“Chato’s Land” was a late entry in the Western film genre that had proliferated at the movie theaters for 50 years but started to fall out of favor by the 1970’s. To draw in viewers who might be lured away by other fare, some of these latter day “oaters” resorted to adding more violence and depravity. That sensibility shows up in this film, a blood soaked tale of a hastily drawn together posse of cruds who go off in pursuit of a wrongly accused Indian who kills a lawman in their town.
As the misbegotten mob gets drawn deeper into his “Land”, a forbidding desert Hell, they become easy prey for the fugitive Chato. He manages to outwit the posse and pick them off one by one, in sometimes gruesome fashion. Charles Bronson is in the title role but his recited dialogue is nearly non existent and composed of one note.
This movie is particularly interesting for the interplay of the cast playing the posse. Jack Palance, Richard Basehart, James Whitmore, Simon Oakland and Ralph Waite are all fine performers and they work well off of each other.
Nicely shot on location by Michael Winner. A memorable music score accompanies too.
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