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| Johnny Firecloud (1975) 98 min |
| Johnny Firecloud is strange movie in producer David Friedman's career. It had a huge budget (approximately $220,000) and a group of relatively well known actors. Friedman made the transition to this type of more accessible movie rather successfully but wasn't the trailblazer he had been earlier in his career. This was also the last film directed by long time music composer William Allen Castleman (he won an academy award for his musical contributions to The Endless Summer). Although it looks like this movie was a sort of career group suicide for those creatively involved in the picture, I would attribute more of it to a general changing of the times. Showmanship seems to have taken a near fatal blow with the introduction of more explicit fare. Audiences could now seek out material that gave them what they wanted flat out and up front. There seemed to be little interest left carnival style teasing provided by such great entertainers as Friedman and Harry Novak. Speaking as someone who wasn't born until 1978, I thank my lucky stars every day for Something Weird Video! |
| Like I said earlier, this movie is more accessible than some of Friedman's earlier films (note the R rating as opposed to his usual X). The exploitation elements are toned down in exchange for a revenge style story with an experienced group of actors. Credit must be given to those involved though, they don't wimp out on this one. The actors all seem to have a lot of fun with way over the top performances and the grue provided by Joe Blasco (Ilsa - She Wolf of the SS, Rabid) is pretty impressive. As with any wholly satisfying revenge film, there's even a dispicable rape scene thrown in (which Friedman proudly claims to have directed himself!). I'm pretty sure that exploitation fans will have a good time with this as long as they know from the onset that they're not getting a balls to the wall gross-out fest. |
| The story revolves around the title character, a Native American returning from the war, and a town held under the thumb of a powerful bigot rancher named Colby (played to detestable perfection by Ralph Meeker - Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly). A very good portion of the movie is spent humiliating Johnny and everyone he cares about. Colby and his cronies have enough up their sleeves to make even the most sinister of us blush. Add into the mix that Johnny and Colby's daughter June are in love and you've got an explosive little concoction! Eventually, Johnny is pushed too far and exacts his own brand of justice as only an angry Indian knows how. Driving the plot along further are the to cops in the town who resent being under Colby's control. Unfortunately though, Colby has a dark secret hanging over the head of the sheriff (James Canary). |
| I admit that the plot doesn't sound too original, not a whole lot of the movie is. The driving factor here though is the energy and fun levels. Cynics will probably have a good time tearing into the over the top acting and behavior but underneath it all here it all is a wild and genuinely fun movie. The primary reasons for this are Castleman's straightforward direction and the energetic cast. This was one of Friedman's only SAG (Screen Actors Guild) productions and benifited highly from credible (but not stuffy) professional actors. Leading the way is Victor Mohica as Johnny. Mohica is Puerto Rican actor who makes a credible Native American. The character is very straightforward, and Mohica plays him as such - defiant, headstrong, and violent. Opposite him, is Ralph Meeker as Mr. Colby. I already stated how well he pulls off the part, what's interesting though is that he originally auditioned for the role of sheriff Jesse. The role of the conscience torn sheriff though, finally went to veteran soap opera star David Canary. Canary is given the most to work with here and does so admirably well. I don't want to spoil anything, but I would like to say that once his secret is revealed he carries himself with a dignity uncharacteristic of the times. The only two female roles (possibly the only two females in the entire town!) serve a dual role of advancing the story and providing a little of the nessecary skin to make this more marketable. Sacheen Littlefeather plays Johnny's sister and has some of the fakest looking boobs this side of a Vivid video! Aside from her distracting melons her presence here is quite interesting. Littlefeather (real name Maria Cruz - Friedman says that he still had to make her checks out to her birth name) was chosen by Marlon Brando to refuse his academy award for him in 1973. The other female part was taken by Christina Hart (of Stewardesses fame). Hart plays Johnny's love interest and Colby's daughter. Her nude scene is far more appealing and is surrounded by a little bit of controversy. During the commentary, Friedman states that he remembers shooting a more explicit nude scene with a more explicit view of her breasts. This sparks a reccuring debate througout the remainder of the commentary as to which version of the film is presented, but more on that later. Rounding out the cast is the ubiquitous George 'Buck' Flower. He plays one of the more ruthless of the rednecks who brutally harras Johnny and his friends. Flower apparently had objections to a scene where he has a sack full of live snakes put over his head (imagine that!)! |
| In addition to the actors, director Castleman and writer Wilton Denmark deserve credit for keeping this interesting and preventing it from becoming another 'save the indians' type of message movie. If a movie of this nature were to get too preachy it would come across as damaging to the story and insulting to the cause. I'm not putting down the cause in any way, but in all reality the characters here are stereotypes. This type of over the top acting doesn't lend itself kindly to a serious cause. In fact, I found myself thinking several times during the movie that this is what soap operas would be like if they were cool (sorry Mr. Canary, just not my cup of tea)! |
| aka Revenge of Johnny Firecloud |
| The film was produced and distributed domestically under Friedman's Entertainment Ventures Inc. (EVI) and by 20th Century Fox internationally. The print obtained by SWV for the 2002 DVD release appears to be the foriegn print as it has the Fox logo at the head. The DVD itself is a fantastic release that I would recommend to any fan of this line. It is a bit different as it's a bigger budget film than the usual SWV fare, and it shows in the print quality. We have an excellent looking 2.35:1 picture with minimal print damage. The mono soundtrack is relatively clear. Although the technical quality maybe of a higher nature than its peers, the feel of the film and the presentation of the disc make it feel right at home with the rest pf the catalogue. It's presented as part of a double feature (along with the full frame Bummer!) with a gaggle of trailers and shorts and most importantly a top notch commentary track. The package only lists Friedman on the track, but anyone familiar with SWV will know that's he's far from alone. The commentary includes a total of four lively participants, including Basket Case director Frank Henenlotter. Apparently the track was recorded in Henenlotters New York apartment as you can hear a ton of activity going on outside (sirens etc. - they mention that this was recorded about a month after the 9-11 terrorist attacks). The tracks included on these discs are always good, but this is one of the best! It was such a casual commentary that I really felt like I was in the room with them at times. There are more great moments than I could possibly list here but I'll highlight a few. They have a sporadic discussion about the completion of the print presented here that lasts almost the entire duration of the movie. Friedman seems pretty sure at times that this is the softer version as he remembers a more explicit view of Hart' breasts. It's pointed out though that it would be strange for a softer version to contain any nudity at all (even if it is scaled down). Friedman later concedes that the gore appears to be from the more explicit version. In all reality, I'm pretty sure this is the most complete print available as it wasn't cut at all for foriegn distribution (and the Fox logo at the header identifies this one as the international print. The rest of the commentary is great as the group talk a good deal about the Ilsa series and much of Friedman's work. They even compliment Anchor Bay's handling of the Ilsa films and praise the company as a whole, dispelling any myths of a competitive animosity between the two. |
| I give this on 3 1/2 angry indians out of 5 |
| review by Joe Canistro 05/28/2002 |
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