Five Savage Men (1971)

Stereotypes and Poor Dialogue / Costumes / etc.

A white schoolteacher is raped by 5 men when her stagecoach is attacked. An Apache warrior comes in to save her and nurses her back to health. He tries several times to return her to other whites, but she stays with him. Finally he trains her how to shoot and she tracks down and kills the rapists. Unfortunately, she goes mad, the sheriff shows up and shoots the Apache as a heathen. The Apache (and his few friends that you see briefly) are both very stereotyped and usually shown in western style clothing.

This could have been an excellent story about a straight laced woman learning the beauty of nature, a white woman learning to trust a red man, a woman learning how to shoot and ride, etc. etc. Instead there are jarring cut scenes, really bizarre Zardoz-style music, and gratuitous nudity. The stereotypes are really clear. Yes, part of the point of the movie is that everyone assumes the indians must be involved and the "hero" is shot without even a second glance. However, the Indians are dressed as you might imagine one in a Halloween costume. I suppose the three or four words used could be authentic, but there is no real sense of culture, or language, or song, or anything else here.

The relationship seems very forced and unnatural. The dialogue is pretty cheezy at times. Even the lure of gorgeous scenery - which usually is found in great plenty in movies like this - is missing. Things are faded, grainy, and look as if it was shot on a back lot of Hollywood. I really found the heroine's voice to be quite odd - almost as if she were a cartoon mouse or something.

Again, it could've been an excellent story and a stunning movie. It just never made it. July 24, 2006

POOR QUALITY

The story is interesting, but the poor quality makes it hard to enjoy. The colors are washed out and it is pan-and-scan. I think this film tried to show the vast emptiness of the west but the cinematography is lost in this DVD. I think(although I don't know) that this edition has been edited. There are a couple of abrupt splices. As it is, a few unsettling scenes remain. Just as an aside, Michele Carey has a very strange voice. Almost like a cartoon character or small child. She's a stunner though. Geneon [Pioneer] January 25, 2006

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