Die blutigen Geier von Alaska (1973) User Reviews

Unintentional Hilarity...

[lauramerle · 3/10 · 10 July 2010]

I came across this gem of a movie in the "$1.00 DVD" bin at a local supermarket. I thought the title was intriguing and for a buck, I figured why not? I'm always interested in how outsiders portray our state. Boy, I had no idea what was in store for me! From the sprawling scenery of what could be Alaska/California/somewhere in Europe to the portrayal of a gold rush town and the Alaska "Indians", it is comedy gold. My favorite line is when one of the bad guys announces, "We head for the border...California!" That's quite a ride on horseback. And then there's the inimitable Captain Brandy, who seems destined for alcohol poisoning. This film is packed with high-quality cheesiness. Have fun!

the only resemblance to alaska are sled dogs

[sandcrab277 · 5/10 · 29 December 2018]

The landscape doesn't even come close to alaska and the plot is as bad as a spaghetti western ... it made me laugh hard once when mc clure was cracking a whip over the sled dogs ... no respectable alaskan musher would treat trail dogs that way ... this film is more like a farce on how not to make a western

Totality Stupid!

[srmccarthy · 4/10 · 27 October 2002]

This is one of the dumbest movies I have ever seen! There is a bar fight that reminds me of "Night of the Living Dead" and a jail break that could be a scene from the "Little Rascals" series! Nothing is interesting at all about this movie, unless you just want to waste some time!

And to think that on the cover it says "This is a movie you will watch again and again"! What sin could I commit to deserve this?!

This gold belongs to Billy

[JohnSeal · 2/10 · 27 November 2008]

Doug McClure, the very poor man's Warren Oates, stars in this thoroughly wretched West German-Yugoslavian co-production set in the wilds of Alaska. Here in Alaska, the local natives do not appear remotely Inuit, but do bear a striking resemblance to Winnetou and his friends. That's just one of many bizarre aspects of this film, directed with a complete lack of grace by the generally reliable Harald Reinl and featuring a score that it doesn't deserve from Bruno Nicolai. There's stuff about stolen gold, a seriously ill boy, a black former prize fighter called Ham A Ham (played by a Tunisian actor of Cuban descent who lives in Germany), and a saloon where they keep the whiskey in beer barrels. It's poorly dubbed, badly shot, apparently edited by a blind woman, and schizophrenically plotted. McClure probably hoped this film would become The Movie That Time Forgot, but sadly it lives on in video store dollar bins and on budget DVDs.

No Hellhounds...Yeah.

[rtruchel · 1/10 · 21 March 2005]

Well I guess you have to be careful about movies you get 5 for $10 at Albertson's...but even so, you would think a movies a movie called Hellhounds of Alaska would contain some sizzlin' dog attack action, especially when the cover of the DVD has a snarling wolf on it. But NO. There was only one dog in the movie and he got shot for some reason. Once again this movie amazingly has NOTHING to do with wolves, vicious dogs, werewolves, were-dogs, dog wolves, wolfhounds, or lupines from hell. Caveat emptor. What you do get is a disjointed, poorly dubbed, and unintentionally hilarious study in trainwreck movie-making. Don't miss the pointless Indian knife fight, the verdant deserts of Alaska, wild vacillations between day and night scenes, and the piano player with one white and one black hand. My favorite is the worst staged bar fight of all time. Where were the MST3K guys on this one, it would have been perfect for skewering. Oh well, my friends and I did it ourselves. A worse movie...I don't recall.

Ambitious, but unsuccessful

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 16 July 2016]

"Die blutigen Geier von Alaska" (and this film has a handful other German and English titles) is another West German / Yugoslavian co-production directed by Harald Reinl and according to IMDb the language is German, but I am sure several actors in here got dubbed, especially lead actor Doug McClure. This movie is from 1973, so already fairly late compared to the Winnetou films by Reinl and the wave of Germans loving these European westerns may have considerably decreased by then already. Anyway, this one is easily over 40 years old and I believe it has not aged well at all sadly. On a more positive note I must say that Doug McClure certainly looks the part for a western film character and his acting is also better than the acting of most of the supporting players. This film has a handful fairly famous actors in the list such as Harald Leipnitz, Klaus Löwitsch and last but not least Roberto Blanco. His inclusion feels really random though. I guess with his character and portrayal they wanted to give this film a bit of a tone like the really appreciated Bud Spencer (rip) films from the same time. Very bizarre though. He adds nothing to the film at all and it would not have been a better or worse movie without him. All in all, they tried their everything to deliver in terms of drama and emotion, but most of the characters and the plot too were just so poorly written that it is not working out. I would not call the film a failure, but these slightly over 90 minutes also weren't a good watch. A big part of the cast is also Yugoslavian and these names don't ring a bell for me at all, so I cannot say anything about these actors. Overall, you have to be a huge western film buff in order to see positive in here. I do not recommend the watch. Thumbs down.

