User Reviews

TERROR AT BLACK FALLS is a B-movie western, shot in black and white and on the cheap in a single location for the most part. The thrust of the narrative is a siege scenario in which a sheriff is called in to sort things out but tries to avoid getting shot at the same time. The film has a brief running time and employs voice-over narration which gives it an odd, film noir style atmosphere. The cast is better than you might expect given the budgetary constraints, while director Richard C. Sarafian is best known for his later films like VANISHING POINT and FRAGMENT OF FEAR.

Okay, "Terror at Black Falls" (incidentally, I didn't see any falls unless director Richard C. Sarafian was trying to be ironic) is indeed a B-western. Sarafian confines the action to a frontier town that actually looks genuine and demonstrates the use of irony in the opening scene. A Mexican youth is set to be hanged by some angry ranchers, because he stole a steer. The youth's father intervenes. Unfortunately, everything goes wrong, and the youth's good-for-nothing father attempts to rescue him. Tragically, his son swings inadvertently. Thereafter the sheriff Cal (House Peters, Jr.) steps in and shoots the gun out of Juan Avila's hand while his son sways at the end of a noose. Later, we learn the town doctor amputated the Mexican bandit's hand. Avila (Peter Mamakos of "Horizons West") shows up sometime later with revenge raging within him. He rides into the town with his two remaining sons, and they enter the saloon to relieve their thirst. Things degenerate quickly as Avila and his sons trick an angry Anglo into a showdown and kill him. The entire time of the confrontation, Avila kept his sombrero over his right hand. The citizen calls his bluff, and Avila's son shoots him dead, while Avila's hat falls off his arm that ends at the wrist in a stump! Avila and company round up everybody in the saloon and take them hostage.

Meantime, sweating bullets, Sheriff Cal realizes what is at stake: his skin. Incredibly, in the middle of what ought to be another routine oater, we find a movie about cowardly hero who doesn't have the nerve to redeem himself, while the town citizens are executed summarily by the maimed Mexican. Cal is more afraid of getting plugged than doing his job, and his own son Johnny (Gary Gray of "Teenage Rebel") decides to do his father's job for him. Miraculously, Johnny doesn't get gunned down, when he slips into the saloon during his ill-fated rescue effort. Mind you, he kills one of Avila's sons, Quito Avila (Armand Alzamora of "Sergeants 3"), in a gunfight. Nevertheless, the stubborn Cal still cannot bring himself to save his own people. Avila has scheduled a killing every 10 minutes, and he carries out his ultimatum. Various citizens in the saloon die. Eventually, Cal shows up for a showdown with Avila, but he cannot bring himself to shoot the miscreant because he is still traumatized by their first encounter. The ending is not your typical western finale. Oh, yes, Avila gets his comeuppance, but it may not be what you imagine. Clocking in at an hour and seven minutes or thereabouts, "Terror at Black Falls" ripples with suspense. Will or won't the sheriff face up to his responsibility? Who will Avila kill next? Who will try to kill Avila before the sheriff regains his nerve. Complicated is what you might call Sarafian's western. No, "Terror at Black Falls" isn't your run-of-the-mill horse opera. The film is graced with a strong supporting cast featuring seasoned character actors such as I. Stanford Jolley, Mickey Finn, King Moody, and George Cisar. The worst thing about this offbeat oater is the obnoxious voice-over narrator who lays it on thick. Writer & director Richard C. Sarafian went on the helm, "The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing," "Vanishing Point," and "The Next Man."