Indian Johnny Firecloud (Victor Mohica) lives in a small Western town. He's constantly being tormented by Colby (Ralph Meeker) and his gang of friends who basically run the town. Things escalate--Johnny is beaten up repeatedly and whipped, his grandfather is publicly humiliated and lynched and a female friend of his is raped to death. Johnny explodes and hunts down Colby's friends and extracts some very bloody revenge...
Hard to believe that 20th Century Fox released this--basically it's a drive-in exploitation flick. It has some huge problems--the acting isn't really good (Mohica yells all his lines, Meeker appears indifferent); the violence against the Indians is more than a little disturbing--the rape scene was just too savage and the script is WAY overdone and does nothing with its racism storyline. Still this is very good OF ITS TYPE.
It's well-directed and when Johnny takes his revenge it's exciting and extremely bloody--but these guys all deserve it. Also it has a subplot involving a gay man that's treated sensitively--that's pretty daring for a 1970s movie. Also the DVD print is in great shape--letter boxed with bright, strong colors.
I recommend it but it is very violent and unpleasant--it's definitely not for everybody. I give it a 7.
