Terra bruciata

An enjoyable Western with a small cast of white characters and rather more Indians, who follow the routine of seemingly being willing to take many casualties for relatively small gain. Another cliché is the improbable Indian girl played by a non-Native American, in this case a Mexican,María Elena Marqués. It appears from the plot that Navajo girls get taught to use the bow and arrow, but this apart the character might as well have been a Mexican anyway.

Hodiak, in one of his last films before his premature death, is suitably rugged, and Ray Teal gets a fuller role than usual; in fact he's the nearest to a good guy among all the men in the film, and even then he's served time in Yuma Prison and is still greedy for the loot.

And also thanks to the producer Wallace mc Donald, because if the producer had been Sam Katzman, believe me, the result would not have been the same on screen. This is a gritty western, very surprising for such a bland director. Fred Sears gave us all kinds of films; all kinds: westerns, war, crime, comedy, dramas and only EARTH VS FLYING SAUCERS is the most famous, because of Ray Harryhausen special effects. So, back to this one, yes, this is a pretty solid movie, showing a scheme rarely seen before and after, a scheme where there is not good or villains, only men fighting for their own interests. My favorite from Fred Sears.

Decent Western in 80 minutes only, with good cast and nice action scenes .It deals with 4 ex-convicts who spent five years at the State Penitentiary , the tough John Hodiak, the good-looking John Derek nicknamed the innocent kid , the veteran Ray Teal, the cool-blood killer played by David Brian, and all of them recently released from Yuma Territorial Prison. They arrive in Twin Folks town where at the saloon problems already emerge. Then, they go back to Tomahawk Gap to take the cash they robbed in a heist and that was buried at its graveyard . As three exprisoners fresh out from jail to get a share their stolen money. Along the way they meet strange charactes as a beautiful Indian woman : Maria Elena Marques and a grumpy undertaker : John Qualen, caring his cemetery. As three killers stalking down while the Apaches stalked them all. They come back for vengeance! One man against the West!. Stalking three killers down while the savage Indians stalked them all!

Simple and plain Western paced in fits and starts about four ex-inmates who attempt to retrieve the loot they stole and that was hidden by a colleague somewhere at Tomahawk town, a ghost city, being an extremely abandoned and ruined location. The picture contains noisy action, violent Indian hunting, spectacular attacks on the town and at the end a life and death battle ensues. The picture benefits itself of a good main and support cast such as : John Hodiak, David Brian, Ray Teal, the Mexican Maria Elena Marques, John Qualen, Trevor Bardette, John War Eagle, John Doucette, among others . And the famous John Derek who married the beauties Ursula Andress, Linda Evans and Bo Derek. He played a lot of Westerns and adventure movies, his most known role was Joshua as a secondary actor in Ten Commandments.

This Ambush at Tomahawk Gap is a run-of-the-mill but acceptable and passable Western that displays a colorful cinematography by Henry Freulich . Being shot on location in Corriganville, Ray Corrigan ranch, Simi Valley, California. And thrilling, atmospheric musical score by Ross DiMaggio. The motion picture with interesting script by David Lang, produced by Columbia Pictures /Wallace MacDonald and being professionally directed by Fred F. Sears. He was a prolific actor and director who worked hardly until his early death at 44 years. He spent in Columbia long time , making quickies for the low-budgeted producer Sam Katzman and favorite producer Wallace McDonald . Fred made all kinds of genres outstanding in Western, thriller, Noir, Sci-Fi, Juvenile delinquent crime film and WWII, such as : El Alamein, The 49th man, Chicago Syndicate, Bonanza town, Blackhawk, The Nebraskan, Massacre Canyon, Cell 3455 death row, Cha cha Boom, Rock around the clock, Inside Detroit, Don't knock the rock, Ghost of the China sea, Fury at Gunlight Pass, Rumble on the docks, Escape from San Quentin, Sky Commando, Mission over Korea, Badman's country, The night the world exploded. His best movie is considered to be Earth vs Flying saucers with FX by Ray Harryhausen and his worst one : The giant Claw, both of them Science Fiction movies. Rating :6 /10. The movie will appeal to Western lovers

When the story begins, a group of men have just been released from prison and the local sheriff chases them out of town. It seems they were involved in a robbery five years ago and now that they are out of prison, the men want to track down the hidden money. One of the men is not actually part of the gang (John Hodiak) but was convicted of the crime nonetheless...mostly because the gang members said nothing to help free him. Not surprisingly there are a few hard feelings and the guy feels he, too, is entitled to the money.

There are some problems getting the money. First, it's buried in a long abandoned ghost town. Second, and more importantly, it's on Apache land and the tribe is not especially friendly! Third, there is no one...no one to root for in the film.

This is a fair western. It has a few problems apart from having nothing but unlikable characters, such as how stupidly the Apache braves fight...they couldn't have been this dumb in real life! They seem to enjoy riding up on their horses just to be shot! Also, there's a character played by John Qualen that is just bizarre and his motivations and actions make little sense. Overall, a decent and watchable western but one that isn't particularly great or necessary to watch.

When four inmates (John Hodiak, David Brian, John Derek, Ray Teal) are released from Yuma Prison they work their way back to what is now the ghost town of Tomahawk Gap to recover the money from the robbery they pulled off years before. Hodiak, who was an innocent bystander in the original heist but was convicted along with the others, decides to cut himself in for a piece of the action since he served the time for a crime he didn't commit. However the road to Tomahawk Gap is not an easy one and the four must cross Apache Territory swarming with renegades to recover the stolen loot.

Directed by low budget veteran Fred Sears, who cut his teeth on the Durango Kid series at Columbia, the film doesn't spend time on meandering plot lines. Tomahawk Gap has a grittier feel than typical for the time period with little in the way of moralizing or romance. Sears definitely knew how to work with a budget and the sole focus of the movie is spent on the foursome recovering the stolen money. Hodiak receives top billing in this adult themed western, but it really is more of an ensemble cast and a pretty good one at that. By this time Hodiak had been relegated to secondary leads, larger support roles and ensemble work such as this. If Hodiak wasn't happy with the trajectory of his career you wouldn't know it by viewing this film. He comes off pitch perfect as a wrongly convicted man whose only compass in life is being paid back for his years behind bars.

Worthwhile medium budget programmer with good production values and a clever ending. Recommended for those who like their Westerns thin on drama and heavy on action.