SPAGHETTI WESTERNS
KILLER KID (1967)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Leopoldo Savona, Stars: Anthony Steffen, Luisa Baratto, Fernando Sancho. A man (Anthony Steffen) assumed to be famous outlaw Killer Kid is actually an American agent pretending to help Mexican Revolutionaries in order to save himself and in the meantime ensure that arms destined for the Mexican government don't get there. In the end Steffen's potential love is killed and he decides to join the revolution permanently.
SON OF DJANGO (1967)-LETTERBOXED HD PRINT. Director: Osvaldo Civirani, Stars: Gabriele Tinti, Guy Madison, Ingrid Schoeller. This is a superior spaghetti with an off-character performance from Tinti that places him in a superior niche to anything that Richard Harrison ever did. While this is not a great spaghetti it is a competent film and many of the scenes deserve repeat viewing for interest. This movie contains all of the elements of a fine spaghetti however it is weak in significant areas relating to storyline, continuity and detail. For example, this was not a starring role for Madison. Madison should have been listed as a "featured" cast member, however this detail does not impact the film overall. Yes his entrance is awkward -- almost an afterthought -- but he did contribute to the action and I especially liked his line about "an eye-for-an-eye" being different where guns and bullets are concerned! So finally this is (after all) a 1967 period spaghetti, and one of the better ones.
PISTOL FOR A 100 COFFINS (1968)-LETTERBOXED HD PRINT. Directed by Umberto Lenzi. Cast: Peter Lee Lawrence. John Ireland, Eduardo Fajardo, Gloria Osuna. This Spaghetti Western has a great HORROR FILM moment when a bunch of maniacs escape from the local asylum, gather up a bunch of hatchets, and proceeds to massacre the town! Returning from the civil war Jim Slade discovers his parents dead at their farm. It is said that the gang under the lead of Corbett has committed the crime. Jim now goes for revenge but things turn out to be more complicated than he originally thought. To get some money he accepts the job as a sheriff.
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THE SHERIFF OF ROCK SPRINGS (1971)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Mario Sabatini [as Anthony Green]. Cast: Richard Harrison (sheriff), Cosetta Greco, Donald O'Brien, Maria Morgan, Marino Sidri. The bandit Burt, fugitive from prison, seeks to hide himself in Rockspring. Once there, he discovers finds the citizens following an old custom, the election of the "little sheriff". This is a child who, for eight days, will collaborate with the sheriff. The state of relative tension that reigns in the city drifts from the fact that this is inhabited mostly from protestants and a minority of Mormons; both the groups aspire to the nomination of own candidate: the little protestant Stephy and the small Mormona, Shelly. Stephy gets elected. Burt meantime, reaches the small Mormon farm of the Johns, and takes their daughter with him as a hostage. The Mormon child Shelly notices the criminal making away with his prisoner, but can't make the adults believe the story. So Shelly organizes all the children into a posse and with together they try to stop Burt.
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EXECUTION (1968)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Domenico Paolella, Stars: John Richardson, Mimmo Palmara, Rita Klein. Clips, a bounty killer, is after one John Coler, who has fooled him, keeping all of a loot he should have shared with him. He finally catches his prey only to discover that the man is a Coler all right but not the expected one. He is actually the outlaw's honest younger brother Bill, who works in a traveling circus. Will Clip be able to find the stolen gold? Maybe ... but only if a gang of vicious Mexican bandits - to say nothing of Bill's circus troupe - allow him to. Which they do not seem willing to do.
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PRICE OF DEATH (1971)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Lorenzo Gicca Palli, Cast: Gianni Garko, Franco Abbiana, Gelly Genka, Klaus Kinski, Luciano Catenacci, Giancarlo Prete, Luciano Pigozzi, Alfredo Rizzo, Andrea Scotti. As a young Mexican girl is killed by an unseen assailant, three men rob a saloon; killing a prostitute and the bartender in the process. The citizens of Appleby blame the robbery on a local thug, Chester Conway. He is convicted on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to hang. His lawyer and the saloon madame know he is innocent and hire gunman, Silver, to prove Chester's innocence and uncover the real culprits. But is Chester completely innocent? What I found most impressive about this film is the very mysterious and thick atmosphere that the film emitted. No small thanks going to Mario Migliardi's avant garde loungy score. Unlike other Spaghetti mysteries like Killer Caliber .32 and Kill the Poker Player, I found Price of Death's atmosphere engrossing and made the plot of the film much easier to follow. It hardly ever loses focus and Migliardi's ear candy made every scene a joy to view, if only to listen. As a detective mystery, the film is successful. The clues and interconnecting plots all made sense and never got too intricate while never lacking logic. The characters also play a big part in the film as each one is connected to the main storyline in some way. Nobody seems thrown in to take up space and runtime. Finally, the whodunnit aspect is extremely suspenseful and the reveal is a shocker.
