Reviews (20)

Mercy!
Bring the Head of Alfredo Garcia is a rough film. It wasn't for the faint hearted back in '74 and it stil isn't. So many people got killed that I lost count. It depicts a brutal, filthy world and doesn't have an uplifting golly gee ending. I loved it. Warren Oates gave his finest performance as Benny, an American small timer who has one last chance to make it big. Benny is so cool he never takes off his shades even in bed. He doesn't hesitate to kill the bad yet his personal code won't allow him to harm the innocent.

The actress who plays his girlfriend is perfect. She's attractive but in a beat up been-around-the-block-too-many-times way. She spends a lot of time nude or semi nude in this movie but it's not cheap. She's a semi retired prostitute afterall. She ought to be a throw away character but she isn't. She's Benny's heart and although he doesn't know it, she, not dead Alfredo Garcia, is his last chance.

Yes, this is an ugly film but it's incredible. Put the kids to bed early, buy the video and sit back to watch a movie that still shocks and dazzles.

Did he give ya good Head?!
Easily the most nihilistic of all of Peckinpah's films, this grim 1974 mix of western, crime, and horror elements set in present-day Mexico remains the subject of much invective. Some see it as a bizarre masterpiece, others see it as filthy trash. Most certainly it IS weird, bizarre, bleak, and full of despair.

Warren Oates, in a role that is part Humphrey Bogart (TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, which ALFREDO GARCIA resembles somewhat) and part Peckinpah (no surprise there), is excellent as the American expatriot barfly who is hired on by two hitmen (Robert Webber, Gig Young) to retrieve the head of a two-timing Mexican gigolo named Alfredo Garcia--and JUST the head. They offer him a $10,000 reward and Oates goes off on his mad quest with his girlfriend (Isela Vega) who once romanced with Garcia.

Getting Garcia's top ought to be a piece of cake, because he's dead. It is anything BUT that. And when he is bonged over the head with a shovel in a Mexican graveyard and Vega is killed, the film takes an ever-accelerating ride towards a bullet-riddled finale. As Oates finds out, so many people want the head of Alfredo Garcia because the millionaire (Emilio Fernandez) who screamed for the man's head was offering a million dollars (!).

This weird movie has to be seen to be believed. Peckinpah's trademark slow-mo violence is here, though not in the apocalyptic way it was in THE WILD BUNCH. The basic themes of redemption, killing, and Oates' macabre quest (the head is kept in a sack, with the flies buzzing all around it) are incredible. ALFREDO GARCIA is furthermore blessed with a fine score by Jerry Fielding that is part Mexican and also partially like his score for Peckinpah's 1971 horror film STRAW DOGS.

To be sure, even more than a quarter century later, ALFREDO GARCIA is not everyone's cup of tea. But for Peckinpah lovers, it is a must-have.

Warren Oates
There is only one other actor that could replace Warren Oates, and that is Steve McQueen. This movie was excellent.

bring me the head of alfredo garcia
Please release this masterpice on DVD as soon as possible.
Dark humour, twisted and very violent. A must for Peckinpah fans.

Ludicrous
Easily Peckinpah's worst film and one of the worst American movies of the 1970's. It marked the beginning of the director's decline into booze-and-drug self-absorption from which he never emerged. The plot is too ridiculous to merit recounting: just more of Peckinpah's Mexican malarkey. When the film came out the multi-screen cineplex was just being introduced around the country. The title was too long to fit onto the smaller marquees and it was shortened variously to "Bring Me Alfredo Garcia," "Alfredo Garcia's Head," and memorably "Bring Me a Head." ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Obscure Western... Great Movie
Obscure western from the early 80s starring Willie Nelson and Garey Busey. Good drama; great cinematography; excellent soundtrack.

Willie Nelson plays Barbarossa, an ex-Texas Ranger kept away from his Mexican wife because of a vendetta from his father-in-law who is also the pueblo's elder chieftain. Nelson soon encounters Busey roaming in the desert as an outcast from his own family feud. They soon join together as desperadoes roaming the Sonoran desert while evading men of the pueblo who seek to carry out their jefe's vendetta.

The acting is excellent and all of the characters are given depth. A very touching story. Definitely worth owning.

