Five Bloody Graves (1969)

A former Civil War soldier returns to take revenge from a Yaqui chief who killed his wife in the marriage night. Death plays with both men, plus gun-runners and gold-runners, as her emissaries on Earth, to do a large harvest of souls.

Director:

Al Adamson

Writers:

Robert Dix (story), Robert Dix (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Dix, Scott Brady, Jim Davis

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Dix	...	Ben Thompson
Scott Brady	...	Jim Wade
Jim Davis	...	Clay Bates
John Carradine	...	Boone Hawkins
Paula Raymond	...	Kansas Kelly
John 'Bud' Cardos	...	Yaqui Chief Santago / Firewater Joe (as John Cardos)
Darlene Lucht	...	Althea Richards (as Tara Ashton)
Gene Raymond	...	The Voice of Death (voice)
Julie Edwards	...	Lavinia Wade
Ken Osborne	...	Dave Miller (as Kent Osborne)
Vicki Volante	...	Nora Miller
Ray Young	...	Horace Wiggins
Victor Adamson	...	Rawhide (as Denver Dixon)
Fred Meyers	...	Driver
Keith Durphy

Storyline

Wandering across the desert landscape of Goblin Valley, Utah. Ben Thompson, a former lawman has been hunting down Yaqui Indians, after his wife was killed by the savage Yaqui Indian chieftain Santago. After saving a woman from two Yaqui Indians, Robert reunites with former girlfriend Nora Miller and saves her from a attack by Santago and his band of Yaqui Indians. But Nora's husband Dave Miller asks Ben to leave thinking Ben and Nora were having a affair while he was been away. After both Nora and Dave are slaughtered by Santago, Ben is joined by group of people from a wagon train who are stranded in the middle of nowhere and a group of gunrunners who sold their weapons to Santago and his band, Ben and his companions tries to get along with each other, if they are to survive Santago and his band's murderous rampage and Ben intends to get his vengeance on Santago.

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Plot Keywords:

graves | arizona territory | arizona | sonora mexico | former soldier | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

GP

Did You Know?

Trivia

A segment of the theme music "The Awakening" by John Pearson was later used as the theme for ITV's "News at Ten" in the UK.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

[first lines]
The Voice of Death: Ben Thompson, peace officer, who remains alive only because of his deadliness, rides on the trail of the Yaquis' chief called Satago - means Hot Overhate - as I rightly decided, as I do with all men, on my pale horse. I am Ben Thompson's close friend: Death - the physician who cures all pain. For the next five bloody days, I ride with my mortal messenger Ben Thompson collecting the debt all men must pay.

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Alternate Versions

The film was cut for TV (in 1970), eliminating some nudity and violence, and that was used for a wider theatrical release (namely in New York City, in 1971) and a VHS release in the USA and abroad (1982). The DVD version is based on the cut VHS version, which did not respect the widescreen original format.

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Connections

Referenced in A Stranger in My Home: Death's Final Cut (2014)

User Reviews

Not as bad as people say it is.

Five Bloody Graves is one of the few real drive-in westerns. It's directed by the much maligned Al Adamson, who made many colorful schlockers in his day. With it's nonstop violence and gory excess, this is no exception.

In this the west is depicted as a vast wasteland of hate and savagery, populated by half mad characters including death himself. There isn't much plot except for numerous people wandering around the rugged Utah landscape trying to massacre one another. Being that this is narrated by the grim reaper, there's not much mystery as to where most of the characters wind up.

Incidentally, John Carradine, Scott Brady, and Robert Dix were back together a year later in a better drive-in western, Cain's Cuttroats.

As far as the detractors go, many of them were tricked by the deceiving advertising on the video box into thinking that this is a horror picture. Fans of B-westerns will most likely be more forgiving than the average viewer.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 December 1970 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Five Bloody Days to Tombstone

Filming Locations:

Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Independent-International Pictures, Dix International Pictures Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1