Apache Blood

I absolutely do not understand why anyone would post a comment to a movie they hadn't bothered watching all the way through. Thank God for the internet, keeping these folks off the streets! I have not seen Apache Blood in years, but my recollection of it should be more useful than the "didn't watch it...fast-forwarded...made snide remarks" review that appeared previously. I saw it on the late, late movie, with commercials, several years before my area was even wired for cable! Apache Blood is a low-budget, independent effort, with only one "name" in the cast. It's a western concerning a soldier's efforts to get back to his fort while being pursued by an Apache, played by Ray Danton. I don't recall a great deal of dialog, but the movie managed to hold my attention to the end. The tone established in the first 99% of the movie abruptly changes at the end; I was never sure how I felt about that, but it was definitely a surprise! If you enjoy cheap little indies, you should like this one.

Ultra low budget, and not particularly good, western from the 70s. The vastly underrated Ray Danton shows what ruined his acting career... although he had been on the slide for some time. This was his third last film - he went on to direct, mainly in TV.

Still for those who enjoy watching films (as I do) made on Hollywood's fringe with former stars this is for you.

The reality is these types of films kept former leading actors (albeit some of them were second string leading men) working when they grew older and had been forgotten by the major studios. ( great actor stars like Rory Calhoun, Guy Madison, Cameron Mitchell, John Carradine and many more). It's would be quite a experience to go ( like Ray here) from "under contract to ...." to small B pictures and drive-in fair, but an actor has to pay the bills. And this fringe Hollywood can produce minor classics ( although this is not one of them) and must be an interesting place to work in. The only film to capture a bit of this fringe low budget Hollywood cinema successfully is Frank Oz and Steve Martin's comedy "Bowfinger".

As for the film itself, the direction is basic, the editing is rotten, and the acting is passable... just.( better direction could have helped). But still through it all Ray Danton shines, you can tell he is a breed apart from everyone else involved in the film.

After a cavalry man is killed at the beginning, there is some stock footage with sloppily credits that must have been added at the last minute narrated by Ray Danton that explains that there was a treaty and Yellow Shirt (Danton) is fighting all by himself his personal war. The movie simply consists of Yellow Shirt that stalks these Cavalry men and takes them down one by one.

In every single aspect, this movie is horrible. Apart from the narration, there is barely any talking in the movie. And they almost all mumble incomprehensibly throughout. And when it comes to the cinematography it's even worse. From time to time some scenes jump illogically. In particular when the movie focuses on the last surviving man, there is some footage of desert animals (a owl, a group of pecaris and a rattlesnake that is thrown away) that simply doesn't make sense whatsoever.

All in all, a truly sad and wretched movie only of interest to bad movie fans or if you want to see once-respected actors in career suicide mode.

I came into possession of this film with the purchase of a 5 disk/20 movie set called "Spaghetti Westerns" Apache Blood does not belong in this collection but that is not my greatest disappointment with the film.

The story and its ending is the only value this film has and we will give 4 stars for that alone. No other effort in the making of this film deserves any stars at all. The directing is awful and the only thing worse is the editing which was probably done by the director. At first I thought that the film was a student project done by a student that flunked out of film school. It is a sin what was done to a provocative story about the treatment of the so called "Indians" (native Americans) because of the prejudice, bigotry and hate of the invaders of their land.

We make no comment on the acting. It is difficult to critique the actors performances with the obvious sub-amateurish directing. The director just did not know when to say "cut"; did not understand screen direction; did not know that one does not have to play the whole journey or day to communicate distance or time.

Extremely protracted scenes of being on the run or on the chase made this movie too long by 30-40 minutes. We can not blame the editor too much since the director probably provided minimal options. Then, to add even more, the end has a recap that is totally unnecessary and presumes the viewer won't understand the ending without it. Instead, if you do watch this movie, stop it when the recap begins as it only confuses what is the best part of the movie.

One reviewer here states that if you make it half way through then stick around for the end, its worth it.

When "Apache Blood" begins, Danton himself provides some narration over some credits which seemed cheap and hastily added to the movie. It seems that a treaty has been broken and Yellow Shirt (Danton) is determined to fight the American government. What follows are some cavalry folks being stalked by Yellow Shirt and being picked off one by one.

Technically, the movie is a mess. In addition to the narration, the actors throughout the film sound as if they were recorded in a phone booth...a weirdly bad sound track! And, it doesn't get any better when it comes to the cinematography and editing. In particular, the edits are jumpy and illogically made...as if the editor simply had no idea what they were doing in many cases. The acting, at times, is amateurish. In many ways, the film looks as if many of the people making it had no experience in the business and they were simply learning by doing....much like some of the Ed Wood films...though not nearly as fun to watch. It's not surprising that this film sat on the shelf for several years before it was finally released...a sure sign that a picture is a dud.

Overall, a dull and horridly made film...one that features little to endear it to anyone except for the staunchest Ray Danton fans...both of them.Suave, sophisticated Ray Danton as a Mescalero Apache warrior??