BLOODY SAM: THE FILMS OF SAM PECKINPAH

Gay hitmen (Gig Young and Robert Webber) machine gun the competition in Alfredo Garcia

      For the hard-core Peckinpah fan, "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" is one of the most symbolically interesting of his movies. For the average movie-goer it is a poorly constructed mish-mash which will leave you wondering why you watched it. In "Garcia" Peckinpah tried to exorcise the ghosts of "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid." The story revolves around Bennie (Warren Oates), a down on his luck musician in Mexico who decides to cash in on a bounty placed on Alfredo Garcia by El Jefe (Emilio Fernandez. El Jefe is a rich Mexican crime lord who's daughter was knocked up by Garcia. Bennie finds out that Garcia is already dead and buried, but El Jefe doesn't know this. He finds the grave, digs it up and cuts off "Al's" head. With the head in a bag on the front seat beside him, Bennie sets off to collect his reward. Along the way he has a run in with a couple of Bikers led by Paco (Kris Kristofferson) who rape his woman Elita (Isela Vega). He is also hounded by two gay hitmen, Quill and Sappensly (Gig Young and Robert Webber) who want Al's head so they can collect the reward. Bennie is slowly driven crazy by the chaos that surrounds him, and the flies that surround the bag in which he keeps Al's head. Bennie has several long talks with "Al" as they drive through the Mexican dessert. It is not unlike Tom Hanks' discussions with "Wilson" in "Castaway." Eventually just about everyone in the movie gets killed. The violence and pacing is sub-par for Peckinpah.

      Symbolically, look at the movie this way. Bennie the piano player is an artist. He is Sam. El Jefe the crime overlord is a business man. He is the producer of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Al's head is the vision that Sam had of "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid." At first it was a labor of love which would bring him fulfillment. It slowly began to stink and decay as others destroyed his work. If you rent the movie, keep this in mind as you watch it. It makes for an interesting evening. Otherwise, beware, as there is not much else to recommend it. In fact the only reason to watch it otherwise would be for the wonderful gonzo performance by Warren Oates. No one else could have pulled this off. It's ironic that one of his best performances would be in such a crazy mixed up film. Sam returned to his old self the next year with the modern day thriller The Killer Elite.

» CHAPTER 6: THE KILLER ELITE (1975)

Rusty White