I went into this movie expecting an excruciatingly boring film with it's only saving grace being an absolutely insane final shootout. In fact, I think I even heard this film cited as the worst Western ever made. Though I'm not sure if I would completely agree with that statement (having seen such atrocities as 'Billy the Kid Versus Dracula' and 'Wild, Wild West'), such a comment is not entirely off-base. This is indeed one of the most incompetent and amateurish looking films I have ever seen. Though I'm sure the original release looked much better than the shoddy circa 1995 VHS version I saw, the film's cinematography is absolutely abysmal. Overall, the film has the look and feel of a low-budget made for TV movie recorded off a VCR back in the 80s. Some of the nighttime photography in this thing is so bad that it makes one of the principal actresses look like a two headed camel. The film's plot is really nothing new and is essentially a cross between 'The Magnificent Seven' and 'The Dirty Dozen': A group of Mexican bandidos (led by a Danny Trejo look-alike) receive a pardon for their crimes if they are willing to ride into town and defeat a gang of American outlaws who just made off with a large supply of gold (these details relayed to the viewer through one of the most inept and unintentionally funny voice-over jobs I have ever seen).
As the film progresses, nothing really of note happens save for a brief yet momentously shocking shootout involving the first few bandits and some scenes of love making (seemingly lifted from a soft-core porno). Then comes the epic final shootout that (though not surpassing the best of Peckinpah's work) stands as one of the most intense and exciting displays of action ever filmed. The gang of bandidos held up in a ghost town with stashes off guns, ammo, and TNT engages a group of 40 outlaws on horseback. In this expertly edited scene, bullets and dynamite fly through the air and rumble among falling men and horses. Massive squibs erupt emitting gallons of fake blood and crusty shards of gore. Cannons are fired, shotguns blaze and the town is laid to waste. Very few are spared as among the victims is an old man who gets shot in the same part of his torso twice. Ouch! When the smoke finally clears, I was quite satisfied (though could have used another 10 minutes or so of action). Paul Hunt's brutal, brilliant action direction is superb and almost wipes the slate clean of the mediocrity that preceded it. In fact, despite the boring nature of the earlier phase of the film, the movie's running time seems to pass by fairly quickly. Though this film is no by no means a masterpiece, It's significantly better than I would have expected it to be. Now if someone could just upload a clip of the shootout on YouTube...
As the film progresses, nothing really of note happens save for a brief yet momentously shocking shootout involving the first few bandits and some scenes of love making (seemingly lifted from a soft-core porno). Then comes the epic final shootout that (though not surpassing the best of Peckinpah's work) stands as one of the most intense and exciting displays of action ever filmed. The gang of bandidos held up in a ghost town with stashes off guns, ammo, and TNT engages a group of 40 outlaws on horseback. In this expertly edited scene, bullets and dynamite fly through the air and rumble among falling men and horses. Massive squibs erupt emitting gallons of fake blood and crusty shards of gore. Cannons are fired, shotguns blaze and the town is laid to waste. Very few are spared as among the victims is an old man who gets shot in the same part of his torso twice. Ouch! When the smoke finally clears, I was quite satisfied (though could have used another 10 minutes or so of action). Paul Hunt's brutal, brilliant action direction is superb and almost wipes the slate clean of the mediocrity that preceded it. In fact, despite the boring nature of the earlier phase of the film, the movie's running time seems to pass by fairly quickly. Though this film is no by no means a masterpiece, It's significantly better than I would have expected it to be. Now if someone could just upload a clip of the shootout on YouTube...
