Apaches
1977 · Directed by John Mackenzie · UK
Apaches (1977) is a British public information film directed by John Mackenzie. He would go on to direct the influential British gangster thriller The Long Good Friday (1980). Apaches was funded by the Central Office of Information for the Health and Safety Executive. It was shown in primary schools in the UK, warning children about dangers when playing outside the home.
The scenario follows six children, with Danny, as Geronimo, our narrator. They descend on a farm in their imaginary attack as the Apaches of the title. What follows is a series of deaths by misadventure. These include falling under the wheels of a tractor trailer, drowning in a slurry pit, being crushed by a metal gate and, probably the most disturbing, a slow death from drinking a poisonous substance. The agonised cries of Sharon in the night, shouting for her “Mummy”, will stay with you.
Danny describes a “party” being prepared at home by the adults. It unfolds that the party is Danny’s funeral, with his cousin Michael the only survivor of the six children. The children were all selected from the same primary school, and their naturalistic non-acting gives the film a reality that belies the grim outcome of their fun and games.
The end credits roll with a list of names and ages of children and how they died in the twelve months leading up to the filming of Apaches. How any child who watched this in school did not need some counselling is beyond me. I would have been scarred for life watching this as an eleven-year-old in 1977.
Apaches is a deep cut of visceral horror that will stay with you a long time after watching. More public information film horror with The Finishing Line to follow. You have been warned.
