The self-destructive Sam Peckinpah has a career that matched his unpredictable personality. He had big successes and dismal failures. He was reviled and celebrated. Peckinpah wasn't really appreciated in his own time, his ultra-violent, unforgiving and brutal brand of cinema out of step with the status quo, but he has (thankfully) been the subject of widespread re-appraisal since his 1984 death. Perhaps none of his films was as misunderstood as Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (wouldn't that look good on the marquee?). It was a critical and commercial failure when it was first released, even securing a spot in the 1978 book 'The 50 Worst Films of All Time'. One of the worst films of all time, eh? Hardly. That gross overreaction is emblematic of the general response to Peckinpah's films at the time. Watching it today, the film is something of a lost masterpiece, a truly engrossing tale with some great performances and a potent blend of action and drama. It is the type of film that can only be made in the 1970s (and only in down and dirty Mexico). Interestingly, this was the only one of Peckinpah's films that was released exactly as the director intended.