Prärie des Todes

Utah, 1873. A young card-sharp named Stubby Preston arrives in a small town called Salt Flat. On his arrival, the town sheriff (Donald O'Brien) throws him in jail with 3 petty criminals - a pregnant prostitute (Frederick), a hopeless drunk (Pollard) and a mad black slave (Baird). That night, KKK-masked gunmen wipe out most of the town, and the next night, the four are put on a cart and forced out of town, into the bandit-filled wilds. One such bandit (Tomas Milian) forces himself upon the group, soon revealing himself to be a wicked sadist. After kneecapping Pollard, raping Frederick and torturing the other two, Testi swears revenge if he is left alive. Milian heads off, and the four characters set out to follow their dreams and destinies - in Testi's case, a slow, violent death for the bandit...

This unusual, horror-tinged effort suffers from slow pace and some awful music ballads, as well as Frederick phony Transatlantic accent. Where it does score highly, is in the 'feel' of the film. Sergio Salvati's photography is superb, and really presents the Old West as a desolate wasteland where only the most ruthless will survive. Also, Milian's villain is superbly evil, and there are some excellent action sequences, such as the opening purge of the town, and Testi's score-settle.

Some of the violence is truly shocking, and all prints of the film were cut down - Milian gouging into a man's stomach with a knife after pinning a sheriff's badge into his chest (commonly seen in stills), and some of Frederick's harrowing rape ordeal.

Don't get the Swedish Sun Video entitled 'CHACO' - it's heavily cut down. This version misses out some gory bullet-hits at the start, much of Milian's torturous antics (including him stamping Testi's testicles), and Testi cutting Milian's face open with a razor. The most complete version available at present (though it still misses out the pre-studio cuts described above), is the Japanese AT International tape.

Even with what does remain, it's a nihilistic, grim piece of work, and remains one of the most violent of the Spagwests. It's a shame that Fulci, after this and the excellent MASSACRE TIME, would disgrace himself with his third western effort, the limp SILVERSADDLE.

Director Lucio Fulci is most (in)famous for his ultra gory horror movies, such as Zombie Flesh Eaters, however, as with others such as his psychedelic giallo A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, this one shows once again that Fulci was in fact an excellent director. Sure, it does showcase the violence and brutality he is known for but it also is surprisingly emotional too, with actual three dimensional characters, which is hardly a given for this kind of thing. The story has four petty criminals meet in a jail and then trek across the desert, where they encounter various obstacles including a very sinister Charles Manson like bandit played excellently by Tomas Milian. The storyline and characters mainly avoid the typical spaghetti western cliches, with Fabio Testi's central character pretty far removed from the usual loner with incredible weapons skills. Also atypical is the score which is nothing like a Morricone bells and whistles affair, surprisingly it sounds more like Pink Floyd! This one also has a good turn from Lynne Frederick as one of the title characters, along with No Blade of Grass, Phase IV, Vampire Circus and Schizo this one makes up the Lynne Frederick 70's cult quintet.

I'd imagine Lucio Fulci was developing his taste for the bizarre with "Four of the Apocalypse". In 1975, skin peelings, cannibalism, and stylized rape in a "spaghetti western" probably was shocking. Unfortunately today, these seem rather tame, and are little more than curiosities. What we are left with is a very un-western-like western. The film plays like a cross between a western, a weak horror spectacle, and a 70s flower power message movie. The four strangers wander aimlessly, mostly on foot, wandering almost as much as the very weak script. While the acting, and main character development is acceptable, long scenes such as the endless child birth, tend to drag the movie down. One other thing, the music seems totally out of place for a western. "Four of the Apocalypse" is a very slow western with a few outdated shocks, that simply doesn't hold interest because of the meandering script. - MERK

I appreciate the DVD for this film very much. It seems that the original American version was not the same as the Italian release. So, in this restoration, the missing bits have been added. But, since it was so many years later that it was reassembled, the new portions have captions--not dubbed like the rest of the film. Some may dislike this, but I like that you can note what was and wasn't in the original release.

The film begins with four small-time misfits sharing a jail cell--a gambler (Fabio Testi), a pregnant prostitute (Lynne Frederick), a drunk (Michael J. Pollard) and a crazy man (Harry Baird). They are eventually thrown out of town and find themselves in the inhospitable countryside. Considering how hot and dry it is, it seems that their troubles MAY be over when they meet up with a hippie-esque guy named Chaco (Tomas Milian). Chaco is amazing with the gun and soon they have plenty to eat and they have every reason to be happy. But the gambler seems to reserve his judgment here--and soon you learn it's for good reason. Chaco is a maniac--and he soon begins terrorizing them and quickly kills a posse looking for him. Now, all trussed up, the three friends can only sit back when Chaco rapes the lady. He then leaves them to die--without horses and in the middle of nowhere. What's next? Well, watch the film--as there's a lot more to follow in this odd little Italian western.

Although I enjoyed this film, it had a very sloppy quality about the film. Continuity was often a problem. In one case, it's warm and they're in a desert when a woman goes into labor--suddenly they're in a snow-filled town! Also, the women appears through most of the film to be, at most, 4-5 months pregnant--then gives birth to a healthy baby. It's also NOT a film for kid--with lots of blood, rape, unintentional cannibalism and more! The thing that bothered me most, however, was the awful hippie-style music with the dreadful singing--very sappy and very 1970s.

But there also was quite a bit to like. The film, at times, had some real heart. I liked the portion set in the mining town--the miners were great characters and offered a nice contrast to all the violence early in the film. Also, the character development of several in the film (such as the gambler and the drunk) was nice--very nice. An oddly moving film that, with a bit of editing and cleanup, could have been a classic.

By the way, I did think it was odd that the western began in a lawless town in Utah. I am sure there were some, but considering Utah was mostly filled with Mormons at that time, this did seem a bit unlikely. Also, the prostitute (Lynne Frederick) was once married to Peter Sellers as well as David Frost. This beautiful lady died very, very young--apparently from the effects of drugs and alcohol.

Many people, among them even fans of Spaghetti Western, seem not to like "The Four Of The Apocalypse", but it is actually a good movie, even though untypical for the genre. Although the movie's violent reputation is maybe a little exaggerated, the uncut version of the movie has some very brutal scenes, there is a pretty gruesome torture scene, and there is a lot more blood when people are shot than in most Westerns, including Spaghetti Westerns.

The Movie takes place in Utah of 1873, where gambler Stubby Preston meets prostitute Bunny O'Neill, alcoholic Clem and a mentally ill guy named Bud in prison. After Stubby buys their way out of jail, the four head south to a city 200 miles away. They meet an obscure Mexican hunter called Chaco, who joins their group, but soon turns out to be a villainous and sadistic psychopath.

The acting is very good, specially Lynee Frederick's performance as the lovable and beautiful prostitute Bunny, who gives the brutal movie a little heart-warming touch and almost seems a little too innocent for a prostitute, and Tomas Milian who is truly diabolic as vicious Chaco.

The movie's biggest weakness is its score, which is not really bad throughout the whole movie, but in some parts of the movie the songs don't really fall in place with the scenes. Apart from that, the movie is very entertaining, certainly violent but in some scenes even heart-warming. A must-see for every fan of Lucio Fulci and every fan of Spaghetti Westerns, although quite untypical for the genre, since Fabio Testi's character Stubby Preston is not quite the typical anti-hero of the Italian Western.

A highly recommendable film, entertaining and gory, but in some parts also very moving. 7 out of 10.