Austrian-shot German western

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 25 June 2015]

HELLHOUNDS OF ALASKA is a German western shot in the Austrian alps, featuring a performance from likable American leading man Doug McClure. The best thing about it is its look, which is achieved thanks to the presence of Austrian director Harald Reinl, who directed tons of cult and classic German movies during the 1960s (including krimi, the famous Winnetou series, and the horror classic THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM).

The story - written by Kurt Nachmann, who seemed to have plenty of experience writing sex comedies and dramas - is probably the worst thing about this. It tells an entirely predictable tale about some ruthless gold robbers who think nothing of committing murder and who occupy some prominent positions in the local town. When a fur trapped outsider (McClure) falls into the mix, he's naturally suspected of being the robber, so he must fight to clear his name.

HELLHOUNDS OF ALASKA sounds like a Jack London type adaptation but the only hound in it is an Alsatian, a loyal companion of our hero. I'm guessing the term "hellhounds" refers figuratively to the bad guys. McClure has never looked more rugged as the leading man, but the supporting cast is largely forgettable and the film is saddled with an annoying kid, which is a pity. Still, Reinl stages some good moments, such as a vicious encounter with an eagle and a lengthy, chase-focused climax.

Fun Doug McClure adventure

[TheRagingDutchman · 10/10 · 7 March 2007]

German made adventure movie set in Alaska during the gold rush era. The late-great Doug McClure(who starred in a number of fantasy-adventure movies in the 70's) stars as Don Rutland, who, despite being an all around good guy, ends up being framed for the robbery of a towns gold shipment and the murder of the transporters. Lots of nice scenery, likable characters, plenty of action & a good score by Italian maestro Bruno Nicolai(who frequently collaborated with Ennio Morricone) makes for a very enjoyable flick. Although 'Hellhounds Of Alaska' has the feel of a family movie, it should be noted that there are a few brief scenes of brutal violence/torture.

A fair adventure western with a great Bruno Nicolai score

[steevetoday · 6/10 · 21 February 2017]

Hell Hounds of Alaska is not as bad as some reviews make out and if you like a good old-fashioned adventure western,then I think you will enjoy this. The music is scored by Bruno Nicolai,who many people know conducted lots of Ennio Morricone scores. The main title,thus far unreleased is superb and reminds me of the style of Morricone's La Tenda Rossa/The Red Tent and Bruno Nicolai's own El Cristo Del Oceano/Christ of the Ocean. The other music in the film has been used before in Bruno Nicolai westerns.

It's Terrible..............but still great fun to watch!

[rjun67 · 10/10 · 2 April 2011]

I first bumped into this film last year on the Movies 4 Men channel (known for its dubbed or appallingly cheap films), I tuned in at the end and I was horrified that Doug McClure's character stated his intention to take a young boy into the Mountains with him!(I saw the film was dubbed but wasn't expecting such behaviour from our hero-even if the message had been lost in translation!)Anyhow I got bored last week and saw the film was back on so I decided to watch it again. It was worth every second!......It was full of unintentionally classic scenes...I could not stop laughing!

Firstly the plot is dreadful (blah blah gold rush, blah blah dead man's promise, blah blah sick boy etc..)but so many scenes are bad that it seems as if the film is a comedy! I loved the Bar fight scene, it went on for hours and was so fake that i was on the floor laughing!, then the sick boys dad is tortured by Indians (or Eskimo's?)but they look more like Russians!, and Doug McClure (poor man's roving American in 1970's Euro films)has to promise the dying Man that he will find his sick boy and take him to the Mountains!....The boy is meanwhile captured by the bad guys who talk very loudly about what to do with him!...he manages to escape and gets in a fight with a terrifying house trained bald eagle who does more staring than tearing!, It must be said also that this is not a 'Call of the Wild' rip off.....because they couldn't even be bothered to put a dog in the film (let alone a Wolf or a Hellhound!)..well, apart from some flea bitten Alsatian who gets killed within 5 minutes!, The film seems to last for 25 hours and you end up saying ...'come on', 'look behind you'! or 'It's the bloody Sheriff you idiot'! But please watch it , you won't regret it!