The Animals (1970)

User Rating:

2.4/10   

Director:

Ron Joy

Writer:

Richard Bakalyan (writer)

Release Date:

October 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

They couldn't be caged... they had to be destroyed!

Plot:

A woman tracks down the three men who raped her, helped by an Apache. |

Plot Keywords:

Apache | Schoolteacher | Humiliation | Rape | Man Hunt

Cast

Michele Carey	...	Alice McAndrew
Henry Silva	...	Chatto
Keenan Wynn	...	Pudge Elliott
John Anderson	...	Sheriff Allan Pierce
Joe Turkel	...	Peyote (as Joseph Turkel)
Pepper Martin	...	Jamie
Bobby Hall	...	Cat Norman
Peter Hellman	...	Karl
William Bryant	...	Sheriff Martin Lord
Peggy Stewart	...	Mrs. Emily Perkins
John Dennis	...	Posseman #1
Michael Carr	...	Posseman Deputy
Jack Wade Cox	...	Posseman #2
Bryan West	...	Posseman #3
Donna Kern	...	Samantha

Also Known As:

Apache Vengeance
Five Savage Men (UK)
The Desperadoes (Canada: English title) (video title)
The Desperados (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:X (original rating) | Finland:(Banned) (1972-1996) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Company:

XYZ Productions

Trivia:

Final film of Fred Clark.

Soundtrack:

The Animals

A passable western

Schoolteacher Alice McAndew (Carey) has the misfortune of sharing a stagecoach with prisoner Pudge Elliott (Wynn). When Pudge's friends arrive to rescue him, they don't stop at simply robbing the stage. All aboard are killed except Alice. Her intended fate is far worse. She is hauled into the desert to be repeatedly and brutally raped and left for dead.

The outlaws' plan goes awry when an Apache (Silva) saves Alice from a cruel death from shock and dehydration. He nurses the young woman back to health. Before long, the two start hunting down the killers.

By 1970 standards, this is a fairly extreme western. The rape scene is not lingered on, but is filmed in such a way as to instill shock in the viewer. The film has a few rare humorous elements, but is otherwise a deadly serious tale of revenge. Henry Silva's character has little dialogue and virtually no knowledge of English. The filmmakers rely instead on imagery and expressions to tell the story more than the spoken language.

For me, the film was passable. I personally couldn't find much to fault in the approach taken. Some plot elements are strong, but cannot be stated here without becoming spoilers. The cast is good and consists largely of veterans of the western genre. The minimal dialogue was a good choice. The rape scene is not exploitative. Perhaps it is because this vengeance theme has been done so much that I couldn't really get into the film. For western traditionalists, this might be one to avoid.