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Gentle and loving send-up of the Singing Cowboy westerns of the 30's and 40's with Tom Berenger playing it absolutely straight as a "good guy," complete with more matching ensembles than Oscar de la Renta. Berenger is very good; Andy Griffith and Fernando Rey are suitably sinister as the "Colonels"; both Sela Ward and Marilu Henner are gorgeous and funny. G.W. Bailey steals the show as the town drunk/sidekick/narrator.

It's clear the filmmakers loved the genre they were spoofing. An especially poignant touch is the closing theme music "The Last of the Silver Screen Cowboys," sung by Rex Allen Jr., the son of Rex Allen, who starred in many of the films which are lampooned in this picture.

Your kids will enjoy it, but not as much as you will -- especially if you grew up watching all those wonderful old Westerns on tv.

While well done in its way, this film pales by comparison to the excellent Murder By Decree (1979), a movie which has been relegated to memory and infrequent cable appearances until recently. Good news -- a DVD version of Murder By Decree is slated for release in early 2003. Compare the two and you'll see what From Hell could have been.