Rating: 
Summary: Not What Bret Harte had in Mind
Review: "I Quattro dell'apocalisse" is a good example of the spaghetti western at the end of its run: sensationalistic, self-referential, often tedious, yet sporadically brilliant. For Lucio Fulci surely has his moments in this film: the greatest is when Lynne Frederick (who plays "Bunny" O'Neill) gives birth in an isolated, mountain mining town inhabited solely by men, the entire population of which waits silently outside the saloon in hopes of hearing the baby's first cry. It's a stunning moment, visually and narratively. Unfortunately, Fulci too often descends into gratuitous sadism, such as when Tomas Milian (as "Chaco," a rather banally gruesome outlaw) tortures an unlucky lawman or when Fabio Testi (as Stubby Preston, the film's ostensible anti-hero) attempts to remove a bullet from a comrade's leg. The massacre that opens the film (in which townspeople rid themselves of local "undesirables") is also an act of pure gratuity: poorly filmed and edited, it seems simply a warm-up for Fulci's subsequent horror film techniques. Although the bare bones of the plot is intriguing--four of the town's "undesirables" are allowed to "escape" into the desert where they are further victimized by Chaco while attempting to make it to a rather mythical place called "Salt City"--the film's heavy-handed symbolic imagery, outrageously dated scoring, and perfunctory "revenge plot" coda, are surely not what Bret Harte had in mind all those years ago. Unless you're a big fan of Fulci's special brand of film-making, "Four of the Apocalypse" is best viewed as a curiosity or a final nail in the spaghetti western's coffin.
Rating:
Summary: Not What Bret Harte had in Mind
Review: "I Quattro dell'apocalisse" is a good example of the spaghetti western at the end of its run: sensationalistic, self-referential, often tedious, yet sporadically brilliant. For Lucio Fulci surely has his moments in this film: the greatest is when Lynne Frederick (who plays "Bunny" O'Neill) gives birth in an isolated, mountain mining town inhabited solely by men, the entire population of which waits silently outside the saloon in hopes of hearing the baby's first cry. It's a stunning moment, visually and narratively. Unfortunately, Fulci too often descends into gratuitous sadism, such as when Tomas Milian (as "Chaco," a rather banally gruesome outlaw) tortures an unlucky lawman or when Fabio Testi (as Stubby Preston, the film's ostensible anti-hero) attempts to remove a bullet from a comrade's leg. The massacre that opens the film (in which townspeople rid themselves of local "undesirables") is also an act of pure gratuity: poorly filmed and edited, it seems simply a warm-up for Fulci's subsequent horror film techniques. Although the bare bones of the plot is intriguing--four of the town's "undesirables" are allowed to "escape" into the desert where they are further victimized by Chaco while attempting to make it to a rather mythical place called "Salt City"--the film's heavy-handed symbolic imagery, outrageously dated scoring, and perfunctory "revenge plot" coda, are surely not what Bret Harte had in mind all those years ago. Unless you're a big fan of Fulci's special brand of film-making, "Four of the Apocalypse" is best viewed as a curiosity or a final nail in the spaghetti western's coffin.
Rating: 
Summary: SOLID ITALIAN WESTERN
Review: For it's time (1975) I Quattro dell'Apocalisse (Four of the Apocalypse) was considered so graphically violent that it was banned or shown largely edited in most countries when it was released and was never released in the United States. Now on DVD, it is shown uncut for the first time, and while it is a very violent film, it certainly isn't anything shocking by today's standards. It's a solid spaghetti western though, with some terrific performances by Fabio Testi, the beautiful and doe-eyed Lynne Frederick, and Harry Baird. There's also a typically quirky performance by Michael J. Pollard (probably the only actor in this film most American viewers will recognize), but the show is absolutely stolen by Tomas Milian as Chaco, a brutally sadistic outlaw the four encounter in the wilderness who terrorizes them then leaves them for dead. This is a good solid western, with good performances, some great action sequences, some truly disturbing scenes, and also some very touching ones. The only downside to the film is one sequence where Chaco hunts by shooting birds and rabbits--and it seems to go on FOREVER. Seemed totally unncessessary and cruel and could have been easily cut out of the film. The film would have lost nothing by removing this tasteless scene. The other downside to the film is the soundtrack. The instrumentals work well, but the songs that include vocals are horrid. So bad, in fact, that they nearly ruin the movie. Instead of the moody and ethereal soundtracks associated with most films of this genre, I Quattro dell'Apocalisse has a soundtrack that sounds like something out of a 70s easy listening radio station--just awful. If you can get around that one animal-violence scene and the hideous soundtrack, and you enjoy violent, brooding, thoughtful westerns, I Quattro dell'Apocalisse is one you're sure to enjoy. Tomas Milian's performance alone is worth the price of this DVD. And for Fulci buffs there's a very interesting (though awfully short, only about 17 minutes) extra featuring current day interviews with Fabio Testi and Tomas Milian that is worth seeing. Not great, but a good, solid Italian Western.