EXCELLENT Western - one of the best ever
It was hard for me, as a country music hater, to find any interest in Willie Nelson, but in complete contrast to his music, I think he makes a fantastic character in a western. He can actually act and act very well, portraying a crusty outlaw who serves as the unwilling mentor of a goofy country boy, played by Gary Busey. This movie develops the classic master-apprentice theme and crafts a very exciting, well thought story. This is every bit as good as The Magnificent Seven or The Outlaw Josey Wales. Buy it, you won't regret it.

Superior Western
One of the best unknown Westerns of the last 20 years or so, Barbarosa stars Willie Nelson and Gary Busey in a story of revenge and honor. Nelson plays a ex-Texas Ranger, Barbarosa, who's now a lone bandit, preying on rich Mexicans. During a disagreement, he formerly crippled his father-in-law to be, a Mexican landowner and still deeply loves the landowner's daughter with whom he has had a daughter.

Busey is a Texas farmhand who accidentally killed his brother-in-law--his sister's husband--and is now out on his own, pursued by his brother-in-law's two brothers for revenge. Similarly, Barbarosa is being pursued by the landowner's top gun, a fiery Mexican who vows Barbarosa's death.

The two, Nelson and Busey, meet by accident and join up for a time. During that time we get to see the West as it very likely really looked about 100 years ago (more specifically, the Southwest--i.e., southern Texas); the cinematography is magnificent. One of the critical ingredients in any great Western is great cinematography and that is very much in display here. As well, the score by Bruce Smeaton is excellent.

Nelson and Busey do a great job--their accents certainly don't hurt (both men are originally from that part of the U.S.), and so does the supporting cast. Fred Schepisi, the director, has a perfect sense of pacing and momentum that pulls the viewer along with very little tugging indeed. Armadillos figure in the mix, as do old men with guns and younger men buried up to their necks. There's a hacienda, a cantina, and an outdoor festival. The film drips with Western atmosphere, no question.

Highly recommended for fans of the genre.

Full screen version of a 2:35 film
Beware. Artisan has only released a full-screen version of this movie. If aspect ratio is important to you, don't buy it.

GREAT movie
this is one of THE best written movies ever made, the acting makes the writing even better, and the music brings it all together. the final scene is simply wonderful. the premise is so odd one gets the feeling it was written on a dare, like "bet you can't write ..." (i don't want to give it away if you haven't seen it). yet it hangs together as a story. and both busey and nelson are just superb. great movie.
and, yes, there was a scene removed before it was mass marketed. the scene explains why nelson does what he does. unlike bladerunner, i think this (director's cut?) version is better. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Very Minor Karloff Vehicle
Dr. Carl Mantel (played by Boris Karloff), an American resident in Mexico, is the world's foremost geo-biologist. He has developed a theory that rock-based forms of life may have developed near the Earth's core and may have been displaced closer to the surface over time. After recording puzzling electronic emanations from a cave complex near an active volcano, Dr. Mantel dispatches his daughter, Corinne, and his research assistant, Mark, to investigate. Corinne and Mark discover what appears to be a rock formation imbued with interior life.

Several months later: Luisa Martinez, a woman lodging at the Beneficent Foundation for Young Girls, wakes up to find that her bed has been transported to an eerie underground region, full of snakes and spiders and leering maniacs. She attempts to flee, only to stumble upon a black magic ritual, during which the head of the coven sacrifices a girl to Satan. The coven leader is Dr. Mantel, and the other members of the group include Corinne, Mark, and Helga, another one of the doctor's assistants. Then Luisa is captured and brought to the altar. As the knife descends, she faints. . . .

And the Satanists strip off their robes to don surgical gowns! They quickly take the unconscious Luisa to an adjacent operating room, where they drain much of her blood. It seems the rock-thing requires certain human hormones to survive'hormones that are secreted only in a state of extreme terror. So Helga has created a psychodrama to induce fear, with victims chosen from the girls at the phony Beneficent Foundation.

Luisia is released the next morning, believing that her experiences in the Fear Chamber were simply part of a nightmare. But the rock-thing, which has been able to establish a partial electronic communication with Mantel's group, demands even more blood.

So another young woman, Sally Random, is selected as the next 'donor'. However, Sally is a thief who has come to the Foundation for larcenous purposes. One night, as she roams the Foundation, looking for items to steal, she blunders into the room where the rock-thing resides. The rock-thing extends a tentacle and attacks, draining her of all her blood.

