Arnold Schwarzenegger Starred In A 1970s Western Flop With A 0% Rotten Tomatoes Score

With the waning of the Western's popularity in the 1970s came all manner of weird and wonderful takes on the genre. From the controversial and disturbing "El Topo" (which Roger Ebert was a fan of) to Jeff Bridges' uneven Western comedy "Rancho Deluxe," the '70s was a strange time for the once popular oater. 1979's "The Villain," however, is one of the least successful attempts to send up the genre, with director Hal Neeham attempting to produce his own "Blazing Saddles" but failing in pretty much every way. As such, star Arnold Schwarzenegger is probably glad this particular entry in his filmography has been largely forgotten — though it remains a major blot on his greater body of work.

"El Topo" kicked off the surreal and experimental Acid Western movement of the era before "Blazing Saddles" showed how to do Western parodies right in 1974. "The Villain," otherwise known as "Cactus Jack" in the United Kingdom and Australia, then decided to take a slightly different route by asking, "What if there was a Western parody film that was also an homage to Warner Bros.' Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoons for some reason?" Needless to say, the result wasn't exactly a hit, though it is a curious thing to watch and features Arnie in one of his earliest, pre-"Conan the Barbarian" roles.

Sadly, the movie failed to make much money. What's more, critics weren't exactly taken with the film's homage to classic cartoons. In fact, they weren't taken by much, from the performances to the direction, which is why it's not all that surprising that, to this day, "The Villain" is the only movie in Schwarzenegger's filmography with a 0% Rotten Tomatoes score.

"The Villain" was directed by Hal Needham, a former stuntman who, as a filmmaker, is mostly known for pumping out Burt Reynolds vehicles. By the time he made "The Villain," he'd already directed Reynolds in 1977's "Smokey and the Bandit" and 1978's "Hooper" and would go on to collaborate with the actor on 1981's "The Cannonball Run" and 1983's "Stroker Ace." With his 1979 Western comedy, however, he took a break from mustachioed leading men to direct Kirk Douglas, who ... wait, yep, actually did have a mustache in the movie. Douglas naturally received top billing in "The Villain," though he might have turned down the honor had he known how the movie — which Needham described in a 1978 edition of The Hollywood Reporter as a "'Road Runner' cartoon done with live characters" — would turn out.

A 61-year-old Douglas starred as Cactus Jack Slade, the titular outlaw who isn't all that adept at criminality. That doesn't stop Jack Elam's Avery Simpson from hiring him to rob Ann-Margret's Charming Jones on her journey across the West. The young woman has come into some money from her father and is being chaperoned on her journey by a cowboy known only as Handsome Stranger, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger (himself an admitted Western fan). It's Cactus Jack's job to accost the pair and steal the cash, but he just can't seem to get the best of them.

Throughout the film, we witness Douglas' inept outlaw and his horse, Whiskey, laying traps for Jones and her protector, à la Wile E. Coyote. Of course, none of them actually work, leaving Jack frustrated until Jones, herself frustrated at Handsome Stranger's obliviousness to her advances, kisses the villain in the film's final moments.

There's a lot wrong with "The Villain," from the impressive lack of jokes to the acting and some insensitive portrayals of Indigenous Americans. Then there's Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was clearly still learning how to control his screen presence in 1979, which is to say the man simply could not act. It's not quite as bad as his outrageously awful performance in a 1977 episode of "The Streets of San Francisco," in which he played a bodybuilding serial killer (and by "played," I mean yelled for an hour), but it's not far off. (Really, the '70s weren't a great time for Arnold as an actor in general. See also: "Hercules in New York.")

As you might imagine, critics didn't let Hal Needham and his Western parody off lightly. Gene Siskel was as harsh as he's ever been, giving the film one star and writing, "'Villain' is like Road Runner, but isn't funny." Rather than an homage to the beloved Warner Bros. cartoons, Siskel dubbed the film "a direct ripoff," writing, "Schwarzenegger looks and sounds ridiculous — but not funny." That was pretty much the tenor of reviews across the board, with The Los Angeles Times' Linda Gross writing, "The characters are like cartoons and the broad, burlesque humor is too simple to spoof." Thus, despite "The Villain" only having seven reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, its 0% score seems appropriate.

Adding to the film's woes was the fact it didn't make much money. Various outlets reported the budget as being between $4.5-6 million, and sources for its box office returns are scarce. However, a Washington Post piece from December 1979 states that "The Villain" made roughly $10 million during its theatrical run, which means the movie was about as successful as its inept outlaw.