MovieChat Forums > Pale Rider (1985) Discussion > Who is calling PREA-CHER!!?

Who is calling PREA-CHER!!?


In the night.

Eerie....

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[deleted]

It's Marshal Stockburn.

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Stockburn? Why would he be calling that? At that point in the movie he didn't realize who the Preacher was. He figured the Preacher was just some sort of two-bit trouble-maker, just like all the other bad guys. Why would he go to the trouble of calling out like that? I mean, right...?

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Maybe the voice shouting "Preacher!!!!!" was the symbol of the Preacher's tragic past,a past that haunts him even after many years...But if that so,why Sarah heard too the creepy voice??

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Um, according to the subtitles, it's the Marshall. He's been hired by Coy LaHood and he's got his man in his sights.

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It is definitely Stockburn.

What is not clear is whether Stockburn knows, or more accurately to what extent he is suspicious, that the Preacher is someone from his past that he thought was dead. That look back in LaHood's office when LaHood said the Preacher seemed to know Stockburn raised the thought, as recognition and concern passed over his face, that the Preacher might be that person. But he dismisses it by saying that person is dead.

Another point is that the voice itself sounds like Stockburn's.

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Stockburn? Why would he be calling that? At that point in the movie he didn't realize who the Preacher was. He figured the Preacher was just some sort of two-bit trouble-maker, just like all the other bad guys. Why would he go to the trouble of calling out like that? I mean, right...?
Agreed.

The film seems to suggest some sort of supernatural being, with the eery tone of the voice and the way the camera pans the landscape.

Of course, the Preacher has turned in his collar for his guns and he's about to engage in a questionably moral act - it could be viewed as almost a warning of sorts. However, the Preacher shurugging it off as a "voice from the past" is somewhat disconcerting.

I'm still not sure what to make of it.

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I just finished reading the book "Pale Rider" by Alan Dean Foster. The book is not an original work, as it was merely written about the movie after it was produced, so it does not break a whole lot of new ground or offer all the insights that you would like to have. Regarding the scene when someone is yelling "Preacher" down through the canyon----I would have to merely say that it is likely something of the supernatural that is calling out to the Preacher. The Preacher is likely an avenging angel of death of some sort, who is not a mortal man. I think the writers of the film wanted his true identity and the calling of his name to be a sort of an open-ended thing that kept the viewer guessing.

I'll admit that when I first saw the film, I honestly thought that it may have been Stockburn's voice as well. Perhaps it even was. Has anyone ever given thought to the notion that Stockburn himself may have been the antithesis of the Preacher? He may have been a malevonent (sp) spirit as well who did evil. Mere speculation on that, and not even sure I buy it myself, but it's obviously a film that let's your imagination wonder.

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I'm gonna downplay the supernatural element a bit here with my theory on this. Stockburn is paid lots of money by people because he's good at what he does. I think he was yelling like that in an attempt to scare and demoralize the preacher. I mean, he did manage to put a hell of a scare in the other miners by dispatching poor old Spider the way he did, so I would imagine the calling out over the mountains was his attempt at trying to make old Clint nervous.

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Its really hard to tell and very open ended.

In Lahood's office Stockburn said the man I am thinking of is dead. The Preacher also mentions that its an old score that needed to be settled. And at the end Stockburn doesn't really look to surprised that the Preacher is there with him. Perhaps they are both dead already?

Or it could just be that they are all regular people and we are all retarded for thinking this movie is about ghosts.

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It was Hull. He thought the Preacher had left so he went to town to scream out his name in hopes he would come back (unbeknowingst to him Preach was already back at the cabin boning his fiance).

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by gsxrrules


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It was Hull. He thought the Preacher had left so he went to town to scream out his name in hopes he would come back (unbeknowingst to him Preach was already back at the cabin boning his fiance).
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I always assumed it was stockburn, but im happy to go with this one^^^ as it adds to the whole disposition of preacher!!

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[deleted]

interesting. it seems like it's based on a book.



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by Stud-Boy » Sun Dec 2 2007 05:14:58
IMDb member since November 2005
Post Edited: Sun Dec 2 2007 05:57:51
Stockburn? Why would he be calling that? At that point in the movie he didn't realize who the Preacher was. He figured the Preacher was just some sort of two-bit trouble-maker, just like all the other bad guys. Why would he go to the trouble of calling out like that? I mean, right...?