As a result of this mishap, Dr. Mantel decides to terminate the experiment, but before he can do so, he suffers a mild stroke. While he is recovering, Corinne and Mark leave for a romantic excursion. Helga secretly continues to feed the rock-thing, first with an exotic dancer brought to the Foundation, then with a woman seized at random from a nearby road. Helga is assisted in these nefarious misdeeds by a hulking brute named Roland.

Eventually, Roland comes to believe that the rock-thing is communicating directly with his mind. He feeds Helga to the creature, then sets off in search of a supposed diamond treasure in the caverns near the volcano. Dr. Mantel realizes he has to eliminate the rock-thing somehow, and with some timely assistance from Corinne and Mark, he manages to regress the monster to its original state and then destroy it.

Fear Chamber is a Mexican horror title, one of the last efforts Boris Karloff worked on before he died. The production qualities are low, and the story verges on incoherence at times. Worth watching once'maybe.

Boris Karloff sacrifices young girls to feed living rock...
Boris Karloff plays Dr. Carl Mandel, a scientist who picks up on strange frequencies coming from within the Earth. Mandel ends up discovering living rock that lives underneath a volcano. However, when they bring the rock back to the lab, Mandel and his assistants also discover the living rock feeds off of the hormones produced by humans when they are afraid. Being dedicated scientists, Mandel and his assistants kidnap young girls to sacrifice to the living rock. There are some unintentionally hysterical moments in this film from Yerye Beirute as Roland.

"The Torture Chamber," known as "The Fear Chamber" and "La Camara del terror," is one of the four films Boris Karloff made more Mexican producer Luis Vergara. Because of his emphysema, all of Karloff's scenes for the four films were shot in Hollywood during a five-week period in 1968 before the crews returned to Mexico to complete the films. This film, directed by Jack Hill and Juan Ibanez, was released in 1971. While all of these films are pretty bad, this one is definitely the worst of the bunch. You would be better served tracking down one of Karloff's lesser-known horror films from the early part of his career like "The Ape" instead.

clap trap that turned into a masterpiece
I saw this movie late at night when I was young and it thrilled me and tittillated me. Even though I was young, I knew that this was low budget and thought it a joke. Only years later did I realize the absolute treasure that it is. It fits into the genre of "So bad its good". I really recommened this movie for a late late Saturday night. Just as I viewed when I was young It has contrived gratuitous devises in it such as the stripper that is eaten by the monster that make this a unique and twisted thriller. 5 stars! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Different Kind of Revenge Film
This unusual little film was surprisingly good, a little corny at times, but the interest here is Richard Harris' human performance as a peace-loving unuarmed sherrif pushed over the edge by the brutal killings of his family. Some of the scenes just caught me off guard, it was unpredictable at times and I wondered why it wasn't a bigger hit in its time. The titles and credits were cheesy and some of the charachters very over-broad, but the perfomance by Harris was worth it. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

You take what you can get....
When you're from Texas and have spent many years studying and knowing about the Alamo, it gets pretty hard to stomache some of the more historically inaccurate videos. (i.e. the John Wayne version, et al.) They simply don't sit right with you. The TV version of the Alamo we have here isn't the best movie ever made. Nor is it the worst. Far from it in fact. This version manages to get rough historical facts in order. The siege lasts the right number of days, the attack happens at the right time, Wm. Travis isn't a 50 year old man, D. Crockett isn't Fess Parker. Seeing as how so much of the Alamo legend is, in fact, myth, demanding that a film remain true to hard fact is ludicrous. Sure, parts are embellished. Parts are skipped over. Sometimes it's overly sentimental, but hey--we're talking about a pretty sentimental subject in the eyes of some. It's not perfect, but it's sure a step up from what we're used to. And until someone gets together and makes Steven Harrigan's new novel into a movie, I think it's probably my best bet for a "pretty good movie about the Alamo". If you're an Alamo buff, I'd certainly suggest you see it. It's well cast and weaves a pretty good emotional plotline, including a lot of points from Travis' supposed life. Alec Baldwin does very well in the role, as do the rest of the major supporting cast. If you're not an Alamo buff, then you're probably not reading this review anyhow. I say we all probably take what we can get, and this certainly could be a whole heck of a lot worse.

