Probably
the easiest of all Margheriti's movies to find in video stores, Indio
succeeds in being a solid action film, despite the obviously micro-budget
Margheriti had to film with. Anthony Quinn's son Francesco
Quinn (Platoon, Casablanca Express)
stars as Daniel Morrell, a young Marine who goes to visit his father who
heads up a tribe, the "Indios", down in the Amazon. Meanwhile,
huge transportation tycoon Brian Dennehy
(FX and First Blood), is busy building a road
through native land, forcing the natives to vacate their villages with
gangs of well-armed mercenaries. When his father is killed in one of the
attacks, Morrell begins a one-man war against the road company, destroying
lots of property and killing lots of people. Ex-wrestler Marvelous Marvin
Hagler arrives to talk Morrell out of his crusade. He fails, and makes
sure to do a silly dance in the rain before he departs from the film.
Dennehy sics his goons on Morrell and his people, and the ensuing film
which becomes of that is a sort of hybrid of First Blood and The Emerald
Forest!
Decent action film boasts a good musical score by Pino
Donaggio (The
Barbarians, The
Black Cat) and a lot of good explosions and miniature effects. Many of
the same cast members can be seen here from Margheriti's earlier Alien
from the Deep, and the acting is good for the most part -aside from
Hagler extremely amateurish performance (did he
rehearse at all?). Some logic holes and errors, (such
as the fact that the actors who played the "Amazonian Indians"
were obviously Filipino) and a lot of nonsensical ecological
overtones, but on the whole the film is unpretentious and worthwhile.
Great for fans of cheesy Italian action films. Followed by a superior
sequel Indio 2 - The Revolt
featuring Marvelous Marvin in the starring role (!).
Reviews by: Mike
Martinez (courtesy
of his website www.insane.nu)
