The White Buffalo (1977)

[akiratubo]

I wasn't sure if I should put this in Good Movies or Bad Movies, but I decided to put it in Bad Movies because a movie about a murderous, supernatural, white buffalo monster sure isn't trying to impress critics.

Charles Bronson stars as Chief Brody Bill Hickok, who by the time this movie is set is old, sick, and possibly has only a few months left to live.  He also has some kind of eye problem which requires him to wear dark glasses most of the time.  Poor Mr. Hickok keeps having nightmares about a monstrous, white shark buffalo.  So, when he hears that there really is a monstrous, white buffalo causing trouble somewhere around Nebraska or thereabouts, he feels he ought to head there and kill it.  He semi-reluctantly teams up with Quint a grizzled old hermit and Matt Hooper Crazy Horse.  Yes, that Crazy Horse.

I enjoyed this movie.  It's certainly too slowly paced most of the time, and the titular buffalo doesn't really do much, but come on.  It's a supernatural-buffalo-monster-western!  Where the hell else will you ever see something like that?  This is also the kind of movie where the hero will wake up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, draw his six shooter that he apparently was sleeping with, and fire off thirteen or fourteen shots without reloading at a stuffed buffalo head on the wall of the brothel where he's just finished nailing a hooker.  And the only attention this draws is the hooker saying, "Golly, you scared me."  "Oh, sorry."  Also, it almost seems like the hair stylists and makeup people thought they were dressing up Bronson to play Fu Manchu instead of Bill Hickok.

The buffalo itself is obviously an animatronic moving along a rail in long shots, with a simple undulating movement to make it look like it's galloping.  Its hooves are obviously not touching the ground.  The full-size puppet used in close ups is better, displaying some convincing head and neck movement and some really good, organic looking eyeballs.  I think they may have dusted a real buffalo with flour to use in some shots, too.  The thing never really comes off as menacing, unfortunately.  The props are just too limited to give it much interaction with the cast, and using a real buffalo was probably too dangerous.  The poor thing doesn't even take that much to bring down at the end.

But, for all its problems, The White Buffalo is a freakin' supernatural-buffalo-monster western!  You can't hate it.

[zombie no.one]

Nice review. strangely enough I'd never heard of this until about a month ago, might have to check it out

The buffalo itself is obviously an animatronic moving along a rail in long shots, with a simple undulating movement to make it look like it's galloping.  Its hooves are obviously not touching the ground. 

wonder if the director uttered the phrase "we're gonna need a bigger...budget"

[Neville]

I sort of like this film, mainly because the whole thing is preposterous or because my love for crepuscular westerns, can't decide. Wild Bill suffering from syphilis and nightmares was an interesting plot point, just like he and the Crazy Horse going behind other identities. It was an interesting way to justify their joint adventure as well as a hint that what we are watching is pure phantasy.

However, after the first half the whole thing sinks. Everything seems slower than it should, and as if the budget was suddenly slashed into peanuts. The ludicrous buffalo effects are just the final straw. I swear in some copies you can see the goddam rails.

[Trevor]

I think they may have dusted a real buffalo with flour to use in some shots, too..

 

[BoyScoutKevin]

I didn't think as much of this one, as the one in my previous post, as I did not see this one in the theater, but . . .! I did see it on TV. Not as memorable as the other one neither (IMHO.) Maybe because I found this one less "fun" to watch. If there was a reason for me to watch it, then it was for its cast, which included . . .

Charles Bronson -- Jack Warden -- Will Sampson -- Kim Novak -- Clint Walker -- Stuart Whitman -- Slim Pickens -- John Carradine -- Cara Williams -- Douglas Fowley -- and Ed Lauter.

[akiratubo]

Upon a second viewing, I liked this much less.  The slow pace is even more pronounced the second time around, and you start to notice things like the dialogue.  No one can ever say what they mean.  Instead of, "You looking to get killed?" it's, "Are you lookin' to wear a marble hat?"  Instead of, "I'm going to kill that guy," it's, "I'm gonna put him in a wooden suit."  Instead of, "At least you scared him off," it's, "At least you sprinkled a little pepper on him."  The word "buffalo" might be uttered twice in the whole movie.  Every other time, it's "buff" or "spike".  Every.  Single.  Line.  Is like that.  Let's not even start on the "romantic" banter between Bronson and the hooker, or ex-hooker, whatever.  Gah.

Oh, and you know how I mentioned Bronson shooting off his gun(s) after having a nightmare?  That happens one or two other times, and he wakes up firing a dozen or more shots per pistol each time.  The first time I saw the movie, I thought that was unintentionally funny.  The second time around, I realized it was supposed to be a running gag.  Once I realized it was actually intended to be funny, it stopped being funny.  Instead, it was just sort of sad how they tried to put this joke in the movie but failed so miserably at it.  It's sort of like how you can chuckle at the innocence of a little child who repeats a dirty joke he heard somewhere.  He'll probably mangle it because he has no idea what he's talking about but that's what makes it so funny.  Now, imagine an adult telling the same joke and mangling it just as badly.  It's not funny, because he doesn't have any excuse for flubbing it.