gogoschka-1 Sam Peckinpah, the master of ultra violent stories about mercenaries and outlaws, sends Warren Oates on a journey into the heart of darkness. The result is nothing short of a masterpiece: What an amazing film full of unexpected turns, totally messed-up characters and fantastic performances. Was way ahead of its time and should be re-discovered by as many film fans as possible. 9 stars out of 10.In case you're interested in more underrated masterpieces, here's some of my favorites: imdb.com/list/ls070242495/

alexanderdavies-99382 "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" was one of the few films in which Sam Peckinpah had complete artistic control and is all the better for it. Warren Oates delivers another great performance as a slightly over-the-hill crook who is given the task of presenting the head of the title character to a powerful Mexican family after liasoning with American gangsters to initate the deal. The action is brutal as you would expect and Peckinpah doesn't disappoint.A masterpiece of filmmaking.

mazec666 After the catastrophic production of PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID, Sam Peckinpah finally got total autonomy from United Artists with the most unusual movie on his filmography.BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA is one hell of an alcohol-soaked, blood-drenched joyride through the beautiful countryside of Mexico. Believe it or not, this is a film that dares to be unapologetic and different for a personal reason. Unsung character actor Warren Oates delivers an outstanding performance as the shades-sporting piano player Bennie. The down-and-out American is hired by two eccentric hit men (Gig Young & Robert Webber) to do a murderous dirty deed for them: By delivering a slain gigolo's severed head to a wealthy land baron (Emilio Fernandez) for a cool million dollar bounty.Mexican actress Isela Vega is an earthy presence as the curvaceous songstress Elita. Kris Kristofferson is awesome as always in his all-too-brief role as an unnamed hippie biker. Morbid, repulsive and melancholic in its own passionate way of mixing dark comedy, buddy movie clichés and Shakespearian tragedy which mirrors Peckinpah's downward spiral. Considered by many admirers as one of his last true works, ALFREDO GARCIA is an iconoclastic work of not only American cinema but visceral cinema indeed.

Tony Bush Warren Oates, in a career best performance, unravels magnificently down Mexico way in Peckinpah's criminally underrated nouveau Gothic masterpiece. This film is gradually coming into it's own as a unique pre-Pulp Fiction nightmare. Initially marginalised in the scheme of the director's work it is now reappraised as one of his major achievements. Weird romanticism, shattering violence, morbid subject matter, all combine to make it a truly original cinematic experience.The obvious signpost to the progressively nihilistic tone of the movie is given earlier on when Gig Young is asked for his name by Bennie (Warren Oates). He replies "Dobbs. Fred C. Dobbs." The name is that of the Humphrey Bogart character in John Huston's classic "The Treasure of The Sierra Madre." Bogart's character was driven mad by greed in that movie, in his futile search for an elusive treasure. Peckinpah's vision encompasses many of the same themes, yet is far darker. As Oates' character spirals into psychosis during his journey through the searing and filthy Mexican badlands, he maintains a fractured, rambling dialogue with the decaying, severed head of Alfredo and coldly guns down those who get in his way.Bennie is a loser, a pianist in a dead end bar, cuckolded by the woman he loves who got it on with Alfredo (a friend of Bennie's); he's broke and living in squalor, he perceives obtaining the severed head of his dead friend as a way out. This is his "golden fleece," a passport to a better life. In the process of digging up the body, his girl is murdered and Bennie's personality disintegrates. As he pumps bullet after bullet into the corpse of one of the hoods who whacked his chick, he spits: "Why? Because it feels so damn good!" The role is one that Warren Oates was made for. Seldom a leading man in Hollywood, his history of character parts provide him with the experience needed to invest Bennie with the complex traits of a complete anti-hero. Each tic, each mannerism, the almost improvised quality of his dialogue delivery, results in a totally believable performance.Although many believe that Peckinpah's direction here is "messy and unfocused" on reflection it seems more of a deliberate ploy to accentuate the nightmarish quality of the narrative. Bennie swigs Tequila almost constantly throughout the movie, and very often - combined with the obligatory slow motion violence and gun-play - the result is as if the audience is viewing the action through the languorous gaze of a drunk. Or maybe that's just my imagination running away with me. Or my own alcohol intake influencing my perception.This is probably Peckinpah's most personal film, and his last grand masterpiece. As such it is one of the most original pieces of mainstream cinema ever produced. If you like Tarantino and Rodriguez, this movie will give a sense of where some of their roots are sunk. Ultimately, a journey into the heart of darkness that makes Apocalypse Now seem like a paddle through a Disneyland water park.