Bob Moore | Through the Shattered Lens

Marty Robbins’ “Big Iron” is one of those songs that instantly takes you back to the Old West. It’s simple but powerful—a ranger rides into town to face down an outlaw, and you just feel that quiet tension building with every verse. Robbins’ steady voice gives the story a calm, almost cinematic vibe, like a slow pan across a dusty street before the final showdown. It’s storytelling stripped to the bone: two men, one promise of justice, and the air thick with purpose.

What’s cool is how “Big Iron” hasn’t just stayed stuck in the past. It’s popped up everywhere—from memes to movies to, of course, Fallout: New Vegas. That game gave the song a second life as a kind of anthem for wanderers—loners crossing desolate landscapes where myths feel more real than history. There’s something timeless about its message: standing your ground, even when the whole world’s gone sideways.

So when “Big Iron” opens the first episode of Fallout Season 2, it feels like a perfect fit. The familiar twang instantly throws you into that classic Fallout energy—part Western, part apocalypse. It’s not just a fun musical nod; it sets the tone for everything that follows. The song reminds us that even in a broken world, we’re still drawn to stories about courage, justice, and lone figures walking into danger with purpose. Robbins’ ballad might be old, but in Fallout’s world, it feels right at home.

Big Iron

To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day
Hardly spoke to folks around him, didn’t have too much to say
No one dared to ask his business, no one dared to make a slip
For the stranger there amongst them had a big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

It was early in the morning when he rode into the town
He came riding from the south side slowly lookin’ all around
He’s an outlaw loose and running came the whisper from each lip
And he’s here to do some business with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

In this town there lived an outlaw by the name of Texas Red
Many men had tried to take him and that many men were dead
He was vicious and a killer though a youth of twenty-four
And the notches on his pistol numbered one and nineteen more
One and nineteen more

Now the stranger started talking, made it plain to folks around
Was an Arizona Ranger, wouldn’t be too long in town
He came here to take an outlaw back alive or maybe dead
And he said it didn’t matter, he was after Texas Red
After Texas Red

Wasn’t long before the story was relayed to Texas Red
But the outlaw didn’t worry men that tried before were dead
Twenty men had tried to take him, twenty men had made a slip
Twenty-one would be the ranger with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

The morning passed so quickly, it was time for them to meet
It was twenty past eleven when they walked out in the street
Folks were watching from the windows, everybody held their breath
They knew this handsome ranger was about to meet his death
About to meet his death

There was forty feet between them when they stopped to make their play
And the swiftness of the Ranger is still talked about today
Texas Red had not cleared leather for a bullet fairly ripped
And the Ranger’s aim was deadly with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

It was over in a moment and the folks had gathered ’round
There before them lay the body of the outlaw on the ground
Oh, he might have gone on living but he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the Ranger with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

Big iron, big iron
When he tried to match the Ranger
With the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip

The 1986 film, Sorority House Massacre, tells the story of two people who share a psychic bond.

Beth (Angela O’Neill) is a college student who can’t remember anything about her childhood and who was raised by her aunt. After her aunt dies, Beth joins a sorority and moves into their house. Almost from the minute that she arrives, Beth starts to have disturbing visions and dreams of a man with a knife and blood dripping from the ceiling. With most of the members of the sorority leaving for the Memorial Day weekend, Beth ends up staying with Linda (Wendy Martel), Sara (Pamela Ross), and Tracy (Nicole Rio). The other girls want to have a fun weekend but instead, they find themselves dealing with Beth and her glum attitude. Linda and Sara sincerely want to help. Tracy is a bit annoyed with the whole thing and I don’t blame her.

Meanwhile, a man named Bobby (John C. Russell) is a patient at a mental asylum. He’s been a patient ever since he was arrested for murdering almost his entire family. Bobby has been in a rage for the past few days, beating his head on the walls and attacking anyone who enters the room. Just as Beth finds herself having visions of Bobby, Bobby has visions of Beth. When Bobby does finally manage to escape from the hospital, the first thing he does is break into a hardware store and steal a hunting knife. (He uses the knife to take care of the owner of the store.) Then he steals a car and promptly drives off towards Los Angeles and the sorority house.

Sorority House Massacre was produced by Roger Corman and, just as he did with Slumber Party Massacre, he hired a woman to both direct and write the film. As such, while Sorority House Massacre has all of the usual scenes of sorority girls taking showers, trying on clothes, and running around in states of undress, it’s still never as misogynistic as some other slasher films. Beth, Sara, Linda, and Tracy all come across as being fully-rounded characters and the viewer doesn’t want anything bad to happen to any of them. If anything, in this film, it’s the various boyfriends who are portrayed as being somewhat disposable and easily victimized. Certainly, not a single one of the guys proves to be particularly useful once Bobby shows up at the sorority house and starts his massacre.

Why is Bobby fixated on the sorority house and Beth in particular? Director Carol Frank does a good job of portraying the killer’s mental state, with a good deal of the film’s scenes being shot from his own point of view. (Perhaps the scariest moments are not the ones featuring blood and knives but the ones in which the killer moves from location to location and we see, through his point of view, just how relentless he is.) Frank also takes us straight into Beth’s mind, showing us her vivid hallucinations as they happen and the end result is that Sorority House Massacre often has an unexpectedly surreal feel to it. It’s a low-budget slasher film that plays out like a filmed nightmare and it sticks with you, even after the end credits.