“Chato’s Land” is hardnosed Western, in the spirit of pictures such as “Hang ‘Em High”. It stars Charles Bronson (“Death Wish”, “Mr. Majestyk”) and while it drags at times, ultimately satisfied me.

In “Chato’s Land”, a posse led by Captain Quincey Whitmore (Jack Palance “Batman”) go out to hunt down a Native American (Bronson). They soon find themselves being outwitted and the target of the man they’ve gone out to hang after they attack his family. It’s an interesting picture as we see the hunters become the hunted and we get to see the breakdown in communication among the posse.

Bronson is always great and here he delivers very few lines but conveys his toughness through his physical presence. His looks always let you know that he means business. Jack Palance is very good as the lead posse man. I would have liked to have seen some real interaction between Bronson and Palance. His sort of commentary as the group pursue Bronson is pretty entertaining. I think the rest of the posse isn’t as good because the script doesn’t give the rest of them many great opportunities. There aren’t really any other characters in the picture as it is very much focused on the posse and Bronson.

“Chato’s Land” is a little bit dull and it certainly isn’t as entertaining as something such as “Joe Kidd” or “The Shootist” but I enjoyed it; it’s a very gritty Western with some graphic scenes. I certainly would have liked to see a bit more happening and some tighter dialog and I think it would have helped had the film not moved onto the pursuit so quickly. “Chato’s Land” spends a lot of its time in the wilderness and we get some great visuals so add that to the entertaining acting and the gritty tone and I think “Chato’s Land” while far from perfect, is an enjoyable film.