There had been nudie westerns in the past (most notably Russ Meyer’s Wild Gals of the Naked West), but I think Lee (Chain Gang Women) Frost’s Hot Spur might’ve been the first roughie western. Written and produced by Frost’s usual collaborator Bob Cresse, it tells the story of Carlo (James Arenas), a Mexican stable boy who is roughed up by two cowpokes. Later, he gets a job working at a ranch where the surly cowboys happen to rope cattle. After the rancher O’Hare (Joseph Mascolo) catches him making eyes at his wife (Virginia Gordon), he kicks Carlo off his property. He then sets out for revenge by kidnapping the rancher’s wife and raping her. See, O’Hare raped his sister years ago and Carlo’s just been waiting to pay him back.
The fiery opening credits are the best part. They play like the credits featured in Bonanza except played in reverse. There’s also a fun scene where a cowboy is going at it with a gal in the floor of the stable. One of the other dudes gets the bright idea to put a saddle on his back and has another woman ride him like a horse while he is having sex. I’ve heard of horseplay before, but this is ridiculous.
Other than that amusing bit, this is pretty rough going. That’s not only due to the rapey subject matter, but because of the fact that it’s pretty repetitive and the attack scenes are all rather rote. The western setting, while novel, doesn’t really add anything to the proceedings either. There are scenes of whipping and rope bondage, although they are nothing that really takes advantage of the surroundings. I give Frost and his crew credit for making it look like a legitimate B western. Ultimately, the fact that this was filmed in the great outdoors rather than an NYC apartment is the only real selling point.
As the rancher O’Hare, Mascolo has a Ben Gazzara type of quality about him. He gives the best performance of the entire film as everyone else in the cast is rather weak. He later went on to a memorable appearance as the human villain in Jaws 2.
AKA: Fiery Spur. AKA: The Longest Spur. AKA: The Naked Spur.
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