The Animals (1971)

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

I like this movie because it has lots of killing and none of the over-hyped Tarantino and/or Spaghetti Western crap. Find a target; shoot; move on.On the other hand, why does Silva cut out those mocassins using the same kind of carving knife found in my Exacto kit? Why does the screaming prostitute have nipples but Michelle Carey doesn't? Why does that guy take a crap with his longjohns on? (No back flap, in case you are wondering) Why can't the sheriff see the two riders who just shot his prisoner in the open desert? Why does Keenan Wynn have such a heavy beard and hairy chest, but a completely hairless neck? Why did the sheriff forget at the end of the movie that it was white guys who were the bad guys? Why is it that Chatto can't speak English, but can read "powder" on the side of a barrel? For that matter, the word "powder" is printed in large white letters; so why does Chatto even have to point it out to the schoolmarm? Lots of killing. A lot of it is the cool senseless kind.But in the end it is just another schoolteacher going postal.Seen it.Seven stars out of ten. One for the boobies that you see. One for the oddly missing nipples. Three stars for senseless rape, death and destruction. One star for not forcing the love story angle. One star for Keenan's laughing after he is separated from his Wally Wally.

Five Savage Men (1970) ** (out of 4) Michele Carey plays a school teacher heading out West who just happens to be on the same stagecoach as criminal Pudge (Keenan Wynn). Sure enough Pudge's four goons attack the coach to get him off and of course they take the teacher hostage. Later that day they all gang rape her and leave her for dead but she's nurses back to health thanks to an Apache Indian (Henry Silva). He also teaches her the Apache way and trains her to go kill her attackers. This Western is also known as THE ANIMALS and THE DESPERADOS but no matter what title you saw it under at the drive-in, the end results aren't as good as one would wish. I swear while watching the film I thought this was an Italian movie but apparently it was made in America, which struck me as strange because it's obvious that a lot of the dialogue has been dubbed. I'm not sure how on Earth dubbed Carey but her voice sounds horrible here and is way too high-pitched. It sounds as if someone wanted to play a teenage cheerleader and I'll apologize in advance if that is her real voice. The movie is pretty much a pre-clone of DEATH WISH but the screenplay doesn't give the teacher that much to do. She seems to get over her ordeal fairly quickly and we're never really explained anything she's doing. We never really get to understand why she wants this revenge or why she doesn't seem to have any effects of the rape. The screenplay also doesn't give the Apache too much to do as he pretty much just stands by doing his own thing and this includes at the start of the rape. Those expecting graphic violence are going to have to look elsewhere as none of the shootings are all that graphic and the rape scene isn't shocking either. The rape sequence was shot in an interesting way and it appears the director wanted it to be psychedelic with its strange visuals and zooms. Carey is just way too bland in the title role and Silva appears to be wishing he was somewhere else. Wynn, on the other hand, delivers a terrific, if over-the-top performance that at least keeps you watching. The ending is a pretty effective one and has a clear message through the rest of the film's short-comings but at least it does end on a strong note.

The five savage men of the title are Keenan Wynn and his band of cutthroats who rob a stagecoach and murder everyone but the schoolteacher, Alice(Michele Carey), taking her captive, raping her with relish. They leave her to rot in the blistering sun, but she is rescued and nursed back to health by a brooding Apache named Chatto(man of few words, Henry Silva in a rare heroic role akin to Charles Bronson in Chato's Land). Alice desires revenge for taking her virginity from her and degrading her in such a fashion, not to mention slapping her around. Chatto will teach her how to shoot a shotgun and ride a horse, with them hunting down each and every member of Pudge's(Wynn)crew. Meanwhile, Phoenix sheriff Alan Pierce(John Anderson, excellent in an understated role, playing his posse leader subdued and patient)and a group of locals he rounded up follow the trail to find Alice, and those who killed citizens (on the stagecoach) he knew in coldblood. A constant throughout the movie is how Alice and Chatto always beat Pierce and his men to the punch, gunning down Pudge's men before they can get any worthwhile information to help them in their search. Very much a 70's western, the story reverses a trend set in classic westerns, the hostile and cruel savages are white, and the civilized are the Apaches.Wynn, in a small role, is superb at really getting under the skin, his vicious outlaw laughing in Alice's face towards the end even though his goose seems cooked. I wish I could say "Five Savage Men" was a great western, but the story's just too threadbare, with some very noticeable logical problems such as how Chatto and Alice could so easily find and kill the men they seek after. Despite shooting people out in the open where capture is a possibility, they always seem to escape with little fanfare. Joe Turkel also has a memorable performance as Wynn's buddy Peyote, in it for very little screen time, but is effective as a sleazy dirtbag. Following Pierce and the posse is intriguing because they only want to secure Alice and find those who have caused such human suffering but she and her "Injun" lover often make their efforts a difficult task(they even have one of the boys in a noose, interrogating him, and before he could spill the beans, Alice blew a hole in him!). I'd have to say that the highlight for me would have to be when Alice gut-shoots one of the bastards while having him cornered in an outhouse dropping a load! Like many westerns during the late 60's/early 70's, "Five Savage Men" has a downright troubling conclusion, quite heartbreaking in how things get so out of hand due to racism and uncontrollable emotions(interesting how the one character who seems to have his emotions in check commits to repeatedly shooting an innocent man, in turn sealing his, and those along with him, fate). Michele Carey, as soft-voiced Alice, a flower caught in a hellish inferno, favors a suburban housewife in Apache garb..the image of Carey gunning down outlaws with a steely resolve can be quite surreal. Accolades in order to Silva who rarely utters a word, using other means of communication as a way to talk with Alice. A definite asset to the movie are the locations which look uncompromising and inhospitable.

The sort of movie where the Native American outfits appear to have come from Woolworth complete with rawhide leather go-go boots. The multiple titles alone tip you off it was hastily made for the bottom half of drive-in bills. It's sort of interesting in how it reflects (or panders to) the spirit of the late 60's/early 70's: protofeminist condemnation of rape, and peacenik condemnation of revenge. Meanwhile the viewers are supposed to get their kicks from the aforementioned acts, though at least the rape happens off-screen. Also typical of movies at the time, the story is bleak and pessimistic but for once mercifully short. Still it's worthy as a vehicle for Keenan Wynn, known for playing endearing cantankerous roles like Alonzo P. Hawk in the Disney Flubber movies. Here he has a scenery-chewing good time as a genuinely nasty bad guy, and he looks radiantly fit in his S & M-tinged nude scene. Another bonus is the theme music by future pina colada songwriter & Broadway director Rupert Holmes.