The Animals

A revenge tale set in the West.

It would be a ridiculously horrible movie on its own. Keenan Wynn and the other four "savage men" are just the same annoying Hollywood stereotypes we see in most movies, laughing while they kill. For some reason, they even kill a pretty woman when they claim they want women for other reasons, so don't look for "motivation" in this movie.

For whatever reason, they don't kill the other pretty women, but rape her. Of course she goes for revenge with the help of Henry Silva, and since this is the seventies, Silva has to be a Native American in order to be anything but a slob.

What saves this movie, somewhat, is the comic relief from a posse led by John Anderson, who is always a step behind the heroic pair. The rest is pretty much fast forward formula.

Was generous with a 4 rating. Interesting scenery. Poor directing. Questionable if editing was bad or that was all they had to work with. Silva is virtually mute so writers weren't necessary.

Schoolteacher Alice McAndew (Carey) has the misfortune of sharing a stagecoach with prisoner Pudge Elliott (Wynn). When Pudge's friends arrive to rescue him, they don't stop at simply robbing the stage. All aboard are killed except Alice. Her intended fate is far worse. She is hauled into the desert to be repeatedly and brutally raped and left for dead.

The outlaws' plan goes awry when an Apache (Silva) saves Alice from a cruel death from shock and dehydration. He nurses the young woman back to health. Before long, the two start hunting down the killers.

By 1970 standards, this is a fairly extreme western. The rape scene is not lingered on, but is filmed in such a way as to instill shock in the viewer. The film has a few rare humorous elements, but is otherwise a deadly serious tale of revenge. Henry Silva's character has little dialogue and virtually no knowledge of English. The filmmakers rely instead on imagery and expressions to tell the story more than the spoken language.

For me, the film was passable. I personally couldn't find much to fault in the approach taken. Some plot elements are strong, but cannot be stated here without becoming spoilers. The cast is good and consists largely of veterans of the western genre. The minimal dialogue was a good choice. The rape scene is not exploitative. Perhaps it is because this vengeance theme has been done so much that I couldn't really get into the film. For western traditionalists, this might be one to avoid.

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 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.