Johnny Firecloud (1975)

The exploitation legend started taking his career in a slightly more mainstream direction around this time, producing such things as this racism themed revenge saga. Of course, it's just trashy enough to amuse, if not altogether satisfy, fans of 1970s drive-in features. A major studio production (from 20th Century Fox), "Johnny Firecloud" is well cast and well acted by familiar faces from both A and B pictures. It's nicely photographed in widescreen on picturesque locations, and it's got some bare breasts and some really delicious gore devised by Joe Blasco (Cronenbergs' "Shivers").Victor Mohica ("Don't Answer the Phone!") stars as the title character, an Indian who fought in the Vietnam war and who now lives in a small town dominated by a big shot rancher, Colby (Ralph Meeker, "Kiss Me Deadly"). Colby and his gang of goons are a bigoted bunch and make life miserable for Johnny's grandfather White Eagle (Frank DeKova, 'F Troop'). Their vile actions enrage Johnny to the point where he escapes from jail and goes about administering his own sadistic brand of justice.Mohica is effectively intense as Johnny, and Meeker is appropriately despicable as his nemesis. The supporting cast likewise does solid work: David Canary ('All My Children') as the sheriff with a skeleton in his closet, Christina Hart ("The Stewardesses") as Colby's daughter who'd been in love with Johnny, and busy & reliable character actors John F. Goff, Richard Kennedy, and George 'Buck' Flower (Buck was also the casting director) as Colby's associates. Adding curiosity value is the presence of the notorious Sacheen Littlefeather as Johnny's friend Nenya.Unfortunately, director William Allen Castleman doesn't give this quite as much energy as one might like; the movie is a little plodding and dialogue heavy. The good thing is that Johnny's revenge is so nasty that it makes the wait worth it. However, the resolution may not be to everyone's' taste.Still, this is an interesting little obscurity that people may want to seek out.Six out of 10.

*SPOILERS* Exploitation flick drags along sluggishly. The story is okay, I definitely feel like the production was a little shoddy and the acting is just plain huff at times. There are plenty of moments of awful dialogue, horrible stereotypes, points when the movie forgets where it was trying to go and ends up being repetitive to the point where certain scenes seem to be playing over and over again. The actors do the best with what they are working with here, but that's not saying much. Random nudity and some nice moments of violence save this tripe from being completely awful.I would say it is interesting on a campy cult level, enough to see at least once, but this is not something I will be revisiting anytime soon. I would recommend the 'Walking Tall' movies if you are looking for something with better production since that seems to be the kind of feel this flick was going for at times. I will give it a five out of ten to be fair.JOHNNY FIRECLOUD ----- 5/10.

Johnny Firecloud is one of the more interesting features from David F. Friedman and company, mainly due to its cast... chances are, you're not going to find names like Ralph Meeker, David Canary, Frank DeKova, Sacheen Littlefeather, etc. in this kind of exploitation film, let alone one produced by the self-proclaimed "Mighty Monarch of the Exploitation Film World".This film is about the trials of the title character, a Native American who returns to his town, only to find it under siege by a controlling bigot portrayed by Mr. Meeker. Mr. Canary plays the sheriff sent by Meeker to capture Johnny, dead or alive (in Meeker's case, preferably dead. Johnny will have none of it, especially when his grandfather, played by Mr. DeKova, is a victim of the townspeople. Being the anti-hero, he takes the law in his own hands.Ms. Littlefeather. who plays a doomed friend of Johnny's, is best known as the young actress who Marlon Brando sent to the Oscars to refuse his Academy Award in protest of the treatment of Native Americans.The acting is adequate enough to keep this rather average "revenge film" from sinking. The conclusion is rather surprising given the weak script. I recommend it if you're into this kind of picture.

Indian Johnny Firecloud (Victor Mohica) lives in a small Western town. He's constantly being tormented by Colby (Ralph Meeker) and his gang of friends who basically run the town. Things escalate--Johnny is beaten up repeatedly and whipped, his grandfather is publicly humiliated and lynched and a female friend of his is raped to death. Johnny explodes and hunts down Colby's friends and extracts some very bloody revenge...Hard to believe that 20th Century Fox released this--basically it's a drive-in exploitation flick. It has some huge problems--the acting isn't really good (Mohica yells all his lines, Meeker appears indifferent); the violence against the Indians is more than a little disturbing--the rape scene was just too savage and the script is WAY overdone and does nothing with its racism storyline. Still this is very good OF ITS TYPE.It's well-directed and when Johnny takes his revenge it's exciting and extremely bloody--but these guys all deserve it. Also it has a subplot involving a gay man that's treated sensitively--that's pretty daring for a 1970s movie. Also the DVD print is in great shape--letter boxed with bright, strong colors.I recommend it but it is very violent and unpleasant--it's definitely not for everybody. I give it a 7.