Savages

Andy Griffith gives a tour-de-force performance as a big-city (!!!) lawyer who is as cunning as he is warped. Sam Bottoms is totally believable as the nature-loving student who suddenly finds himself fighting for his life and his credibility. I sat down to watch this film on commercial TV one early AM, expecting to doze off in 20 minutes, and it was so fast-moving, gripping, and suspenseful, I found I had to watch the whole thing.

This movie must have shocked a lot of people when it first came out because it was Andy Griffith's first villain role. He has since played several other "baddies" (such as in Murder In Coweta County his best). There was a story I read in high school called The Most Dangerous Game about a mad hunter with a taste for human prey. This grim chase thriller follows Andy as he hunts his young guide through the desert after an accidental shooting. Griffith must have had a ball shedding his image. This is one of those 70s films that is hard to catch today, but its worth your watch.

Andy Griffith got his start playing a bad guy in "A Face in the Crowd." Don't miss that one since it is one of the earlier films on the role of the media in politics. It also shows the way politicians use the good old boy image to mask the Machiavellian schemer beneath, e.g. Reagan, Clinton and Bush 2.

Griffith had also just played a very bad dude in "Pray for the Wildcats" where he causes the death of two teenagers because the female rejects his dirty-old-man seduction attempts.

This film sticks pretty close to the Robb White original novel (which I got in grade school in the scholastic books weekly reader program in the early 70's). I was very excited to see a movie version since I had just read the novel. The description of the effects of deadly dehydration in the desert are not realized in the movie since to be realistic would have required some serious make-up effects work.

Good old Andy Griffith is mostly known and legendary for his leading roles in the long-running TV hits "The Andy Griffith Show" and, of course, Grampa Simpson's favorite "Matlock". I have to be very honest and admit I've never seen a single episode of these two series, nor anything else he ever did. Having only seen this ABC movie of the week "Savages", I can only say it's regrettable that this man didn't portray any more villainous characters throughout his career instead of making ten thousand episodes of the same damn show! Griffith depicts one of the most loathsome types of bad guys in this film: an obnoxious, rich, sleazy and egocentric elderly guy who thinks he's more powerful than God himself. The performance is very convincing, and solely based on his portrayal of Horton Madec, I think Griffith should have played more roles like it. Horton Madec headed out to the desert to hunt for mountain ram trophies, but the trip doesn't really goes as planned. When Madec (accidentally?) kills a local hermit, his youthful guide Ben wants to do the right thing and report it. The old man fears a scandal and offers Ben a bribe. When he refuses, Madec forces Ben to strip off his clothes and wander through the hot desert without food or water. The young man is strong, but Madec chases him around in his jeep and rifles. "Savages" is a bit of a misleading title. It's in plural even though there's only one baddie and he isn't even a savage but more like a sophisticated and eloquent villain. If the plot sounds vaguely familiar, it's because you have probably seen it numerous times before already. The "hunting humans" storyline is one of the most popular themes in the horror/action business and exists since the early 1930's, with the timeless classic "The Most Dangerous Game". Since then the same plot has been reworked into versions, each with a different setting or specific type of characters, for example a prison in "Blood Camp Thatcher. This plot always works and practically guarantees a suspenseful movie. "Savages" simply replaces the tropical island setting with a seemingly endless and baking desert, but it's enough. This is a TV-production, so don't expect any extreme violence, but director Lee Katzin ("Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?") provides enough tense atmosphere and beautiful imagery.

Nineteen year old Sam Bottoms is made to wander miserably

through the desert without food, water, shoes, or clothes (save a

pair of shorts). He's been forced to surrender his belongings to a

sadistic, rifle-wielding adversary -- Andy Griffith (yes, ANDY

GRIFFITH -- no kidding!!!). Griffith gets sick kicks from hunting

people instead of "conventional" prey, and will track Bottoms down

for the big kill unless the youngster can outwit him...

Folks familiar with the fine 1930s suspense film "The Most

Dangerous Game" will see distinct plot parallels. "The Most

Dangerous Game" possesses one of the most regurgitated plot

devices in Hollywood history: that of the demented hunter with a

penchant for tracking down human prey. It's turned up on "Fantasy

Island" as well as "Gilligan's Island" and for all we know may one

day make up the plot of a reality-based TV show (God forbid!).

However, for any familiarity the material may present, "Savages"

gets high marks for offering a fresh retelling of this fable. Full of

urgency, this is highly charged, suspenseful, top flight

entertainment turned out by a solid, committed cast.

Rugged locales and spare production values enhance what is a

lurid melodrama full of tension between the principal actors. There

are even a couple genuine scares that may make you jump out of

your seat!

Andy Griffith is truly arch in his role as villain, brilliantly cast against

type. He seems to relish this opportunity to stretch every moment

he's on screen (and who can blame him after so many years

playing the Good Guy in dreary, old Mayberry?!?).

Likable young pup Sam Bottoms appears sincerely vulnerable and

sympathetic, trudging barefoot through rugged desert terrain and

tumbling down treacherous ravines. He turns in an earnest and

athletic performance and for all he goes through, and with the help

of some excellent make-up effects, it's difficult not to imagine

some of his wounds being legit!

It winds up being tough to decide who is more fun to watch:

Griffith, grinning lasciviously from ear to ear as he harasses and

torments his young prey...the sadistic overtones of his character

barely restrained... ...or golden-boy hottie Bottoms, the bewildered but stalwart hero,

first degraded at gunpoint to strip for the camera, then forced to

subject his lithe, attractive body to any number of physical

humiliations brought about by the punishing landscape... ...in all, it's a pretty tasty couple hours of entertainment!

"Savages" should inform film enthusiasts and TV-viewers of the

21st century (particularly those born in the 70s, 80s, and 90s) that

some excellent productions were crafted for television way back in

the 1970s. The Movie Of The Week format often proved itself: fresh,

young talent was given a place to shine, and veteran performers

received some choice opportunities to expand their repertoire.