SPAGHETTI WESTERNS
TASTE OF VIOLENCE (1961)-In French with English subs, letterboxed print. Directed by Robert Hossein. A revolutionary leader holds up a train to kidnap the daughter of the president wanting to trade her for fifty of his fellow revolutionaries held prisoner by the federal army. Along with two of his lieutenants, he traverses the hostile country to bring the girl to the revolutionary headquarters where very soon the three men fall out... Released in ’61, set in a fictitious Latin American country, and filmed in former Yugoslavia, this film by director/actor/writer Robert Hossein, definitely is a forerunner of the spaghetti western genre. Not only is it a prototype of the so-called Zapata westerns, it is also very interesting in regard to Hossein’s own 'Cemetery without cross', reckoned among the great films of the genre. The Taste of Violence breathes the same melancholic atmosphere as Hossein’s masterpiece. It also reflects a similar pessimistic view on the human condition.(...), Also stars Hossein, Mario Adorf and Giovannia Ralli.
LONG DAY OF VENGEANCE (1967)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. After three years of heavy physical labor in a hellish prison in the desert, the former Sheriff Ted Barnett (Giuliano Gemma) escapes. Barnett was framed by three men and wrongly convicted for thirty years of hard work for the murdering of his father. He looks for those that had accused him seeking revenge and the first one he meets is Gomes, who owns a barbershop, and he kills him in self-defense. Then he travels to Charleston where his former wife is married with Sheriff Douglas (Francisco Rabal). When Barnett confronts Douglas, he tells that he had killed Barnett's father. They shoot each other and Barnett kills Douglas. He finally meets the last powerful man that sent him to jail and his former wife helps him to get the evidences to prove his innocence to the judge. But the criminal does not intend to surrender to justice.
JOHNNY WEST (1966)-Letterboxed print and uncut! Director: Gianfranco Parolini Cast: Mimmo Palmara, Adriano Micantoni. The hero, then, is a dour and somewhat enigmatic half-breed (a white girlfriend of his ends up dead on his account, while he rejects the doe-eyed advances of a child-like squaw); he's either referred to as Johnny Cherokee or Left Handed Johnny West throughout (the latter is crushed, HUSTLER-like, at one point – but, soon enough, he learns to become as deadly as ever with his other hand), and is constantly accompanied by an amiable white-haired mutt called Gypsy which even sacrifices itself for him at the climax.
7 Dollars To Kill
Alberto Cardone1966
Anthony Steffen, Loredana Nusciak
Excellent Anthony Steffen western that also features a great evil performance by Fernando
Sancho! Director Alberto (BLOOD AT SUNDOWN) Cardone knows how to set a mood and uses
Steffen's limited facial expressions to the film's advantage. Sancho massacres his family and
kidnaps Steffen's son. All of which sets him off on a mission of vengeance that is enhanced by
the great score by Francesco De Masi. Loredana (DJANGO) Nusciak co-stars. Great western!!
Letterboxed Print
Dead Men Don't Count
Rafael Romero Marchent1968
Mark Damon, Anthony Steffen widescreen print
Mark Damon and Anthony Steffen star in this gritty Spaghetti Western by Rafael Marchent. Both
men are bounty killers who decide to teamup to help a voluptuous widow gain revenge on a
gang of killers that slaughtered her husband. Great score by Riz Ortolani make this an above
average western.
El Cisco
Sergio Bergonzelli1966
William Berger
Letterboxed print and not the crappy one used by Something Weird video!!). William Berger
stars as an escaped criminal who returns to the limelight reluctantly 5 years later when he must
find a way to unmask a crooked sheriff who sponsors a series of robberies. Great western by
Sergio Bergonzelli and there's also a terrific score by Bruno Nicolai!!
Tequila joe -1966
Finally a beautiful widescreen print of this spaghetti western with jean sobieski and Anthony ghidra. Two rival gangs do battle with each other in a small town. The sheriff isn't courageous enough to try and stop them but his deputy is. The deputy manages to arrest the outlaws but one of them escapes and tries to kill him. The sheriff saves the deputy's life and finds the courage to help him in his fight to restore law and order.
THE HANDS OF A GUNFIGHTER (1966)-Finally a beautiful widescreen print of this gritty Spaghetti Western starring Craig Hill and Gloria Milland, directed by Rafael Romero Marchent. Made early in the Eurowestern boom of the mid-1960s, HANDS OF A GUNFIGHTER is yet another underrated Spanish western that is actually a decent B-western of surprising psycho-social realism. The westerns written and directed by Spaniards tend to be very different in terms of technique, tone, and thematic preoccupations from those made by Italians. Like most Spanish westerns, this movie is more crudely made than their Italian westerns, but as the movie progresses there are actually a number scenes which are evocative if rough-hewn such as the Carter Brother's funeral, the sequence in they stalk their victims and in turn are hunted, and especially the movie's final scene. As such, it is much better than contemporary films like Tierra de Fuego (1965) or I Tre del Colorado (1965). If you enjoy Eurowesterns, it is worth giving this movie a chance on it's own (limited) terms.
