589. Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia

Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia
1974
Directed by Sam Peckinpah

Oh great, Sam Peckinpah again.  I wonder how long it will take for the sexual violence against women to hap-oh three minutes?  New record.

Obviously, I am not one of his biggest fans.  I found this movie even duller than the previous entries on our List.  Everybody just goes around shooting each other for two hours.  There is not exactly a lot to dig through here.

A character referred to only as "El Jefe" summons his pregnant daughter.  He questions her about who the father of her child is.  When she refuses to answer, his henchmen rip off her shirt (because of course) and break her arms.  She finally reveals that the father is Alfredo Garcia.  Her father then puts a bounty on his head.  Quite a few people try to find Garcia, including our unlikable hero Bennie and his even more unlikable prostitute girlfriend.

So like I said, this movie is exceptionally violent.  This doesn't upset me unless the violence is sexual, which it generally isn't in this film (although there is some attempted rape; hey, it wouldn't be Peckinpah without it).  It frankly just bored me.  A man pulling out a gun can only be excited so many times before it just gets repetitive.  Definitely skippable.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

Sam Peckinpah had the final cut on this film, unlike in his previous movies.

Roger Ebert praised this film, but it was generally panned by critics.

577. Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid

Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid
1973
Directed by Sam Peckinpah

Sam Peckinpah is back to disturb us once more.  Hey, at least we made it further into the movie this time before we had to witness the first rape.  Well, not much further.

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid are old friends, but they have ended up on the opposite sides of the law.  Garrett chases Billy the Kid around the West for the entire movie.  The film is punctuated by cameos, some of them good (Slim Pickens), some of them not so good (what the hell was Bob Dylan doing there?).

Apparently, there was a battle between Peckinpah and the studio in post production.  The studio ended up cutting a portion of the film, so it has practically been disowned by the cast and crew.  Personally, I am on the studio's side, partly because I still hold a grudge about Straw Dogs, and partly because I am sure if Peckinpah had his way his films would go on for several days.  Still, there is no denying that the end product is rather choppy.

I found the whole film to be rather unoriginal.  I suppose it is in the Book because of Bob Dylan's score, but having never been a huge Dylan fan, that's not a big draw for me.  Easily skippable.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

There were rumors that Sam Peckinpah was barely able to work due to his alcoholism.  He also apparently peed on the screen when shown the studio's cut of the film.  Gotta love that Peckinpah.

Kris Kristofferson was playing a 21 year old at 36.  This film is a trainwreck.

540. Straw Dogs

Straw Dogs
1971
Directed by Sam Peckinpah

I am a huge fan of horror films.  It is by far my favorite genre; I stream a few crappy Netflix movies a week.  There are many sub genres that I love (found footage, slasher, supernatural, etc) and only a few that I can't stand.  The home invasion genre is one of them.  The other is exorcism films, but that's a whole other post.

David and Amy are a young couple that have just moved to Amy's hometown.  This seems to upset the "townspeople".  Graphic rape ensues and David is forced to unleash his violent side.

Frequent readers of the blog know that I don't cope well with films that have rape in them.  There seems to be some rather shocking messages in this movie as well that definitely have issues with.  In one scene, Amy takes off her top in front of a window, in full view of the workmen.  What was the point of this scene?  Was it supposed to show that in some ways, Amy was "asking" for it?  And then there is the rape scene itself, where Amy seems to be enjoying herself, at least for part of the time.  Yikes.  That seems damaging.

I know people love movies from the seventies, but a lot of the seventies seems to be about ultra violence, which I just don't enjoy.  Anybody have thoughts on the remake?

RATING: *----

Interesting Facts:

Dustin Hoffman said that he only took this role for the money.

One-third of the audience walked out of this film during a preview.

Trailer:

503. The Wild Bunch

The Wild Bunch
1969
Directed by Sam Peckinpah

After I write this review I will FINALLY be caught up on this blog and be able to go to sleep.  So I apologize if this post is a bit rough but I have been writing all day and am eager to finish.

After a particularly disgusting opening sequence, we are introduced to Pike Bishop, an aging outlaw who just pulled off one last robbery before retirement.   Unfortunately, most of his posse are killed by pursuing bounty hunters.  This is a real shame, since the loot wasn't even real money.  Anyway, the remaining members of the gang decide to seek their fortune by stealing American weapons for the Mexican army.

I have watched so many Westerns now for The Book that they are all starting to blur together a bit.  The most notable thing about this film had to be how bloody it was; I have never seen this much violence in the genre before.  While I don't have that much of a problem with gore in films, I don't think blood alone is enough to sustain a movie.  I found myself bored throughout most of the movie.  Really, could they have picked a less sympathetic character to torture?

Not the best Western movie I have seen but it may be the most overrated.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Ranked #79 in AFI's top 100 movies.

John Wayne claimed that this film destroyed the myth of the Old West.

Many of the characters' names in this movie were used in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Do you have any idea how happy this makes me?

Body count of 145.