Because he was calling him out for a fight. The preacher was the one Stockburn and his boys shot up.

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It was very obviously Stockburn. Stockburn was yelling to psych out the preacher. They had obviously met in the past, and obviously that's what Preacher meant when he said "A voice from the past." Moments earlier he'd told Sarah he was going to go to the fight because it was an old score that had to be settled. I'm sort of surprised anybody is doubting that.

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Stockburn? Preacher?

I was pretty sure it was Rocky yelling "Drago!"

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Likely Stockburn, but it seems Clint meant to instill much ambiguity for stylistic purposes. Could even be Stockburn's voice from the first time he called him to his death, especially since he so reserved with his interest when Preacher did come to town.

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[deleted]

[deleted]

In my opinion, this is how it all plays out. Megan's dog is shot and killed during the raid on the camp. She buries the pooch and then prays for a miracle.
Right after that, Preacher shows up and saves the girl's protector. He then proceeds to kill all the camp's enemies, including Stockburn. I think that Eastwood's character is an Angel sent as an answer to Megan's prayers. Stockburn represents Satan or, in other words, evil. I think that the PREA-CHER
call just before he has sex with Megan's mom is a call from God expressing His displeasure. That's what I got from it.

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[deleted]


It could be an echo of the past that Preacher remembers and the woman is attuned to?

Still, it's pretty amusing that all this mayhem was caused by an angry teenage girl because her dog was shot.
____

Who is wise who was not first a fool?

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@rcbrammer - Actually, that's not bad at all.

It's an entirely plausible explanation on the supernatural plane of the movie (although, didn't Megan's mom also hear the voice?).

That could mirror the "natural" explanation that it's Stockman calling to try to psych out the Preacher.

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I never thought it was anyone (or anything) else other than Stockburn. It IS Stockburn calling Preacher out.

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or a talking wolf.


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Its Stockburns voice. But I wonder if he would really ride out in the night just to call for him. Seems like some supernatural thing to me.
His character looks a bit too comfortable and Confident to play games.

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It couldn't be Stockburn. The preacher knew it was Stockburn who was causing the trouble with the settlers, but Stockburn didn't know it was the preacher defending them at that point. Stockburn in fact didn't find out until the end of the film when they faced off in the street. When the preacher lifted his head a bit, Stockburn saw the preacher's eyes and his expression was one of sudden recognition. At that point, Stockburn went for his gun and the preacher shot him to death.



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He doesn’t recognize him from the past yet. But hes informed by LaHood that a fella named preacher is the big problem at that mining camp. He then takes to trying to scare him the evening before.

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Then why was Stockton surprised when he saw it was the preacher at the ending gunfight?

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Let's begin with Eastwood's admission years later in an interview that Preacher IS an actual ghost. The fact that Stockburn recognized him says that probably a younger Stockburn had something to do with Preacher's death years earlier. When Preacher was walking toward him, he seemed to look down and squint a little, as if trying to ascertain if the old man before him really was Stockburn, indicating that perhaps many years had passed and Preacher was looking at a much older version of the man who killed him. Then there're the strange six circular bullet scars on Preacher's back we saw earlier. Preacher drills six bullets through Stockburn in the EXACT same pattern, indicating that maybe Stockburn had done that to a much younger Preacher many years before. It's safe to assume that Hull and his generation were probably Megan's age when Stockburn killed Preacher. So maybe 25 years or so. That voice was Stockburn's but probably his younger version. Probably he had taunted Preacher like that just before he killed him years before. That's why Preacher called it a "voice from the past". What we heard was the memory of a young Stockburn taunting Preacher moments before killing him. Preacher was probably a young priest who probably exposed Stockburn years before, hence the revenge. Stockburn probably killed Preacher, Preacher's soul entered the afterlife, and when Megan prayed for a miracle, Preacher's soul was called up and was now the angel of death, finally allowed to get his revenge through helping the miners. Alot of probably, I know, but that's what I got from watching this classic again just moments ago.

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I don't think it's Stockburn. I don't think Stockburn knew the Preacher was in town until the Preacher reveals himself face to face to Stockburn in the very end. Stockburn looks carefully at the Preacher and says "YOU!", just before getting shot up by the Preacher. I agree, I think it's Hull searching for the Preacher

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