I recently picked up Four Of The Apocalypse as part of Anchor Bay's "Once Upon A Time In Italy" box-set of non-Leone spaghetti westerns. After reading mixed reviews of FOTA, I delayed viewing it until after the other four movies contained. I was surprised to find that I liked it.
My only other experience with director Leo Fulci had been "House By The Cemetery" which my wife and I felt had potential, but was ultimately pretty dreadfully bad. With that in mind, I didn't expect to be impressed with FOTA and was worried that some of the gore I'd been reading about would ruin it for me. Although I'll have to admit that some scenes we're pretty hard to watch, overall the film had a classic spaghetti atmosphere with some fairly macabre moments, and was a step above many I have viewed.
Many people have complained about the score which includes narrative songs with a kind of folksy early period Pink Floyd/Byrds sound which I personally love. In comparison with the more respected film Keoma, which is also included in the OUATI collection, the soundtrack is pure gold! The caterwauling that passed for a score in Keoma virtually made it unwatchable for me.
Overall, I gave this film a 7 out of 10 rank. If you like the genre, and aren't turned off by some of it's non-traditional western elements, you should enjoy it. Recommended.
My only other experience with director Leo Fulci had been "House By The Cemetery" which my wife and I felt had potential, but was ultimately pretty dreadfully bad. With that in mind, I didn't expect to be impressed with FOTA and was worried that some of the gore I'd been reading about would ruin it for me. Although I'll have to admit that some scenes we're pretty hard to watch, overall the film had a classic spaghetti atmosphere with some fairly macabre moments, and was a step above many I have viewed.
Many people have complained about the score which includes narrative songs with a kind of folksy early period Pink Floyd/Byrds sound which I personally love. In comparison with the more respected film Keoma, which is also included in the OUATI collection, the soundtrack is pure gold! The caterwauling that passed for a score in Keoma virtually made it unwatchable for me.
Overall, I gave this film a 7 out of 10 rank. If you like the genre, and aren't turned off by some of it's non-traditional western elements, you should enjoy it. Recommended.