Verdict
Summary
I would believe that the characters and violence in this movie are more realistic than something like the usual sort of western that would’ve been released in the 1950s, but that doesn’t make it any better or more enjoyable. It just makes it sleazier and less palatable if you’re looking for something typical. It’s a rough one, but if you’re into the grimiest, slimiest, and most shockingly violent one of the bunch, you’ll find it here.
Plot:
The west is a cutthroat place for brigands, rapists, and killers, and there are heroes, but too few of them.
Review:
“The Kid” (Gary Allen, this movie’s co-writer) has some atoning to do for all his gunfighting and whatever ill deeds have preceded him in the idyllic looking old West (more like the East, where this movie was shot), but he’s not as interested in penance as vengeance when he goes on the warpath for a pack of savage rapists who took the honor and dignity of a friend of his. Even when the killing is done, there’s more killing to be had. He befriends a Mexican bandito named Armadillo (Jeff Kanew, this movie’s co-writer and future director of Revenge of the Nerds) who helps point him in the direction of another brand of brigands who’ve been raping, degrading, and killing all along a straight path, and when they have their chance at raping his girlfriend – and severely beating him and leaving him for dead – he works himself to full strength and takes them and their despicable leader (played by cackling and greasy looking one-time only actor Steve Rivard) on all by himself in a do-or-die duel that will only have one left standing.
The aptly titled The Wicked Die Slow was billed as “a bold new western in widescreen and color,” and I suppose that’s accurate. It’s also incredibly brutal and a very radical departure as an American western, as it depicts cold, heartless violence, graphic rape, and even suicide, which I suspect wasn’t much seen by audiences used to watching John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart westerns. This was right around the time Italy started revitalizing westerns with stylish camera angles, grubby heroes, and slimy villains, ushered in by Sergio Leone, but The Wicked Die Slow is much harder in tone and execution than even the hardest and most violent spaghetti westerns. It has lots of nudity (mostly in rape sequences, but in some sex scenes too), and the camera ogles the women in creepy close-ups and long takes where a woman’s dignity is casually stripped away by the lens. The film is remarkably cheap and tacky in so many little ways that are noticeable, but there’s still a weird sense of reality to it. I would believe that the characters and violence in this movie are more realistic than something like the usual sort of western that would’ve been released in the 1950s, but that doesn’t make it any better or more enjoyable. It just makes it sleazier and less palatable if you’re looking for something typical. It’s a rough one, but if you’re into the grimiest, slimiest, and most shockingly violent one of the bunch, you’ll find it here. From director William K. Hennigar.
Scorpion Releasing recently released The Wicked Die Slow is a really nice looking Blu-ray. The HD scan really brightens the images and shines, even in its grubbiest scenes. There’s a new interview with Jeff Kanew as a special feature.
