William Castle made a fair number of Westerns before he discovered his niche in horror; blacklisted screenwriter Bernard Gordon would ultimately distinguish himself in science fiction. "The Law vs. Billy the Kid" is merely an example of two talents better at doing other things making a Western. The flat, artificial-looking sets commonly employed at Columbia were turned to surreal purposes in Castle's horror films merely look bland here; although cheaper in appearance, a PRC Western looks more like a Western than this does. Gordon has transformed Billy the Kid's big Western legend into a tidy romance; almost a chamber drama. But the treatment sacrifices some of the strong dramatic elements of that same story and also its irony, which is a replaced by a burning seriousness in the character of Billy that runs against type. Scott Brady is really too much of a manly he-man type to play Billy and is definitely too old for the part. Brady is the weakest element in the cast, which is generally good -- it's especially fun to see the beloved "Skipper" of Gilligan's Island play a sadistic jerk. I can think of a lot worse films -- even Westerns -- than this one; it's at least moderately entertaining. But the compromises made to the rich vein of source material from which it was draw, and in some other respects as well, makes the cost to the basic property a little too dear.