SPAGHETTI WESTERNS
KILL JOHNNY RINGO (1966)-LETTERBOXED HD PRINT, ALL PREVIOUS VERSION WERE FROM A SWEDISH VHS WITH HARD CODED SWEDISH SUBS!! Director: Gianfranco Baldanello (as Frank G. Carroll), Stars: Brett Halsey, Greta Polyn, Guido Lollobrigida. Texas Ranger Johnny Ringo (Brett Halsey) is sent to investigate and expose a counterfeiting ring in the town of Eagle Pass, following the theft of plates from the Federal Bank. The town is owned by Jackson (Dessy) who, along with his gang of hoods and other respected townsfolk, is responsible for this counterfeiting operation. As well as owning the town, Jackson "owns" local performer Annie (Polyn), who has a secret relationship with one of the counterfeiters, Ray Scott (Fuscagni). Once Jackson becomes aware of this affair, he plans for Ray to be the man that swings on a noose for the crime. But Ray is also the key man in Ringo's investigation, and the link to identify the real culprits.
ONE AFTER THE OTHER (1968)-LETTERBOXED HD PRINT. Director: Nick Nostro (as Nick Howard), Cast: Richard Harrison (Stan), Pamela Tudor (Sabine), Paolo Gozlino [as Paul Stevens] (Glenn), José Bódalo (Colonel Jefferson). After a violent bank robbery by fake Mexican Bandits, the crooked bank president/ringleader hires bounty hunter Richard Harrison to find the patsy blamed for the holdup. Catching up with him, Harrison learns the truth and schemes with the real gang of banditos to get his hands on the loot. Clean shaven, with spectacles, neat hair, and a black overcoat that conceals his size, Harrison looks a lot different than you're used to seeing in various spaghetti westerns and muscle-man movies. His character is a bit colder as well. The first ten minutes are jam-packed with dirty dealings and unexpected occurrences, and there are several more unexpected turns in the plot to follow. Eventually the movie does settle into a familiar formula (hunting down the bad guys one by one), but the movie remains interesting with its interesting visuals, good music, and a fairly zippy pace. Spaghetti western fans should like this, and even non-fans may find this offbeat enough to keep them watching.
The Price Of Power
Tonino Valerii1968
Giuliano Gemma, Van Johnson, Fernando Rey
Here's a spaghetti western for all you conspiracy buffs. It takes the Kennedy assassination and
transposes it those events to the old west. One of the great non-Leone westerns, Thank God
Oliver Stone never saw this!! Stars Van Johnson, Fernando Rey and Giuliano Gemma.
Letterboxed Print.
The Return Of Ringo
Duccio Tessari1967
Giuliano Gemma, Susan Scott, Fernando Sancho
Beautiful widescreen presentation of one of the classic Spaghetti Westerns. Based on the
classic tale of Ulysses, Giuliano Gemma returns home after fighting in the Civil War, only to
discover corruption has turned his town into a hellhole. He goes undercover to regain his family
and rid the town of the truly evil Fernando Sancho. Ennio Morricone contributes a classy score
STARBLACK (1968)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Giovanni Grimaldi, Stars: Robert Woods, Elga Andersen, Franco Lantieri. A hero wearing a black sheriff's star and in a mask that brings to mind the one worn by the killer in Blood and Black Lace fights for justice against the brutal banker Curry and his gang of killers. This entertaining Italian western in very much in the mold of the Spanish Zorro movies being made in the late Fifties and early Sixties by Joaquin Marchent, among others. Other early Spaghetti Westerns, like The Last Gun (1964), have a similar plot as these movies were one of the early inspirations for the genre. The western town in Fistful of Dollars was originally built for one of Marchent's Zorro movies. Starblack has the same plot of masked hero v. oppressor and the same goofy exuberance. It is essentially just a series of escalating episodes that consist of Starblack escaping a trap laid for him by Curry (played by Franco Lantieri, who really hams it up). This, of cource, leads to a more elaborate trap and more unlikely escape in typical comic strip or serial style.