Won`t satisfy all,but bound to be right for some of us!
Movies made about the Alamo of Texas and its men are usually disputed,and that might one of the reasons why there are not a lot of them being made these days(I don`t believe it`s but the cost of producing them that`s holding movie makers back.)In this case,some think this film is great,other think it`s the worst movie they`ve ever seen.I think it valuable and good just because
it`s disputable.Alec Baldwin`s portrayal of William Barret Travis may leave out some of the more rough and ready aspects of Travis`personality,but to label Travis a "bad guy" and stress only the dubious aspects of his character would be plain shallow and immature.There are many aspects to a man`s character,and there are many aspects to a story.And that`s the way it ought to be! If we try to examine all of them without passing judgement we will-hopefully-never get done with the glory of the Alamo!

Ooooooooh boy...
Now there has yet to be an Alamo movie that depicts the event accurately. This doesn't either, but that isn't why this movie is bad...

Why is it bad? Well, OK, I lied, historical inaccuracy is one of the reasons. There are others: bad love stories thrown in there, a cliche portrayel of the Mexicans, scenes that don't make sense (blocking a cannon and no one notices? Didn't they have to clean the damn thing before firing?), and finally bad battle scenes.

Hell...one of the characters dies TWICE! I'm not kidding, watch the movie. I think its Travis...can't remember (don't really care) but a character dies on the wall, then you see him again later on fighting the Mexicans and he dies again.

Another thing that can't help this film is just that its plain boring.

I'm a Texan, I love the story of the Alamo, and I suppose I must confess I am offended by this trash. Bah. Its sad when a red-blooded Texan sits through an Alamo movie thinking to himself, "Can the Mexicans kill every one already?! Geez!..."

Authentic depiction of the thirteen day seige of the Alamo
This is the most accurate version of the events of the Battle of the Alamo. A TV Miniseries can go into far more detail than a feature film and this show is very detailed down to the finest historic points of interest. I have done extensive research on this event and this movie does not overly embellish the facts that were gleaned from several recorded "eye witness" accounts. Without being "too Hollywood" the interesting and tragic story is presented intelligently with a minimum of historical "docudrama" inaccuracies. We are given a chance to feel along with these heroes their final moments. Although we can only speculate the words that were spoken, this film presents a truly moving tribute to these brave, doomed men.

one of the worst and most horribly inaccurate Alamo movies..
EVER!!! first of all, Crockett didn't wear a cowboy hat. he wore a conskin hat and fought till the end with his rifle. in this movie, Crockett has a knife. 2nd of all, they use the same battle scenes over and over. they aren't even original. they took the charge scene from the 1959 Alamo movie, The Last Command! and if you look closely at Travis, he kills the guy the same way about 3 times. this movie is just plain horrible! i only give it 2 stars because it's about the alamo. but don't waste your time on this movie. it's horrible! you want a good Alamo movie, watch John Wayne's "The Alamo" or go to the IMAX theatre and watch, Alamo: The Price of Freedom. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

If you like movies that make no sense........
Very long ,very boring,and no pay off because I think they lost interest and forgot to make an ending.The movie stars Russ Tamblin (Satan's Sadists, West Side Story!). He's the only thing in the movie that makes it remotely entertaining by being the "cheap laughs" for this movie. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Complete waste of time!
I really like western movies but this one is absolutely tiresome. There's no story here, no acting, no directional touches. The cast is completely lost in a series of scenes that made no sense at all (like the shooting in a cave when Joshua killed the last outlaw. There's no dialogue here, too.Williamson gives a zombie-like performance all the time and that contributes to make this misfire a complete waste of time and a great exercise of patience. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Very Minor Karloff Vehicle
Dr. Carl Mantel (played by Boris Karloff), an American resident in Mexico, is the world's foremost geo-biologist. He has developed a theory that rock-based forms of life may have developed near the Earth's core and may have been displaced closer to the surface over time. After recording puzzling electronic emanations from a cave complex near an active volcano, Dr. Mantel dispatches his daughter, Corinne, and his research assistant, Mark, to investigate. Corinne and Mark discover what appears to be a rock formation imbued with interior life.

