Friday, August 13, 2010

The Spikes Gang (1974)


Directed by Richard Fleischer
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Encore Westerns)

The first half seems like a Disney film, as a trio of young boys, including Ron Howard, run away from home in the wild west. They have no plans, no money and no destination, their stated mission: "one thing we won't never do is kiss no man's boots! Let's go get lucky!". They get odd jobs to buy food, but soon become dissatisfied with life as "saddle tramps". They decide to rob a bank, having idolized Lee Marvin who they had nursed back to health earlier. It doesn't go as planned and they kill someone, so go on the lam to Mexico. Still broke, they get thrown in jail for stealing, but lucky for them old Lee shows up and bails them out. Lee takes them under his wing, dresses them up as outlaws and teaches them how to really rob a bank. Their innocence turns to horror when violence erupts, and the Disney comparisons vanish as the blood begins to flow. A pale derivative of Bonnie and Clyde and The Wild Bunch.

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