FIVE BLOODY GRAVES - A Desecrated Western Masterpiece?

Shreveport, LA ad 14 August 1970.

What I was hoping might happen at some point during my journey through Severin Films' AL ADAMSON - THE MASTERPIECE COLLECTION box set (32 films across 14 different Blu-ray discs) happened with Disc Three, where HALFWAY TO HELL (a 1958 Western directed by Adamson's father, Denver Dixon, and starring Adamson as "Rick Adams") shares the bill with Adamson's Western FIVE BLOODY GRAVES. Filmed in 1966 as THE LONELY MAN and subsequently retitled 5 BLOODY DAYS TO TOMBSTONE, there is no real exposition about how Adamson's original film went on to become FIVE BLOODY GRAVES but, by this point in the ongoing story, it's easy to surmise the probable truth. 

As with ECHO OF TERROR, a competent heist thriller that went on to become a mostly incompetent sci-fi zombie mess called BLOOD OF GHASTLY HORROR, the elements of THE LONELY MAN likely shaped up into a beautifully photographed, albeit unavoidably minor, Western. For a director like Adamson, this was no mean accomplishment though his considerable accomplishment certainly turned meaner at it was subsequently finessed into something releasable. The film was made in partnership with its screenwriter Robert Dix (the son of actor Richard Dix), who likely insisted on playing the historically authentic lead role of Ben Thompson himself; this was the first of the production's missteps as Dix was not quite a name actor and doesn't really have the screen presence to stand out amidst the other players. The money set aside for music and had to be assembled from library tracks, some of which are identifiable from cartoons and most of which simply detracts from what's onscreen.

Put together before Independent-International Pictures properly existed, the film nevertheless had the benefit of Samuel M. Sherman's casting input, which brought Adamson together for the first time with numerous members of his subsequent repertory company - John Carradine, Paula Raymond, jack-of-all-trades John "Bud" Cardos, and Vicki Volante (all of whom would appear, along with Dix, in the subsequently filmed BLOOD OF DRACULA'S CASTLE, 1967) as well as established character actor Jim Davis (who would subsequently co-star in DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN, 1971). The real ace in the deck, however, is returning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, who - I never would have believed it - makes nearly the entire film a captivating treat for the eye in its judicious use of Utah locations spread across a wide Techniscope screen in Technicolor. Furthermore, the stunts supervised by production manager Cardos are excellent.

The story is fairly basic: Ben Thompson, a man who considers himself half-dead since the love of his life was felled by a bullet intended for him, is awakened to his sense of responsibility and also romance when he is placed to become the only possible rescue of a coach load of working girls and other travelers attacked by a bloodthirsty Yaqui tribe. (You remember that story about how Roger Corman cast Dick Miller, in APACHE WOMAN back in 1955, as both an Indian and a cowboy and gave him the privilege of shooting himself? John "Bud" Cardos is given the very same opportunity here.) Carradine is a dissolute Bible thumper in Gothic threads, Raymond is the Madam of the brothel-in-transit, and Brady is the entrepreneur anticipating wealth from this new enterprise. An interesting, if overdone, unifying touch is the narration by Death itself, as personified by the voice of Gene Raymond, which articulates his particular bond with Thompson in a way that looks forward to the notion of spectral gunfighters that came along later.

Al Adamson steps in to play a bloodthirsty Yaqui warrior who gets his mitts on Vicki Volante.

Available here for the first time in its original 2.35:1 Techniscope ratio and its full-strength Technicolor intensity, the movie is a modest but still impressive revelation. It might have found a market in 1964 or 1965, but it was instantly out-of-date once the Clint Eastwood/Sergio Leone Westerns hit American screens. Nothing Sam Sherman could have suggested as commercial augmentations would have helped. Right off the bat, the version known as FIVE BLOODY GRAVES stumbles with a lengthy pre-credits sequence (apparently shot circa early to mid 1969 by someone other than Vilmos Zsigmond) showing Dix and starlet Jill Woelfel naked in bed, making love as a grinding acid rock guitar freaks out in such a way as to anchor the scene in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Especially with the music shoved down our ears this way, their post-coital dialogue about Thompson's return from "the war" we assume to mean Vietnam; there is literally nothing about this opening scene to establish anything except a contemporary time frame. Then, after the main titles (which retain the 5 BLOODY DAYS TO TOMBSTONE title), the film and its lead character seem to fall back in time by about a century, with references to "the war" now meaning the Civil one. I listened to Samuel M. Sherman's "partial" audio commentary, which is partly shared with telephone input from Dix and runs about an hour, and it's dead quiet during the entire intro and no explanation is ever given. It should be noted that no previous US video release of this title has ever included this introductory footage.

Jill Woelfel and Robert Dix in FIVE BLOODY GRAVES' opening sequence - clearly not Zsigmond's work.