Rating:
Summary: HORROR AND WESTERN : AN IMPROBABLE COUPLE
Review: FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE, a movie directed by Lucio Fulci in 1975, has been released by Anchor Bay in its superb Spaghetti Western collection. Lucio Fulci is best known for his horror movies directed in the 70's and in the beginning of the 80's, movies that are appreciated by a certain number of aficionados.If I'm very fond of the movies of Mario Bava and Dario Argento, I've always been reluctant in front of Fulci's filmography. In my opinion, this director has crossed the frontier between the horror movie and the pure filming of disgusting images that can only please special effects fans or would-be butchers and surgeons. When these horror elements are found in a western, their gratuitousness is patent, these scenes don't bring anything to the action and are simply disgusting. Why do Tomas Milian suddenly feel the urge to skin alive the sheriff who was chasing him ? For no good reason at all except for the pleasure of the director and of a few fans. Furthermore, FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE is a subpar western with a lot of ridiculous scenes such as the delivery of Bonny in a small town lost in the Utah mountains and the encounter of a group of fundamentalists in the middle of the desert. The characters are shallow and even the last shootout is failed. A DVD zone they like it but I don't.
Rating: 
Summary: Something oddly Fulci
Review: I normally despise westerns because of their indifference toward plot and the dull ways they present development. More often than not, there is a definitive lesson to be learned from the one or two "good guys" of the film, and the "trials and tribulations" faced aren't that harsh at all. There may be loss and suffering, but it isn't truly loss or suffering. Its normally just padder. Well, that all changes when Lucio, who seems to thrive on tormenting his main characters, picks up where most Westerns leave off.
I was impressed by the uniqueness of some of the characters he presents as well as the way that Lucio opens the floodgates for the characters to experience. For starters, there's a versatile villain to keep up with, one that introduces himself in a rather helpful way before going into his more sadistic, more enjoyably graphic, truths behind the "good guy" mask. There's also one of the main four, a black gentleman that sees and speaks to the dead, that seems rather off the chart for most frontier movies, and that's just the beginning. Also, while traveling along the way, there are other odds and ends characters add to the story being woven.
This, added to the fact that the movie didn't succumb to the "be a Western" pressures made it much more than watchable. It made me want to get a good friend like Chaco on DVD, too.
Rating: 
Summary: Better Than Expected!
Review: I recently picked up Four Of The Apocalypse as part of Anchor Bay's "Once Upon A Time In Italy" box-set of non-Leone spaghetti westerns. After reading mixed reviews of FOTA, I delayed viewing it until after the other four movies contained. I was surprised to find that I liked it.
My only other experience with director Leo Fulci had been "House By The Cemetery" which my wife and I felt had potential, but was ultimately pretty dreadfully bad. With that in mind, I didn't expect to be impressed with FOTA and was worried that some of the gore I'd been reading about would ruin it for me. Although I'll have to admit that some scenes we're pretty hard to watch, overall the film had a classic spaghetti atmosphere with some fairly macabre moments, and was a step above many I have viewed.
Many people have complained about the score which includes narrative songs with a kind of folksy early period Pink Floyd/Byrds sound which I personally love. In comparison with the more respected film Keoma, which is also included in the OUATI collection, the soundtrack is pure gold! The caterwauling that passed for a score in Keoma virtually made it unwatchable for me.
If you like the genre, and aren't turned off by some of FOTA's non-traditional western elements, you should enjoy it. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: This is an apocolpyse??
Review: I think Fulci put that in the title (or however it translates to in Italian) to capitalize on his yet as unrealized desire to create superb horror. Westerns were not his forte' There is some violence, but it goes out of it's way to be gratuitous. There is an annoying song that is used throughout half of the movie. There is a kickass villian who sould've gotten more screen time. And there is loads of Fulcian nilhism that both the story and this view could've done without.
Rating:
Summary: This is an apocolpyse??
Review: I think Fulci put that in the title (or however it translates to in Italian) to capitalize on his yet as unrealized desire to create superb horror. Westerns were not his forte' There is some violence, but it goes out of it's way to be gratuitous. There is an annoying song that is used throughout half of the movie. There is a kickass villian who sould've gotten more screen time. And there is loads of Fulcian nilhism that both the story and this view could've done without.
Rating:
Summary: A unique Western
Review: It's unusual to see a Western in which an extended sequence is devoted to giving birth. And when you combine that with other scenes that include torture and rape, it's definitely unique. Even so, the torture scene is cheesy (the fake skin and blood are ridiculously obvious), and the rape scene is really not that graphic (the juicy parts are not shown). BUT--now add to this peculiar mixture a serious alcoholic and a total nutjob who cavorts in cemeteries and winds up being a cannibal and you could honestly say there is truly no other Western like this one. Fulci here includes elements much more characteristic of his horror films that were just around the corner, but with the birthing scene--in which all the townsfolk (all men) are genuinely sympathetic and warm--he shows a side of him that no one familiar with his work ever would have suspected. While it's true that the three or four songs in the soundtrack come close to ruining the film--these songs are way beyond cheesy; they're putrid--the presence of Tomas Milian as the evil Chaco does much to counteract the effect of the songs. This character is not one-dimensionally evil. At first he helps the four stragglers (the gambler, the prostitute, the drunk and the nutjob) by shooting oodles of wild game. When he turns bad it's a pleasure to watch, because he does so much more subtly than is usually portrayed in Euro-Westerns. This is a truly curious blending of various elements that set it apart, without question, from any other Western around, Euro or American. If you can get past the terrible songs (at least they don't take up the majority of the soundtrack), this is a film worth seeing.
