User reviews

This is a film about idiots, drunks, murderers and lunatics and how they help each other escape and evade the police. The allegedly true story centers on how the Bassett Brothers - Wilbur, an intellectually challenged drunken bigot; Leroy, a psychotic evangelical Christian; and Melvin, a non-descript young punk - help a fellow miscreant who happens to be a Native American escape from jail after he is imprisoned for murdering a police officer and injuring another. The story is just senseless enough to be believable, but despite an exhaustive search, I can find no evidence that this really is based on actual events. Even if it is reality-based, though, it's hard to identify any point or profound moral in this predictable, lengthy, and generally disagreeable story.

This ultra-low budget New Mexico production features a mix of non-acting and over-acting and decent but fairly standard directing and camera work. The soundtrack - composed of country and western music with a little southwestern rock tossed in to shake things up - is also all over the map. Parts of the soundtrack will make you want to hit the mute button (typically the singing parts), but the instrumentals - particularly the banjo piece during one of the chase scenes - are pretty good. The script has a number of problems, but as the film shifts from unfunny comedy to crime drama, the screenwriter appears to have found his element, so the second half of the film is much better - and more sparingly - scripted than the first. The sets are, of course, lovely.

Basically, this is a modernized western gunslinger drama which starts out by introducing the entirely unsympathetic and uninteresting Bassett Brothers and eventually flows into the story about the police and their Native American prisoner. The flow and pace of the film is worth paying attention to and manage to lend some interest to an otherwise ho-hum experience.

Recommended for die-hard B- western fans only.

This is a good ole' movie about some mangy brothers who free their Indian buddy, Cima, from the police. Leroy, a Lord loving psychotic, and his mentally retarded brother, Wilbur, kill cops and innocent people during a series of bizarre kidnapings. Sound typical? Well, actually it has a rural theme that makes the killers seem like charming fellows in only a way the drive-in could, back in '73. The sound track is very entertaining, and is a delight as the movie rolls out on the road, and straight to hell.

The three Bassett brothers - Leroy, Wilbur & Melvin - plot to break their Native American friend, Keema, out of police custody. Keema was arrested for killing a deputy and wounding Sheriff Trask and was in the process of being extradited out of Texas. Leroy is a God- fearing, Bible quoting lunatic played by John F. Goff. Goff is over- the-top in his rantings at times, but this was a very good performance. George "Buck" Flower plays the mostly-drunken Wilbur and James Ward plays the youngest brother, Melvin. The fact that Leroy's name is in the title of the film is somewhat misleading. The film is not about Leroy Bassett at all, it's about a revenge story surrounding Keema (Cody Bearpaw) and Sheriff Trask (Elliott Lindsey). Keema holds Trask responsible for the death of his wife, which led Keema to shoot the two police officers.

As far as the plot goes, more time could have been spent on the sheriff, as it would have helped the ending of the film and a decision made by Trask. Instead the story focuses on first the brothers and their plan, then the evading of the authorities by Keema and the brothers. This detracts from the story, but what story is told is still solid.

Director Robert E. Pearson has a low budget but he makes good use of locations. The story takes place in a rural setting and has a western feel to it, and the climax takes place in snow-covered hills in the mountains. It may not be stylish, but the camera-work and production are very good.

The Devil and Leroy Bassett has a few issues with story focus but is still a very good rural crime/revenge story. 7/10.

None of the characters in this movie generate any empathy or sympathy . Im.pretty sure you're not supposed to..but its still confusing all the same. Still worth watching regardless