VENGEANCE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD (1971)-LETTERBOXED FULLY, PREVIOUS VERSIONS WERE NOT FULLY SCOPED, PLUS EXTRA 2 MINUTES OF FOOTAGE. Director: Pasquale Squitieri (as William Redford), Stars: Leonard Mann, Ivan Rassimov, Klaus Kinski, Elizabeth Eversfield. After witnessing the brutal murder of his entire family by Native Americans as a child, Jeremiah Bridger becomes a merciless Indian-killer and scalp hunter. After saving the life of a beautiful Native American girl named Tune, however, the lone and silent gunman slowly reconsiders his hatred. He starts to doubt his former persuasion, that it was really Indians, who killed his family, and soon has to find out that a greedy and unscrupulous landowner usually blames Native Americans for his own crimes.
BANDIDOS (1967)-RARE ENGLISH DUBBED VERSION, LETTERBOXED HD PRINT. Director: Massimo Dallamano (as Max Dillman), Stars: Enrico Maria Salerno, Terry Jenkins, María Martín. Renowned gunman Richard Martin is traveling on a train, held up by Billy Kane, a former student of Martin's. Kane spares Martin, but only after shooting his hands. Years later, Martin meets an escaped convict, wrongly convicted for the train robbery. Martin trains his new student and both men seek out Billy Kane. The film displays psychological characters-in deep , shootouts , action Western and being enough entertaining . The movie contains typical particularities Spaghetti , as is full of fury , sadism , bloodbaths, and portentous close-ups of grime-encrusted faces . Interesting screenplay from Juan Cobos and Luis Laso , remarking the special relationship between an expert but helpless gunfighter and a young cowboy wrongly convicted for the train robbery . Spectacular final takes place on the downtown when protagonists contend face to face and surrounded by nasties . The action is good, with the stunts earning their keep by crashing off of roofs and falling from buildings or horses . Terry Jenkins is passable as an unfortunate young wrongly accused of a crime he did not commit , and Enrico Maria Salerno steals the show as a veteran shooter seeking vengeance.
Cemetery Without Crosses
Robert Hossein1968
Robert Hossein, Michele Mercier
Excellent Spaghetti western written by Dario Argento and starring actor Robert Hossein (he also
directed and years later appeared in Argento's THE WAX MASK). When a woman's (Michele
Mercier) sees her husband hung before her very eyes, she swears revenge on the evil land
baron responsible. She goes to old flame Hossein and involves him in a scheme to kidnap the
rich man's daughter. She's so cold blooded she encourages two other men to rape her too.
Ultimately, her revenge ends up costing everyone. Mercier is terrific as the widow and Hossein
shot the film in subdued colors to accentuate the arid landscape.Letterboxed Print.
DJANGO'S CUTPRICE CORPSES (1971)-Another beautiful widescreen print of an obscure Spaghetti western. Directed by Luigi Batzella and starring Jeff Cameron, John Desmont and Esmeralda Barros. Django's fiancee was abducted. So he must rescue her but that's not very easy. The problem is that the kidnappers are the Cortez brothers and their gang. They have robbed a bank and hid in a cave. Django chase them with the help from an American and Fulton. Fulton is a agent who is employed the bring the gold back to the bank.
WANTED (1967)-Beautiful widescreen print. Wanted is an Italian action film released in 1967. It was directed by Giorgio Ferroni and starring Giuliano Gemma, Teresa Gimpera, and Nello Pazzafini. A local sheriff (by Giorgio Ferroni) is unjustly accused of murder in a small town and forced to flee. He gets rid of his enemies one by one and tries to prove his innocence. In short, Gary Ryan, the new Sheriff of Greenfield falls for a trap and finds himself locked up under false testimony by Cheryl, the woman who owns the biggest hotel in Greenfield. Eventually he finds a way out to struggle against all odds for justice.
CALIFORNIA (1977)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Michele Lupo, Stars: Giuliano Gemma, William Berger, Miguel Bosé, Malisa Longo. In the days following the Civil War, defeated Confederate Giuliano Gemma and a young traveling companion encounter various killers, low-lives and unsympathetic citizens. When his friend is killed, Gemma stays with the boy's family and protects them from a vicious gang of bounty hunter turned outlaws.