It's my suspicion that it was decided the film needed some nudity and anything else it might incorporate to appeal to more contemporary viewers. It would have been least challenging to add a sequence like this to the opening - and there are also signs that gore and minimal nudity were added to subsequent scenes; a fairly coy rape scene involving an Indian woman (Maria Polo) spread-eagled on the ground shows a glimpse of nipple in the medium close-up while her torso remains covered in the long shots.  There is also a section of the film that doesn't quite feel organic to the rest, in which Thompson returns from the "war" to reunite with a former love, Nora (Volante), who married the cruel Dave Miller (Ken Osborne) in his absence. Is this sequence intended to illustrate Thompson's lost love? If so, two problems: It is already discussed as something that's happened in the past in the pre-credits sequence, and there is nothing about this sequence to suggest that we have transitioned to telling a story from Thompson's past. Consequently, he's given two lost loves and the second one (if indeed it is a second one) he never finds out about! In her brief appearance, Vicki Volante gives a spirited performance reminiscent of Julie Adams' work in Anthony Mann's BEND OF THE RIVER (1952), and when Thompson finds another short-lived love in Althea, brunette Darlene Lucht (former blonde AIP starlet and future Mrs. Robert Dix) also does a fine job.

I wish the box set contained more rigorous contextualizing for this picture; once again, a recreated version of THE LONELY MAN would have been useful, or even a proper history of how and when the initially old-fashioned Western was tampered with. The IMDb mentions an initial November 1969 playdate in New Orleans, while newspapers.com shows that it had its earliest theatrical playdates come May 1970, at which time it mostly played as a second- or even third-run feature to other movies, such as HELL ON WHEELS (1967), SATAN'S CYCLES (an early release title for Adamson's SATAN'S SADISTS), and HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS (originally THE FAKERS, made by Adamson in 1967 and subsequently retrofitted with material advised by Sam Sherman). FIVE BLOODY GRAVES played some theaters as a lead title during "Free In-Car Heater" season - late January 1971 - with Antonio Margheriti's CASTLE OF BLOOD (1964) and William Grefé's STING OF DEATH (1966) playing in cheap support. When it reappeared around the country as early as March through September '71, it was once again the support feature, playing under Independent-Internation releases HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS and FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR. Therefore, despite its inherent and unusual production quality, possibly the finest technical work Adamson ever achieved, it missed its window of opportunity and was never exhibited with any commercial confidence. That said, it was exhibited and exploited over the years in drive-in theme packages that earned back millions of dollars, which leaves little room to accommodate a valid Art vs. Commerce debate.

Am I saying FIVE BLOODY GRAVES is a desecrated Western masterpiece? Not quite; what was desecrated was a B- or C-grade Western that transcended its modest origins. It's heavily anchored in the familiar but raised above its station by a few engaging performances and, especially, remarkable location photography that sometimes rivals the cinematography of such established Western classics of its time period as Monte Hellmann's THE SHOOTING or RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND. As restored here by Severin Films, it's a must for large screen viewing and - in the context in which it's presented - a most pleasant surprise.

Feedback from reader Chris Koenig: "In regards to the 5-minute opening that was not present in previous home video releases of FIVE BLOODY GRAVES, I'm willing to bet the reason for that is the early home video releases utilized an edited TV print panned-scanned and that scene was edited out (that would also explain why Sam Sherman's audio commentary starts exactly during the title sequence; his commentary was from an old Brentwood DVD release. Considering that actress Jill Woelfel is credited in the animated title sequence by Bob LeBar, it confirms that opening scene was present in its original 1969-1970 theatrical release. Also, what's interesting about the 5 BLOODY DAYS TO TOMBSTONE credit sequence (presented as an extra and carrying a 1968 copyright date) is that some of the credits are slightly bogus: Vilmos Zsigmond is credited as 'Magic Photography' (WHAT?!?!), Robert W. Brimmer is credited as writing the screenplay and not Robert Dix, Alfred J. Ferrara and Ernest J. Caringi are credited as 'producers,' and Jill Woelfel's name is not present indicating this was the original title sequence before Sherman and Adamson added that 5-minute opening and the 'new' Bob LeBar animated credits. I believe when FIVE BLOODY GRAVES was re-released on DVD from Subversive Cinema, that 5-minute sequence was presented as a 'deleted scene'."

Much appreciated insights, Chris! I can add this much, that Robert W. Brimmer was in fact the birth name of writer-actor Robert Dix.

Feedback from reader Mark Young: "You might be interested to know that the pre credit sequence was included in the 2008 German Eyecatcher widescreen DVD but with German audio only (English subtitles provided), before leading into a German title sequence that then cuts abruptly to the US print at the DOP credit. The end credit sequence is not the animated one but a lengthy printed crawl which cuts out during the cast list. Lewis Guinn is credited with Additional Photography here. There are various cuts to the film included as cropped extended/deleted scenes. It also includes an alternate title sequence (GUN RIDERS) which I believe was the TV title..?"

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