HOLE IN THE FOREHEAD (1968)-Letterboxed beautiful print, FINALLY! The lure of a hidden treasure in the area attracts unsavoury characters from all points of the compass; killers and a variety of gold-hungry adventurers who will stop at nothing to gain their ends. To locate the treasure, it is necessary to put together the information which is indicated on three different cards. The problem? The three cards are in the possession of three different men, each one a killer. Each of these men, along with his gang, is wiped out rapidly by the most notorious gunman of all: Billy Blood. Having eliminated the competition, Billy Blood rides off with the loot. Anthony Ghidra and Robert Hundar co-star.
NEVADA KID (1971)-In Italian with English subs, beautiful widescreen print. A frontier feud on the border of Mexico. Gangster Hagan's (Klaus Kinski) brothers have been wiped out by Nevada Kid's (Jeff Cameron) family. Hagen plans to destroy Nevada Kid's family, but the kid himself, just back from the Civil War, puts Hagen and his pack to flight for good, stars Gordon Mitchell, Jack Betts, Simone Blondell, and Dennis Colt with cinematography by Joe D'Amato.
ONE MORE IN HELL (1969)-Finally a very nice widescreen version in English, this one tough and gritty spaghetti western. King (George Hilton) runs through a number of dangerous situations with a sarcastic grin, fighting off land speculators, sleeping with the sheriff's flame, participating in a barroom fight in drag, in a knock-down drag-out fight in a jail cell, escaping from jail and then concocting an absurd but successful plan to rob a bank. During all this he meets Meredith (played by Paolo Gozlino), a rough but incompetent bandit who meets with surprising success when matched with the clever King.The comedy darkens, though, when King returns to town after the bank heist to find his former guardian Pastor Steve killed by the land speculators. Then ensues the plot for revenge, which involves absurd methods of murder and torture and a final gunfight. King gives up ruffles for black (he had trained in seminary, he claimed at one point) and begins quoting passages from the Bible.
A bounty killer for trinity (1972)-In Italian with English subs widescreen beautiful print. The townsfolk of Trinity decide to hire a notorious bounty hunter to protect them from a fierce band of Mexican outlaws who are terrorizing the area. He discovers the true person behind the bandits is within the town. A bloody gunfight ends the control of the gang and returns control of the town to its people.
COLORADO CHARLIE (1965)-This rare SPAGHETTI WESTERN finally appears in a beautiful widescreen print without subtitles. When Sheriff Bill marries, he moves to another village to lead a more peaceful life. His replacement is killed by Colorado Charlie and his gang. The town sends for Bill, who returns unarmed because his wife has hidden his gun. When Colorado Charlie demands a shoot-out, Bill's wife relents and gives him back his weapon After Bill kills the bandit, his wife agrees to his return as sheriff. Directed by prolific filmmaker Roberto Mauri using the pseudonym "Robert Johnson." Jack Berthier stars as Sheriff Bill Danders, a retiring lawman whose former deputy, new sheriff Jimmy (Andrew Ray), is murdered following an attack by the vicious outlaw Colorado Charlie. Much to the horror of his wife (Barbara Hudson), Danders returns to work, tracking down Colorado Charlie for the obligatory showdown. Genre fans will be happy to see Erika Blanc, and to learn that Charlie himself is played by cult filmmaker Paolo Solvay (aka Luigi Batzella).
SHADOW OF SARTANA SHADOW OF DEATH (1969)-Finally a beautiful widescreen print without subs of this rare SPAGHETTI WESTERN by Miles Deem starring Jeff Cameron. Sartana has a bounty on his head and he's wanted dead or alive. To eliminate this he makes a deal with the local politicians. If he hunts down the marauding Randal Brothers, the bounty will be removed.
REVENGE FOR REVENGE (1968)- Director: Mario Colucci (as Ray Calloway), Stars: John Ireland, Gianni Medici, Loredana Nusciak. A half-breed named ShaRIko, arrives in a small town in the West controlled by the former Confederate soldier, Major Bower who lords over the town with violence. Shariko stands up to the threats and challenges of Bower’s henchmen. Sandy, Bowers wife, tells of a treasure in gold, she’s hidden where her greedy husband has not been able to discover it. Caught talking to each other, Bower captures then kills Sandy Shariko, tortured reveals where Bower’s wife said - where the gold is hidden. The owner of the saloon, Becker, and his daughter help Shariko escape with the agreement that they will receive in exchange fifty percent of the loot. Becker is killed by Bower, and Shariko recovers gold, hidden in a chair in the Major’s house. Having killed Pico, Bower’s right arm man, he is challenged to a duel by Bower.
HEY AMIGO...YOU'RE DEAD (1970)-RARE ENGLISH DUBBED VERSION, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Very nice little surprise from the director of 'I Want Him Dead' and 'Gatling Gun' aka 'Machine Gun Killers'. A cheap film, but made with craftmanship. Really one more about atmosphere than anything else. The plot is not so special, but the execution is. Wayde Preston does alright as the hero (of sorts), and Marco Zuanelli makes a good sidekick but Aldo Berti is most memorable as the psycho sexual bad guy. It's a pretty moody flick, apart from the mild comic relief provided by Zuanelli. The song "Hey Amigo, Your Dead" sung by Don Powell is a good one. Barnett, a bandit, and the eight men of his band lie waiting in a Texas village. Having confined the people of the village, they rob the stagecoach which arrives in town carrying a cargo of gold. After the robbery, the bandits take refuge in a deserted mine but a post officer is on their track.
