El hacha de guerra

This western belongs to the second part of career for Lesley Selander, his best part, unlike his cheap one, during the forties. Here, with more budget, he is of course more comfortable, and without being under the lack of freedom, which is usually the bad side of a bigger budget. Producers generally remove any wish for something new, or unusual, when some directors dare something daring. Exectuves only seek the gross, and in that purpose, the key is to propose to audiences what they seek for, what they search for, and certainly not something unexpected. Such a shame. Here, with this film, and others that he made more or less in the same period, Lesley Selander makes me think of a total freedom, concerning camera angles, characters study, and above all the Indian attack over the cavalry base camp, so violent, so brutal, with shocking scenes of women slaughtered with tomahawk. Yes, this is a very effective, excellent western from a specialist. An overall atmosphere and spirit that you can't forget, especially from a grade B movie, and not a Z.