Five Bloody Graves (1970)

Director:

Al Adamson

Writers:

Robert Dix (screenplay)
Robert Dix (story)

Release Date:

1 February 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

Lust-Mad Men and Lawless Women in a Vicious and Sensuous Orgy of Slaughter!

Plot:

A lone gunman hunts the fearsome Apache Satago across the plains of the Wild West. When Satago's marauders ambush a stagecoach...

Plot Keywords:

Apaches | Knife Fight | Revenge | Scalping | B Western

Cast

Robert Dix	...	Ben Thompson
Scott Brady	...	Jim Wade
Jim Davis	...	Clay Bates
John Carradine	...	Boone Hawkins
Paula Raymond	...	Kansas Kelly
John 'Bud' Cardos	...	Joe Lightfoot / Setago (as John Cardos)
Darlene Lucht	...	Althea Richards (as Tara Ashton)
Ken Osborne	...	Dave Miller (as Kent Osborne)
Vicki Volante	...	Nora Miller
Victor Adamson	...	Rawhide (as Denver Dixon)
Ray Young	...	Horace Wiggins
Julie Edwards	...	Lavinia Wade
Fred Meyers	...	Driver
Maria Polo	...	Little Fawn
Gene Raymond	...	Death (voice)

Also Known As:

Five Bloody Days to Tombstone
Gun Riders
The Lonely Man

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Capital Reef National Monument, Torrey, Utah, USA

Company:

Dix International Pictures Inc.

Goofs:

Factual errors: One character tells another that Yaqui Indians and Apache Indians are the same tribe, the only difference being that Mexicans call them "Yaquis" and Americans call them "Apaches". That is not true. Yaquis and Apaches are two entirely different tribes and have little in common. The Apaches were fierce, brutal and warlike, regularly attacking American whites, Mexicans and other Indian tribes (including the Yaquis), often simultaneously, and regularly stole horses, rustled herds and kidnapped women and children from other tribes, Mexican villages and US settlements. The Yaquis were a much less aggressive and warlike tribe, existing mainly by subsistence farming and keeping to themselves in the mountains.

"Death" has the best lines of dialog in the movie.

Al Adamson may not have been a very polished film-maker, but he was certainly a determined and prolific one. He tried his hand at several genres, and this is one of his Westerns. It involves two characters - Ben Thompson (Robert Dix) and Setago (John "Bud" Cardos) out to get one another; it's personal for Ben since Setago was the person who murdered his wife.

"Five Bloody Graves", also known as "Gun Riders", hearkens back to the days of the politically incorrect Western. Basically, it's your old-fashioned cowboys vs. Indians tale. While it's never terribly interesting, the story is at least simple enough to follow. The movie's divided into various episodes of battles between the two sides. These include a log cabin being burned up, in one of the movies' better scenes. Adamson at least moves this movie forward at a decent enough clip, preventing it from ever becoming too boring.

One thing that certainly doesn't work is the library music which is often inappropriate for a Western. It just takes a viewer right out of the action.

Star Dix also is credited with story and screenplay. In addition to him and Cardos (who also plays the role of Joe Lightfoot), other veterans of Adamson movies include John Carradine, Jim Davis, and Vicki Volante. Other cast members include Scott Brady, Ray Young, Paula Raymond, and Darlene Lucht. The best touch is having Gene Raymond provide the voice of "Death", and he has some actually pretty good dialog.

"Five Bloody Graves" is a fairly entertaining movie of its type.

6/10