Five Bloody Graves (1969)

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Ben Thompson (Robert Dix) rides through the wilds of Arizona seeking revenge in this violent, low-budget Al Adamson Western. For many years, Thompson has been searching for the Indian who killed his bride on their wedding day, with Death as his only companion. The man he seeks is Satago (John Cardos), the chief of the Yaqui, a renegade Apache tribe that has declared war on all white settlers. Ben teams up with Satago's half-brother, Joe Lightfoot (also played by Cardos), and when the duo comes upon a wrecked stagecoach, they try to keep the survivors safe in dangerous Indian territory. Along with hard-boiled gambler Jim Wade (Scott Brady) and his high-strung wife, Lavinia (Julie Edwards), are a mysterious preacher (John Carradine), hard-drinking madam Kansas Kelly (Paula Raymond), and Althea (Darlene Lucht), one of Kelly's "working girls" who takes a shine to stoic cowboy Ben. There's more danger than just the Yaqui to deal with when a pair of unscrupulous gun runners join the group, and revenge and bloodshed rules the day despite Ben's struggle to get the women to safety. The action is commented upon with a philosophical air by the Voice of Death (Gene Raymond) in this downbeat film, which was released under several titles including Five Bloody Graves, The Gun Riders, and Five Bloody Days to Tombstone. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi