Despite featuring a cast culled from both Hollywood and Mexico, and colorful Mexican locations, this is in all respects a very poorly made Western picture. The plot concerns the capture of a band of Yaqui Indians, gun smugglers and Mexican Federales, all leading to the title's conclusion. The characters are so poorly developed, that by the time the picture has run half way, all we want is a conclusion, no matter what the consequences. It is rumored that this one was quite often yanked from the screen at the "A" movie houses and soon made it's appearance on TV. This is NOT one of the better efforts of Robert Lippert and Company.

Massacre was one of those westerns that had an interesting plot premise and in better hands might have become a classic. But it was a knockoff type Lippert Production and that in itself says a lot.

This film was shot in Mexico and Guatemala and has a couple of American actors who were past their prime heading the cast. Neither Dane Clark as captain of the Rurales nor James Craig as his insubordinate and eventually mutinous lieutenant were all that convincing as Mexicans.

The Rurales are on the trail of a trader who is selling guns to the Yaqui Indians and the Yaquis also want to get a hold of this guy for selling bad medicine which forced several of the tribe to go blind.

The brilliant Clark gets the service of an Indian guide in Jaime Fernandez as a guide with what any literate 8 year old could predict as inevitable results.

The title says it all.

It seems to be a co production: American and Mexican. It is question of gun smugglers, Indians, and authorities, all of them fighting against each other. This is an ordinary B western, directed by a B film maker whose best movies were some action packed crime flicks for Paramount during the late thirties, starring Anthony Quinn, Lloyd Nolan, J Caroll Naish. Besides those films, and some Bulldog Drummond adventures which I have never seen - so I don't know if they were worth ( and not worse!! ) - King demonstrated a magnificent lack of ambition, compared to his brother Henry King. Ninety percent of his movies are now totally forgotten. The only peculiarity of this western, if you dared absolutely find one, would be the place of the Yaqui indians in this story. They are not totally shown as the evil natives, but on the contrary revengeful after some people sold them bad medication. So for me, the actual villains are the ones who are in charge of medication traffic; right? Excellent, bloody and very unexpected ending. A very unusual western which scheme suggests that the White characters who fight against the "evil" Indians are not necessarily the good ones after all. With an unexpected result.