There is never
in doubt about who are the truly dangerous people
in the film, signalled
in comic book - like terms by the bad guys being caked
in dirt, whether it is Gale (John Goodman) and Evelle (William Forsythe), two criminal acquaintances of H.I. who escape from prison
in a
rainstorm and emerge from the ground covered
in mud, or the shotgun - blasting, baby - hunting biker Leonard Smalls (Randall «Tex» Cobb), a lawless wanderer emerging through hellish
flames with a pair of baby shoes attached to his belt that jingle like cowboy boot spurs.