Against a Crooked Sky (1975)

*Get the film on Amazon here*

After his sister Charlotte (Jewel Blanch) is kidnapped by Indians, Sam (Stewart Petersen) decides to try to find her himself. With promises of gold, he lures Russian (Richard Boone) along on the trip, and they head into the Utah desert, encountering hostile Apaches, and discovering what seems to be a lost tribe who enjoy their human sacrifices. Sam and Russian are captured, and Sam must pass an impossible endurance test to save his sister's life.

The main problem with this film is its general air of hokey-ness. Boone tries to make his character so "colorful," that he overacts more than a room full of Gabby Hayes impersonators. The rest of the cast tries, but the direction is very amateurish and the script is weak. Many scenes drag on forever, with characters repeating plot points again and again. The kidnapping tribe's origin and identity is never explained, and the one Native American who can speak English comes off like a robotic version of Sacheen Littlefeather. The film also runs into the age-old problem many action films run into- the journey to find Charlotte is so perilous, but the glossed-over return trip home seems to have gone without a hitch. Watch for the very unconvincing day-for-night scenes and grainy stock footage scattered throughout. I cannot recommend "Against a Crooked Sky," although its heart seems to be in the right place.

Stats:
(1975) 89 min. (* 1/2) out of five stars
-Directed by Earl Bellamy
-Written by Douglas C. Stewart & Eleanor Lamb
-Cast: Richard Boone, Stewart Petersen, Jewel Blanch, Henry Wilcoxon, Clint Ritchie, Shannon Farnon, Brenda Venus, Geoffrey Land, Gordon Hanson, Vincent St. Cyr, Margaret Willey, Norman Walke, George Dale, Bar Killer
(G)