I’ve figured this one out I think! It is a “pre” spaghetti western. Dealing with the events that turn people into violent killers. Most spaghetti western anti heroes start out as simple or normal people. But becuase of a vicious act of violence, they are forced to become savage killers. As in Sam Walbash and Today We kill… But the scenes of the “normal” character are usually only one or two scene footnotes. Not so with Four of the Apocalypse. Most of the movie, Stubby is a normal or regular person. Just a fella. He stays thatway throughout the film until he is forced to become a murderer because of the violence perpetrated on him and his friends by Chaco. Pre spaghetti meaning this focuses on the situations and violemce that force people to become savage killers. Like the anti hero. And so, Stubby only really becomes an anti hero in the film’s finale. And in my interpretaion, he rides away just lke most anti heroes to become a notorious gunfighter like Django, Sabat, Sartana, and Ringo. Make way for Stubby.
Here is Stubby normal, then anti hero.
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I did not particularly like this film but with what you said I am definitely looking at it in a new light … perhaps it would be worth a revisit.
I’ve watched it twice already so even though I did not like it it definitely intrigues me in some way.
Never thought my comment would have that much of an impact! I’m looking at it in a new light too. I was watching the Tomas Milian and Fabio Testi interview on this film last night and they showed a picture of Fabio Testi as a dandy then at the end all gruff and sad. That is when it hit me.
One of the worst sw’s I’ve seen so far. Who was that, Three Dog Night doing the soundtrack? It started out really well & grabbed my attention but then…? . We all know how important music is to sw’s & this movie was just hard to watch. A lot of scenes seemed ‘weird’ & out of place to me. I live in New England (US) but I have never seen weather change as fast as it did in this movie (continuity anyone?).
I actually like this one quite a bit for it’s differences. It’s more of a road movie that just happens to be a SW. Milian is great in this, as is Micheal J Pollard, Testi i can generally take or leave.
[quote=“p.pereira, post:95, topic:507”]I bought this one along with "Joko invoca Dio… e muori ". View it just once and really hate it.
Too odd for me.[/quote]
Seen this yesterday… I got to watch it with very low expectations, but eventually it didn’t look that bad. Actually, as someone else has commented, the episodes aren’t even bad if taken singularly, but they don’t merge together very well. I even liked the horror/gore elements, but the “mood swings” inside the film were a tad bit too abrupt to really appreciate that. Like, when Stubby finds out Clem’s body - and we know what kind of HUGE taboo has been broken there - we cut to him and Bunny simply walking out of the ghost town, happy together. While there is still an eerie feeling to that scene (is it just Bud looking at them running from a crack in the wall to another, or are there really dead people looming?), the previous revelation doesn’t have the time to sink in.
Still, I liked the overall decadent feeling of the movie - and as everybody else said, Milian just owns it. And double props to him because, looks wise, he really looked like the spawn of an unholy union between Jack Sparrow and Nico Giraldi (aka two of the most not!creepy characters ever) still he managed to be scary as hell. The whole peyote scene was indeed a very bad trip.
I also have to say I got a bit misty eyed when Bunny died and all the men gathered around the newborn baby. What can I say, I am a sap at times. :
…And then it ended with a dog. WTF? ;D
In a nutshell: I didn’t find it unwatchable, but it’s quite a bit of a rollercoaster in terms of quality. It’s like having a palette of nice colors, but they don’t really go together very well.
Well in the spirit of this polarizing film, I just watched it for the first time and really enjoyed it! I didn’t think it dragged at all. An interesting film and a real shocker.
The baby born in the “all man” town concept is taken directly from a western short story I’ve read in the last year or so…damned if I can remember the name of it. I’ll start looking.
