The Valley of Death

Major Kingsley (Sima Janicijevic), a good friend of Winnetou, is murdered by Murdoch (Rik Battaliga) and his bandits. But he was still able to hide the army's war chest in a safe place. But now the court considers the major to be the thief, the prosecution believes that he fled to Mexico with the loot. His daughter Mabel (Karin Dor) wants justice for her father and speaks for him. She could prove her father's innocence through a letter. But this letter is written in Apache language and only Winnetou (Pierre Brice) can read it. Of course, his best friend Old Shatterhand (Lex Barker) is also not far off and nor is his sidekick Sam Hawkens (Ralf Wolter) and Lord Castlepool (Eddi Arent) who both provide the right dose of humor. Winnetou and Shatterhand are also accompanied by the inexperienced army lieutenant Cummings (Clarke Reynolds). On the dangerous path to the hiding place, the Sioux also get involved at some point, whose new chief Red Buffalo (Wojo Govedariza) has dug up the hatchet. The treasure map shows the way through the Valley of Snakes to the Ossack tribe, who are good friends with Winnetou...

The Winnetou westerns are great fun, vibrant, lively and imaginative and action-packed, and this 1968 entry starring Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand and Pierre Brice as Winnetou doesn't have the same energy, romanticism and the endearing quality as the others and the pace gets bogged down when the Sioux turn up, but it's still entertaining and has some inventive action scenes such the fight scene in the hotel room where Lex Barker fights a thug mishandling the enchanting Karin Dor who happens to hold the keys to a treasure, the swarm of bees attacking the bad guys and the hand-to-hand combat between Winnetou and the musclebound Sioux . The valley of Snakes sequence is a standout, well captured with some of the bad guys getting some fangs for their effort. The chemistry between Lex and Pierre isn't as strong as the previous entries. However it still has its moments and it isn't yawn-worthy. The action is good. Nice note to end on.