Several months later: Luisa Martinez, a woman lodging at the Beneficent Foundation for Young Girls, wakes up to find that her bed has been transported to an eerie underground region, full of snakes and spiders and leering maniacs. She attempts to flee, only to stumble upon a black magic ritual, during which the head of the coven sacrifices a girl to Satan. The coven leader is Dr. Mantel, and the other members of the group include Corinne, Mark, and Helga, another one of the doctor's assistants. Then Luisa is captured and brought to the altar. As the knife descends, she faints. . . .

And the Satanists strip off their robes to don surgical gowns! They quickly take the unconscious Luisa to an adjacent operating room, where they drain much of her blood. It seems the rock-thing requires certain human hormones to survive'hormones that are secreted only in a state of extreme terror. So Helga has created a psychodrama to induce fear, with victims chosen from the girls at the phony Beneficent Foundation.

Luisia is released the next morning, believing that her experiences in the Fear Chamber were simply part of a nightmare. But the rock-thing, which has been able to establish a partial electronic communication with Mantel's group, demands even more blood.

So another young woman, Sally Random, is selected as the next 'donor'. However, Sally is a thief who has come to the Foundation for larcenous purposes. One night, as she roams the Foundation, looking for items to steal, she blunders into the room where the rock-thing resides. The rock-thing extends a tentacle and attacks, draining her of all her blood.

As a result of this mishap, Dr. Mantel decides to terminate the experiment, but before he can do so, he suffers a mild stroke. While he is recovering, Corinne and Mark leave for a romantic excursion. Helga secretly continues to feed the rock-thing, first with an exotic dancer brought to the Foundation, then with a woman seized at random from a nearby road. Helga is assisted in these nefarious misdeeds by a hulking brute named Roland.

Eventually, Roland comes to believe that the rock-thing is communicating directly with his mind. He feeds Helga to the creature, then sets off in search of a supposed diamond treasure in the caverns near the volcano. Dr. Mantel realizes he has to eliminate the rock-thing somehow, and with some timely assistance from Corinne and Mark, he manages to regress the monster to its original state and then destroy it.

Fear Chamber is a Mexican horror title, one of the last efforts Boris Karloff worked on before he died. The production qualities are low, and the story verges on incoherence at times. Worth watching once'maybe.

Boris Karloff sacrifices young girls to feed living rock...
Boris Karloff plays Dr. Carl Mandel, a scientist who picks up on strange frequencies coming from within the Earth. Mandel ends up discovering living rock that lives underneath a volcano. However, when they bring the rock back to the lab, Mandel and his assistants also discover the living rock feeds off of the hormones produced by humans when they are afraid. Being dedicated scientists, Mandel and his assistants kidnap young girls to sacrifice to the living rock. There are some unintentionally hysterical moments in this film from Yerye Beirute as Roland.

"The Torture Chamber," known as "The Fear Chamber" and "La Camara del terror," is one of the four films Boris Karloff made more Mexican producer Luis Vergara. Because of his emphysema, all of Karloff's scenes for the four films were shot in Hollywood during a five-week period in 1968 before the crews returned to Mexico to complete the films. This film, directed by Jack Hill and Juan Ibanez, was released in 1971. While all of these films are pretty bad, this one is definitely the worst of the bunch. You would be better served tracking down one of Karloff's lesser-known horror films from the early part of his career like "The Ape" instead.

clap trap that turned into a masterpiece
I saw this movie late at night when I was young and it thrilled me and tittillated me. Even though I was young, I knew that this was low budget and thought it a joke. Only years later did I realize the absolute treasure that it is. It fits into the genre of "So bad its good". I really recommened this movie for a late late Saturday night. Just as I viewed when I was young It has contrived gratuitous devises in it such as the stripper that is eaten by the monster that make this a unique and twisted thriller. 5 stars! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Complete waste of time!
I really like western movies but this one is absolutely tiresome. There's no story here, no acting, no directional touches. The cast is completely lost in a series of scenes that made no sense at all (like the shooting in a cave when Joshua killed the last outlaw. There's no dialogue here, too.Williamson gives a zombie-like performance all the time and that contributes to make this misfire a complete waste of time and a great exercise of patience. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

GREAT MOVIE FOR GARCES FANS
HERE AGAIN MAURICIO GARCES DO HIS IMAGE OF A LADIES MEN, AND GIVE TO THE MOVIE, A COMEDY STYLE,LIKE OTHER FILMS, THAT HE APPEARS . ONLY FOR HIS PARTICIPATION THE FILM WORTH . ... Read more