Massacre (1956) User Reviews

Welcome variation from the 1950s' Westerns

[Marlburian · 7/10 · 8 December 2022]

I watched "Massacre" (for the second time) courtesy of YouTube, and thought that it compared well with the usual B Westerns of the 1950s. It's not often that.we get to a film devoted to Federales, the South American scenery made a change and, for once, the hero didn't ride off at the end with the love interest.

Given the many times that films cast white actors in races other than their own, Dane Clark and James Craig did well enough as Mexican officers, though Martha Roth did not convince as a Mexican. Nor did the actor playing young Juan Pedro, but I see he actually was a Mexican!. And the villagers' chieftain was a bit comical.

Nice to see some attention to detail, such as the jangling spurs that another reviewer has commented on, and the Federales had at least one pack-horse of supplies; all too often patrols of soldiers in films of various genres are a long way from anywhere with no signs of sustenance, not even saddle-bags.

La Carga de los Rurales

[jdcowtown · 7/10 · 4 November 2020]

I really liked this tough little time capsule film. Wild story, of nasty double crossing bad people making trouble for themselves.

The lack of big stars kinda makes it work. Martha Roth is really the rotten glue that holds it all together! The underacting by the rest make it all strangely more plausible.

The strongest part of this film for mine is the excellent music score of Gonzalo Curiel which is a masterpiece of Western movie music! Solid theme, relevant and supporting incidental music is spot on with dynamic use of horns and flutes. Restating the theme with a blue vocal rendition of the tune round the campfire and a fantastic crescendo!

The south of the border locations with the interesting landscape and climate evident, the extras, the props and costumes in this film are all excellent and deliver authenticity!

The old Mex charro saddles with the pineapple horn!..

The color print, the sound and especially good is the jingle jangle of the federals spurs.

Notice the detail of the guard on duty with his spurs on over the top of his feet to stop the noise......now that's western!

The cavvy of horses in this film are worth a mention. I reckon that those tough little ponies are what horses probably looked like back in the old west. Very different to those grain fed quarter horses in Hollywood!

A strange Western Noir gem!

Rugged western

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 31 January 2022]

A short and tough little western that was apparently shot in Guatemala until local politics got too hot so they decamped to Mexico to finish it off. It has a rugged look and feel to it and Dane Clark has a good mean streak here, far away from the clean cut Hammer image he had elsewhere. Quite densely plotted too given the running time and with plenty of action.

Fondly remembered from my youth

[dphelan-1 · 29 September 2006]

When I was a lad I used to go to the West Theatre in Charleston, West Virginia every Friday or Saturday. They had double or triple features, serial chapters and cartoons It was like that old PBS series "Matinee at the Bijoux''. I saw every Abbot and Costello comedy, Randolph Scott western, horror films from the 1930'ws to 1950's, and every B western ever made. One of those was Massacre. At the time I thought it was very brutal and downbeat ( even if I did not know those words). It was one of the few westerns without a real hero. Dane Clark was the main character but hardly heroic. The Yacquis were not portrayed sympathetically. Everyone got killed in the end. Wish this was on DVD.

The Trail Of a Trader

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 25 November 2011]

Massacre was one of those westerns that had an interesting plot premise and in better hands might have become a classic. But it was a knockoff type Lippert Production and that in itself says a lot.

This film was shot in Mexico and Guatemala and has a couple of American actors who were past their prime heading the cast. Neither Dane Clark as captain of the Rurales nor James Craig as his insubordinate and eventually mutinous lieutenant were all that convincing as Mexicans.

The Rurales are on the trail of a trader who is selling guns to the Yaqui Indians and the Yaquis also want to get a hold of this guy for selling bad medicine which forced several of the tribe to go blind.

The brilliant Clark gets the service of an Indian guide in Jaime Fernandez as a guide with what any literate 8 year old could predict as inevitable results.

The title says it all.

A Very inferior Western

[bux · 1/10 · 30 April 2002]

Despite featuring a cast culled from both Hollywood and Mexico, and colorful Mexican locations, this is in all respects a very poorly made Western picture. The plot concerns the capture of a band of Yaqui Indians, gun smugglers and Mexican Federales, all leading to the title's conclusion. The characters are so poorly developed, that by the time the picture has run half way, all we want is a conclusion, no matter what the consequences. It is rumored that this one was quite often yanked from the screen at the "A" movie houses and soon made it's appearance on TV. This is NOT one of the better efforts of Robert Lippert and Company.

Why not? Try it

[searchanddestroy-1 · 8/10 · 12 November 2022]

It seems to be a co production: American and Mexican. It is question of gun smugglers, Indians, and authorities, all of them fighting against each other. This is an ordinary B western, directed by a B film maker whose best movies were some action packed crime flicks for Paramount during the late thirties, starring Anthony Quinn, Lloyd Nolan, J Caroll Naish. Besides those films, and some Bulldog Drummond adventures which I have never seen - so I don't know if they were worth ( and not worse!! ) - King demonstrated a magnificent lack of ambition, compared to his brother Henry King. Ninety percent of his movies are now totally forgotten. The only peculiarity of this western, if you dared absolutely find one, would be the place of the Yaqui indians in this story. They are not totally shown as the evil natives, but on the contrary revengeful after some people sold them bad medication. So for me, the actual villains are the ones who are in charge of medication traffic; right? Excellent, bloody and very unexpected ending. A very unusual western which scheme suggests that the White characters who fight against the "evil" Indians are not necessarily the good ones after all. With an unexpected result.