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Five Bloody Graves
[Retro-Shock-O-Rama]
1970; color
Directed by Al Adamson
Starring: Richard Dix, Scott Brady, Jim Davis & John Carradine
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While none of the five graves in this film are truly bloody per se, Al Adamson's version of the "modern" western (a la Sergio Leone, Sam Peckinpah, etc… ) delivers plenty of bang for the buck as far as gunfights galore, crazy injuns and whole host of action that made the Wild West wild. In an oddly Fellini-esque touch (I didn't check out the commentary track for this one so I don't know if it's intentionally Fellini-esque or not) Death is the narrator. The "hero" is a guy named Ben Thompson, a badass out to get revenge on the man who shot his bride on their wedding night, Satago. Satago is a Yacqui Indian and, apparently, these Yacquis are unrelentingly bloodthirsty and always on the lookout for another white scalp to claim as a trophy. Thompson rides around the Arizona Territory hot on Satago's trail, yet always just a step behind the crazy Indian. Along the way the befriends Satago's brother, Indian Joe, who's on the outs with his sibling in a bad way. (By the way, both roles are played by the same actor.) Together they come across a stagecoach full of saloon girls traveling with their manager and a gun-totin', ex-outlaw, peeping Tom of a preacher played by none other than John Carradine, under siege by some Yacqui. Inevitably everyone gets killed (including what seemed like 30 or 40 Indians) except for Thompson and a girl. Then even she ends up somehow shot, leading up to the final showdown between Thompson and Satago. Which has to happen because, by this time, they're literally the only people in the cast left alive. This isn't a spoiler because, as it's a western, the basic outcome should already be obvious. (Let's face it - the Indians never win.) While Five Bloody Graves is probably not going to be one of the first five Al Adamson films you think of when asked to name some of his work, it's actually one of his better efforts. It isn't over-the-top on blood the way The Wild Bunch, nor does it yield any particularly classic character like the Man With No Name, but it still holds it's own as a relatively decent entry in the genre.
—the Kommandant
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