Adios Gringo
1966
Giuliano Gemma, Evelyne Stewart
Letterboxed print. Giuliano Gemma stars in this excellent gritty spaghetti western. He is falsely accused of murder and forced to go on the run to try and clear his name. He meets up with Lucy who was gang raped by 3 men, one of whom could clear Gemma of the crime (which he set Gemma up for). It doesn't take long for him to start knocking off the guilty parties, one by one. Evelyn Stewart co-STARS.
BLOOD AT SUNDOWN (1966)-LETTERBOXED UNCUT 100 MINUTE PRINT. Director: Alberto Cardone, Cast: Antonio De Teffè [as Anthony Steffen](Johnny Liston), Gianni Garko [as John Garko](Sartana), Erika Blanc (Joselita/Joschita Rogers). Johnny Liston has just been released from prison where he has wrongly served twelve years for a murder. He returns to Campos, the village of his birth, where the whole town is terrorized by Johnny's brother, Sartana, who has taken Manuela, Johnny's fiancèe to be his lover. With his only friend a mute, Johnny must seize all opportunity to find out why he was framed, who was involved and why he is not welcome.
I'LL SELL MY SKIN DEARLY (1968)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Ettore Maria Fizzarotti, Stars: Mike Marshall, Michèle Girardon, Valerio Bartoleschi. After the whole family of Shane (Mike Marshall) was murdered, he is seeking revenge. Being merciless in the beginning (he even buries one villain alive!), meeting a beautiful young widow (Michele Girardon) and her son makes him slowly change his mind. His obsession with revenge (the camera just loves to make close-ups of Mike Marshall's steel-blue eyes staring wildly) gradually fades away. Especially when he finds out that one of the villains he has hunted has become a monk because he regretted his deeds. Will Shane be able to forgive?
A Long Ride From Hell
Luigi Bazzoni1968
Steve Reeves, Rosalba Neri, Wayde Preston LETTERBOXED PRINT
-Director Luigi (THE 5TH CORD) Bazzoni made the only Spaghetti Western to star former
Hercules Steve Reeves and it's very stylish tale of bloody revenge. While on the lookout for
cattle rustlers, he and his brother are setup for a robbery and sent to Yuma, the toughest
prison around. The brother dies and so Reeves is determined to get revenge on those
responsible, regardless the price. Rosalba Neri co-stars as a lovely prostitute out to help
Reeves (and ends up getting killed for her efforts).
A GENIUS, 2 PARTNERS AND A DUPE (1975)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Directors: Damiano Damiani, Sergio Leone (uncredited), Stars: Terence Hill, Patrick McGoohan, Miou-Miou, Robert Charlebois and a great score by Ennio Morricone. Expert conman Joe Thanks teams up with half-breed Bill and naive Lucy to steal $300,000 from the Indian-hating Major Cabot. Their elaborate plan is full of disguises, double-crosses, and chases, but Joe always seems to know what he's doing. Let's talk about the acting first: Robert Charlebois as Joe Thanks semi-Indian sidekick seems an odd choice, yet, somehow the Canadian chansonaire somehow manage to pull the role off. Miou-Miou is cute like a button, Raimund Harmsdorff is a force of nature and Patrick McGoohans performance makes you feel like clapping. As in any movie he had starred in, Klaus Kinski steals the best part – albeit, his 'Doc Foster' disappears, virtually blue-balled, during the first ten minutes.
NO ROOM TO DIE (1969)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Sergio Garrone (as Willy S. Regan), Stars: Anthony Steffen, William Berger, Mario Brega, Nicoletta Machiavelli, Maria Angela Giordan. The plot is about the evil Mr Fargo who is using his gang of wanted men to smuggle illegal workers from Mexico into the USA. For some reason he has them all killed (in one sequence he sends two wagon loads of workers over a cliff down to the river to die) and I'm really not sure of why he does this except to just not get caught smuggling. The bounty hunter Johnny Brandon (I think he's called Django just to sell tickets)is out killing Fargo's men for the reward(s). There is a second bounty hunter Everitt Murdock who carries a 7 barrel shotgun that almost seams like an automatic (where all the shells come from you can only guess).
