Call of the Coyote (DVD)

Prospector Jim Barrett is murdered by Chuck Reynolds, his thieving partner, for his share of the Arizona gold mine in which they hold equal shares. Roving cowboy Don Adios comes across Jim's body, and finds a map revealing the mine's location. When Reynolds later attempts to have Barrett's young daughter kidnapped, Don Adios intervenes and offers the girl protection - a task that proves unexpectedly difficult.

A true curio, this unusual Western was thought for many years to be lost; in fact, some genre historians believed it had never actually been released. That supposition was not far from the truth: Call of the Coyote, made on a very low budget by exploitation-film pioneer Pat Carlyle, was handled by indie distributor William Pizor, who neither copyrighted the movie nor made it available to the trade press for reviews. Sub-contracted to territorial distributors, Call of the Coyote seems to have had very few theatrical engagements, possibly because leading man Ken Thompson was unknown. This offbeat picture is compelling, precisely because it's so unpredictable.

BONUS: This DVD also contains "Dog Story," a rare color episode of "The Cisco Kid" TV series starring Duncan Renaldo.

• western