Rating:
Summary: Fulci goes spaghetti
Review: Spaghetti westerns are, in my opinion, generally the best fictional films about the American West. You can argue that John Wayne made a bunch of great movies about life in the Old West, and you would be right to say so, but for some reason the Italians captured perfectly the specific elements of the era that made their movies seem more realistic. The frontier was a dirty, violent place full of unsavory types trying to get rich quick. Italian westerns capture this mood expertly whereas American films portray characters whose outfits look like they just came back from the dry cleaners. Hollywood films also tend to apply a black and white dichotomy onto their characters, the old "good guys wear white, bad guys wear black" philosophy that obscures the reality of the time and place. Not so in Italian films, where even the good guys often have distinctly unsavory traits. It's too bad spaghetti westerns went the way of the dinosaurs a few decades back; I never tire of watching these films even though I am not an expert on the genre. "Four of the Apocalypse," part of the larger Anchor Bay "Once Upon a Time in Italy" spaghetti western box set, serves as an excellent example of how powerful the genre once was. Too, none other than goremeister Lucio Fulci directed the picture.
Fulci's contribution to the spaghetti western genre contains some of the great cult classic actors of the Italian film era. Fabio Testi, who later teamed up with Fulci again for the mobster picture "Contraband," plays a renegade gambler named Stubby Preston. Testi's character looks the part; he wears the clothing of a dandy, possesses an oily smile that could melt steel, and has four or five decks of marked cards tucked away in his suitcase. Unfortunately for this poker shark, the local sheriff promptly arrests him when he steps off the coach in a small Utah town. It seems the townspeople are weary of dealing with miscreants, so they've taken the step of cleaning up the town the hard way. The process involves waiting until nightfall, donning masks, and gunning down all of the goons. One poor chap takes a header out of a window with a noose around his neck. Bodies litter the street the next morning when the sheriff orders Stubby and three of his fellow detainees to hit the bricks. The four individuals, now traveling companions, form an odd bunch. Besides Stubby, there's a pregnant harridan named Bunny (Lynne Frederick), an alcoholic called Clem (Michael Pollard!), and a scary guy answering to Bud (Harry Baird) who actually says "I see dead people" years before "The Sixth Sense" arrived on the scene. For better or for worse, these four set out across the alkali flats (or is it a desert?) of Utah in search of Sand City, a town full of the vices all four have come to love.
Problems emerge from the get go. First, the four run into a shaggy looking fellow named Chaco (Thomas Milian), a crack sharpshooter with a penchant for violent outbursts, peyote, and whisky. At first, Chaco befriends the group, but at some point he paints crosses under his eyes and turns as mean as a snake. The thug literally skins a prisoner captured in a shootout, then turns his attentions to Stubby's cohorts. He critically wounds Clem and terrorizes poor Bunny before riding off into the mountains with the group's wagon and horses, leaving the four to plod miserably through the blasted climes. It's not long after this incident that the group begins to melt away. By the time Bunny and Stubby arrive in Altaville, a small town peopled by a ragtag bunch of grizzled men, the movie oddly turns into a rather sappy series of scenes about caring for an infant. The conclusion to the film whips "Four of the Apocalypse" right back to where it should be with the obligatory showdown between Stubby and the evil Chaco. I've watched all but one of the films contained in the Anchor Bay boxed set at this point, and Fulci's film is the strangest of the lot.
Odd though it is, the picture is still a lot of fun to view. The performances on the whole stand well above usual Italian film standards. Milian is the one to watch, though. His villainous Chaco ranks as one of the most despicable bad guys I've seen in awhile. The humorous, languid attitude Milian's character exuded in "Companeros" is nowhere apparent here--this guy is just plain evil incarnate. He even overshadows the general weirdness Michael Pollard brings to the Clem character, and that's quite a feat if you're familiar with any character portrayed by Pollard during his lengthy career. Beyond the performances, "Four of the Apocalypse" shows us a hint of the Fulci gore that would become a staple in his later horror films. When bullets strike down guys in this film, the wounds explode like miniature atomic bombs. Then there's that skinning scene. Yep, shades of the grotesqueries of "The Beyond," "The Gates of Hell," and "Zombie" are perceptible in this ultra violent spag western. A series of great prog rock ballads serve as the musical score.
All in all, I'd say this film is one of the best I've seen from Fulci. Heck, the guy even forgoes the usual eye zoom shots so prevalent in his later work. A big round of applause should go to Anchor Bay for bringing us this flick on DVD. Even better, they added in the gory scenes cut out of prior releases, and even throw in a seventeen-minute documentary containing interviews with Fabio Testi and Thomas Milian. You also get talent biographies, a trailer, and an easter egg accessible from the extras screen. Spaghetti western fans will want to add this one to the collection. So will fans of Fulci in general.
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