Chato's Land

"Listen, Quincy, you know could be he's leadin', and we're followin', and if it's true, he could be leadin' us into bad Apache trouble." - Josh

release year: 1972
genre: western
viewing setting: home DVD, 1/22/16 and 8/28/05 and 11/26/01

synopsis: Racist cowboys chase an Apache deep into the harsh desert, and realize their mistake far too late.

impressions: This was a grim, often brutal western. The gist of it was stupid racists getting themselves into a situation far beyond their abilities. Not all of the posse were bad guys, which is why it was kind of sad to see them get drawn into the actions (and punishments) of the ones who actually were scum. The movie had some good desert scenery and plenty of ambushes and fights, but make no mistake: at its core was the motive of revenge.

body count: 12 (8 by Chato, 4 by members of the posse)

acting: Charles Bronson exudes menace as the lone renegade Chato. He's never intimidated and never shows weakness or mercy, and it's great. Jack Palance is the reluctant leader of the posse. Simon Oakland (perhaps better-known as Kolchak's boss from The Night Stalker) does a convincing job as the thoroughly despicable racist ringleader who eventually takes over the posse.

final word: Good grim revenge western, may be too mean for some people.

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