7 GUNS FOR THE MACGREGORS (1966)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Franco Giraldi (as Frank Grafield). Cast: Robert Woods (Gregor MacGregor), Manolo Zarzo (David MacGregor), Fernando Sancho (Miguel), Leo Anchoriz (Santillana), Agata Flori (Rosita Carson), Perla Cristal (Perla). The MacGregors are a hard-working, hard-playing, whisky-drinking Scottish clan--with seven sons--that own a horse ranch near the border of Texas and Mexico. When it comes time to sell some of their stock, the eldest son, Gregor, leads his brothers and a herd of horses to the town of Las Mesas, where they expect to get a good price for their livestock. But, what they find in Las Mesas is a crooked horse-trader who is in league with a corrupt sheriff both of whom have strong ties to the vicious bandit chief Santillana. The horse-dealer offers the MacGregors a paltry sum for their animals and tries to force them to take his deal. This triggers a brawl for which the MacGregors end up in jail. The boys manage a successful jailbreak only to discover that their horses have been stolen by the crooked dealer and Santillana. Gregor decides something must be done to break the power of this oppressive, corrupt, outlaw regime as well as get their horses back. Thus, he sets about worming his way into Santillana's gang. Gregor manages to secure a position with the bandit bunch thereby giving him the opportunity to pass information about Santillana's planned robberies to his brothers. The brothers, in turn, take action to thwart all of Santillana's plans. Eventually, the bandit chief becomes wise to the deception and turns the tables on the MacGregors.
CHAPAQUA'S GOLD (1970)-FIRST TIME IN ENGLISH AND LETTERBOXED!! Director: Giancarlo Romitelli (as Don Reynolds), Stars: George Ardisson, Linda Veras, Furio Meniconi. Doc and Chapagua are two rogues who acquire a large stash of gold before the Civil War. They agree to hide it together, blindfolding each other on the way so they'll need each other to find the hiding place. After the War, double-crosses abound as Doc and Chapagua not only have to deal with the army, but with the seductive, gold-hungry Moira as well.
Clumsy Hands
Rafael Romero Marchent1968
Peter Lee Lawrence, Pilar Velasquez
Rafael Romero Marchent directs this violent Spaghetti Western starring Peter Lee Lawrence and
Pilar Velazquez. Lawrence plays a pacificist type who is tortured and left for dead by a rancher
who disapproved of him marrying his daughter. Needless to say, Lawrence recovers and
exacts a bloody revenge.
I'LL FORGIVE YOU BEFORE I KILL YOU (1970)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Bandits under their leader Ramon (Fernando Sancho) take the passengers of a stagecoach as hostages. The bandits want to spend some time in a safe place, namely a coaching inn. Walton (Richard Harrison), the owner of that place, is a retired former gunman, though. He has hidden his guns away, but when the bandits start killing the hostages and threatening his wife (Erika Blanc) and son, it's time for Walton to get the guns back, right? But things are getting even worse as his former worst enemy Stevens (Bruno Corazzari) is also on his way to the station. A great cast makes this Spaghetti one to see if you're a fan of the genre.
THE MAGNIFICENT TEXAN (1967)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Directed by Luigi Capuano. Glenn Saxon, Barbara Loy, Massimo Serato, Gloria Osuna. Saxon is a tough, gun-wielding saloon owner who helps Mexican peasants oppose a notorious land baron who has cruelly oppressed them. A gang of bandits burn down the Red House belonging to Pablo Lopez. The whole Lopez family is murdered except ten year old Manuel, who is scarred for life by the horrifying sight of his dead parents and burning home. Fifteen years later, Manuel has grown up. After living through many adventures he returns to his village in disguise. Two things are on his mind: to find his long-loved Evelyn and to take revenge on those responsible for the slaughter at the Red House.
KILL THE WICKED (1967)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Tanio Boccia (as Amerigo Anton), Stars: Larry Ward, Rod Dana, Furio Meniconi. The movie is greatly atmospheric, for one thing, with the ghost town setting providing an eerie backdrop. Much of the movie's violent sequences pack a real punch as well. Also, Angelo Francesco contributes a musical score that is very flavorable, adding to the movie's grim and eerie mood. After a bloody stagecoach robbery, a nasty gang of cutthroats leave a wounded compatriot to die on the plains while they go hide out in a ghost-town and begin making hostages out of whoever comes along. The film was remade 3 years later as MATALO!