BUCKAROO (1967)-In Italian with English subs, letterboxed print. Dean Reed and Monica Brueger co-star. Reed stars as a good man who goes off the deep end when his father is killed by a band of scumbags. He does what any man in a spaghetti western would do, he loads up his guns, hunts them down and kills every last bastard!
DURANGO IS COMING PAY OR DIE (1971)-RARE ENGLISH DUBBED VERSION, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Roberto Bianchi Montero (as Roberto Montero), Stars: Brad Harris, José Torres, Gisela Hahn. Durango (Brad Harris) works as a debt collector. Somebody didn't pay after he lost a game of poker? Call Durango, and he'll get you the money - minus the 10 percent he always keeps as his reward. One day, however, he retrieves 100,000 dollars from a stolen money transport, and the manager Ferguson (Gino Lavagetto) thinks 10 percent of 100,000 is far too much. He accuses Durango to have stolen the money from him, and with 10,000 dollars in his pockets, Durango finds it hard to convince the sheriff he's innocent. In prison, Durango meets the Mexican bandit El Tuerto (Jose Torres) who helps him to escape. While he hides at a beautiful blond lady (Gisela Hahn), Durango makes plans for his revenge on Ferguson, but El Tuerto meanwhile joins company with other bandits and makes his own plans...
BLOOD RIVER (1974)-In Italian with English subs, letterboxed print. Another rare spaghetti western starring Fabio testi, Rosalba Neri and John Ireland, directed Gianfranco Baldanello. The film focuses on the problems of a rich rancher named Able Webster. His son's wife is a halfbreed named Catherine who is in love with a stranger named Ringo. Able also finds out he is not to be, as expected, the inheritor of the Webster fortune. 30 years ago, he and 9 of his neighbors and friends massacred an Indian village in order to obtain the tribe's land. One problem, a small boy named Condor escaped the massacre and has now grown into a vengeful warrior out to kill the 10 men who were responsible for the annihilated his family and tribal members. Condor is helped in his revenge by Indians from the afterlife. Very much influenced by Italian gothic horror films!
$5000 ON THE ACE (1965)-Finally a beautiful widescreen English language print of this early Robert Woods western. A successful gamble nets $5,000 and a portion of a cattle ranch, but self defense leads to the death of the previous owner by the gambler. Fernando Sancho and Maria Salbat co-star.
KIDNAPPING (1970)-In Italian with English subs, widescreen print. Rare spaghetti western starring Brett Halsey, Germano Longo and Fernando Sancho by director Alberto Cardone. Ex-sheriff Fred Leinster is thought to have caused, due to drunkenness, the death of some women, relatives of Dixon. He becomes unwillingly involved in the kidnapping of little Jerry, son of Jane, a young widow with a small farm. Fred is captured by Bill Cochram, the man who has taken Fred's place as sheriff. Fred, having convinced Jane of his own innocence, is able to escape and locates the old mine in which the kidnappers hold Jerry prisoner, persuading the child to put himself through a passage opened on the flank of the mountain.
THOMPSON 1880(1966)-In Spanish with English subs, letterboxed print. George Martin, Gia Sandri, Gordon Mitchell, directed by Guido Zurli. A western made during the boom of such movies in Italy, but quite an unusual one. It's not about revenge or a bag of gold, it's about a kind of economic struggle. The villain Brady (Paul Muller) asks his men to always obey the law, because guns are not as effective. He tries to control a town by building a monopoly, thus controlling the prices on all kinds of goods. This becomes difficult when Ray (George Martin) comes to town. He is unarmed, but invents the first machine gun, which gave the movie its title. Sheila (Gia Sandri) expects Ray to help her build up her own shop with lower prices. In opposite to most genre heroes, Ray is not keen on using a gun at all. But when Brady is increasingly afraid of losing his profits, the going gets tough, naturally. Great roles for José Bódalo as the drunken judge who loves to quote Shakespeare, Gordon Mitchell as a gunman with crippled hands and Pedro Sanchez as one of the bad guys.
YANKEE (1966)-Letterboxed print, English dubbed version. Yankee, (Philippe Leroy in his first western) is a bounty killer who decides to take on a bandit chief and his henchmen when he realises the prices on all their heads adds up to a tidy sum. The bandit, El Grande Concho (Adolfo Celi), is lord of the entire region and resides like a king at court in an abandoned church surrounded by his entourage of philosopher, painter, fortune teller and soldiers; robbing and murdering anyone who ventures into his territory. Add to this a shipment of gold big enough to make them all rich beyond their dreams and the stage is set for gunplay, intrigue and cruelty as the lone gunman sets his wits and skills against the might of the megalomaniac leader. Directed by Tinto Brass.