie on Gun Shy, the TV spinoff of The Apple Dumpling Gang) and our featured actor this week, Lee Majors (Heath from The Big Valley). And look out! It's Stella Stevens!

Wait a second. That's nine cowboys (and Stella). I guess maybe competitive shooter Gene Pearcey is another one? Or Rico Nance, who was an extra on Deadwood after this? Maybe Griff Furst, who was in the remake of The Magnificent Seven?

Any way you look at it, this is the cowboy version of the streaming slashers that come my way every day. It's legitimately one of the worst-sounding movies I've ever heard and you know a movie is bad when it has William Smith, Lee Majors and Tim Thomerson in it and I still can't stand it.

An utter failure on every level.

Director Chris McIntyre made a movie called Gang Warz with Chino XL and Coolio, as well as Captured Alive with Pat Morita, Backstreet Justice with Viveca Lindfors, Paul Sorvino and Hector Elizondo, plus Hammerlock, another Pat Morita project.

I shall watch none of these.