Such a frustrating disappointment

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Filmed with a sleepy haze, creating an almost dream-like atmosphere similar to Fulci's Conquest, it was obvious (outside of the title) that Fulci and writer Ennio De Concini (Salon Kitty) were drawing religious parallels with some sequences and imagery. Each of the four survivors also seemed to represent unfavorable aspects of the pioneering West including gambling (Stubby), sex (Bunny), alcoholism (Clem) and insanity (Bud). Is it a straight-up Spaghetti Western or an allegory? Tomas Milian is chilling as the diabolical Chaco and Fabio Testi delivers a surprisingly touching performance as the seasoned gambler Stubby. Lynne Frederick was absolutely gorgeous as Bunny, Pollard does a solid job as comedic relief and Harry Baird lends the film a child-like innocence, despite his insanity. There's really not much I can say about the acting or the locations but I did have a problem or two with Four of the Apocalypse. For starters it was boring as all hell, it just seemed to go on and on without any real focus, the journey seemed to be about the characters themselves and not where they were going or where they might end up. Another issue I had was the score, UGH! I found myself loathing the hippie, folksy score by Frizzi, Bixio and Tempera with an indescribable intensity. There was nothing even remotely western about the music, not one thing.Aside from pacing and score, I had an issue with the editing, it seemed to jump about from sequence to sequence with little to no explanation or resolution. One minute Stubby is discovering Bud's grisly secret, the next they're shouting goodbye to him. Perhaps it was the print I was viewing but where was the confrontation between Stubby and Bud? Was one ever filmed? It just felt disjointed.Four of the Apocalypse was a cool Spaghetti Western but it was a bit of a chore to get through, it seemed to never end as the four wander aimlessly, constantly bumping into new people to the tune of shitty, inappropriate music. In other words, if you're not a patient person, I guarantee this will tax whatever patience you do possess. I enjoyed this film on a different level from films like The Great Silence, Django or The Good, The Bad & The Ugly because I liked the characters more than the actual story but this is a rough film to recommend to anybody not familiar with Fulci's work or Spaghetti Westerns in general. I'd recommend renting first.

A card sharp,a prostitute, an insane negro and a drunkard come out of jail and wander together but fall into the hands of a vicious Indian in the desert and struggle to survive. Extremely uneven and very disappointing spaghetti western that has a reputation of being violent and nasty,it's not, in fact it is slow paced and very little happens.Film is directed by Lucio Fulci who like Dario Argento in my opinion are very over rated by the horror and giallo fans.Film is violent at times, but not enough in my opinion and film is more often sad. The performances are also uneven with Fabio Testi coming off best, but Harry Baird and Lynne Frederick are annoying.Michael J Pollard, one of my least favourite actors is surprisingly at his least annoying here.very disappointing. fair at best.

I'm a big fan of Lucio Fulci; both for his blood-splattered gore flicks and for some of his non-horror movies, but this western was absolutely not what I was expecting. This is my second Fulci western; the first being the entertaining 'Massacre Time' from 1966 and the earlier one was much better. I usually go into westerns expecting plenty of gun fights, cool characters and the rest of it; and while this film does provide them, it doesn't sit properly because film tries to be more than just a Spaghetti Western with numerous 'points' and by focusing on the characters - but this actually just makes the film boring and I'd rather have had a Spaghetti Western in the classic style. The film takes place in 1873 Utah and as the title suggests, the film focuses on four people; gambler Stubby Preston, prostitute Bunny O'Neal, a drunkard named Clem and a weird guy with occult links named Bud. They are thrown together and have to try and survive in the Wild West. They struggle to find food and shelter and before long they are attacked by a Bandit.Aside from suggesting that there will be four lead characters, the title also suggests that there will be an apocalypse; and very disappointingly, there isn't - or not a proper one at least. Westerns were obviously not Fulci's main forte, but films like this would have given him a great chance to show the blood and gore like he does best but it's never taken. The disappointment of this film increases when you consider the talent involved; most notably, performances from two of Italy's most popular actors in Fabio Testi and Tomas Milian, who both deliver good performances alongside a decent supporting cast that includes Michael J Pollard and Lynne Frederick. To the film's credit, the cinematography is very good and while the film is not as expansive as some other Spaghetti Westerns; there's some nice location shots and the film is beautifully shot. I have to be honest and say that it didn't take very long for me to stop caring about what is going on and the plotting is rather boring in the way it plays out. Overall, I know this film has its fans but I'm not one of them, and this goes down as one of my least favourite Fulci films!

Although by standard genre conventions, I Quattro dell'apocalisse (Four of the Apocalypse) is definitely a (spaghetti) western, in many ways it is just as terrifying as any of director Lucio Fulci's more famous horror flicks.The story centers on four people who end up together by happenstance--they are all jailed in a small Utah town. After most of the town is massacred, the four are set free and try to make their way together to a city 200 miles distant. Although adapted from two Bret Harte stories, "The Luck of Roaring Camp" and "The Outcasts of Poker Flat", Fulci and screenwriter Ennio De Concini amped up the violence, added a character, Chaco (Tomas Milian) probably influenced by Charles Manson (and prescient of Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow portrayal in a way that must be more than happenstance), and embedded the Biblical "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" connection.In the Bible, the four horsemen represent the destructive phenomena of pestilence, famine, war and death. Here, there's more of a "seven deadly sins" flavor, as the four main characters represent greed/gambling, prostitution, alcoholism and insanity. Adding Chaco to the mix flips traditional morality on its head, as the four protagonists must bond as they try to help each other survive.The penultimate act is subtly mystical--it's almost as if the remaining protagonists have been temporarily transported to heaven, although the greatest tragedy occurs in this setting, too. Fulci slyly transforms the environment during this section, a change that actually begins to occur during the previous act, with a heavily symbolic downpour.