High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Pale Rider is a 1985 American western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood, who also stars in the lead role. This movie has plot similarities to the classic Western Shane (1953), including in its final scene, as well as previous Eastwood films featuring his Man with No Name character and his 1973 western High Plains Drifter. The title is a reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as the rider of a pale horse is Death. The film also featured Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Christopher Penn, Richard Dysart, and Richard Kiel.