IN THE DUST OF THE SUN (1972)- FINALLY UNCUT (NUDITY) AND NO SUBS! Director: Richard Balducci, Writer: William Shakespeare (play) Stars: Maria Schell, Bob Cunningham, Daniel Beretta. In the dry, dusty western hamlet of San Angelo, landowner Joe Bradford kills his brother and then marries his brother's widow, Gertie. Gertie's son, Hawk, decides that something's rotten in this state of affairs and thinks about taking action. There are a number of obvious parallels to the "Hamlet" story here: the murder of the observer behind the arras, the company of actors who perform a play specially altered for the occasion; Ophelia floating in the water, etc. Even without a knowledge of Shakespeare, however, the viewer may enjoy this slightly-off-beat western because of the way it concentrates its action in a limited area and because of its focus on a relatively small number of characters.
LOLA COLT (1967)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Siro Marcellini, Stars: Lola Falana, Pietro Martellanza, Germán Cobos. Lola, a saloon dancer arrives in the town of Sant'Anna with some other dancers. The town is however terrorized by El Diablo an outlaw who wants to sell the surrounding land to the railroad company. Lola helps the colonists rebel together with Rod, a youth who has fallen in love with her. Sexy showgirl Lola Colt fights off the advances of the evil El Diablo, while plotting with handsome medical student Peter Martell to free the town and a group of hostages from his clutches. An Italian western with a black female protagonist (!), this vehicle for pop-star Lola Falana is a bit more entertaining than it seems like it would be. It's a little contrived, though fairly earnest and surprisingly straight-faced, playing more like a nineteen-forties B-picture than a nineteen-sixties spaghetti western, at least until Lola straps on some six-shooters for a violent climax. A compact running time helps too.
2 FACES OF THE DOLLAR (196)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Roberto Bianchi Montero, Maurice Poli, Jacques Herlin, Gérard Herter. This one's a French-Italian effort by director Roberti Bianchi Montero, about a group of four people who furnish an elaborate plot to steal a bunch of gold from an army fort. There's Matthew, the brainy mastermind of the plot (Jacques Herlin), Jane, the distracting beauty (Gabriella Giorgelli), the ruthless ex-Colonel Blackgrave (Gérard Herter), and the wiley gunfigheter thief (Maurice Poli), who has been credited as Django, Honey, and Miele, but I don't recall him being referred to by any particular name in the film.
GOD WILL FORGIVE MY GUN (1969)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Directors: Mario Gariazzo, Leopoldo Savona, Stars: Wayde Preston, Loredana Nusciak, Dan Vadis. Johnny Texas is asked to inquire about the death of Prescott who was robbed and killed under suspicious circumstances. His investigation upsets Prescott's neighbor, Clanton, who now claims Prescott's land as his own. This film started shooting in 1966 with Gariazzo as director and was then aborted. Three years later a producer bought the partly finished material and Leopoldo Savona completed the rest of the film. The soundtrack was mostly "borrowed" from No Room to Die.
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SHOTGUN (1968)- Directed by: Roberto Mauri, Stars: Tab Hunter, Erika Blanc, Piero Lulli. Tab Hunter is pretty good as Durango, an ex-sheriff whose dreams of marriage are shattered when his fiancé and her family are massacred during a robbery. His hunting down and killing the perpetrators should be more fun than it is; the film seems claustrophobic, as much of the action takes place in confined areas, including a warehouse for the final showdown. Erica Blanc is fine as Joanne, Durango's former girlfriend who owns a saloon. The great Piero Lulli turns up as a villain, and other familiar faces fill the screen. The music is suitably spaghetti, with the blaring trumpets and guitar chords.
DON'T TURN THE OTHER CHEEK (1971)-LETTERBOXED AND 17 MINUTES LONGER THAN PREVIOUS RELEASES. Director: Duccio Tessari, Stars: Franco Nero, Eli Wallach, Lynn Redgrave. A spaghetti western in which three adventurers team up during the Mexican Revolution. Mary O'Donnell, a radical Irish journalist, wants to foment a peasant revolt in Mexico. She enlists the help of a seedy bandit, Lozoya, by saving him from a death sentence in Utah. They meet a man calling himself Prince Dmitri Vassilovich Orlowsky, who claims to be a Russian prince, not to mention a man of the cloth. Wallach pretends to be a Mexican folk hero. The trio crosses the border, the two men seeking a cache of gold while O'Donnell pursues her revolution. Lozoya has the key to the gold, but Nero knows where the other half of the map is.
Ringo The Face Of Revenge
Mario Caiano1966
Anthony Steffen, Frank Wolff, Eduardo fajardo widescreen print
Anthony Steffen, Frank Wolff, and Eduard Fajardo star in this prime western by Mario Caiano.
The three team up to locate a hidden stash of gold but unfortunately most will meet a grisly
fate before the treasure is found. Excellent cinematography and a perfect score by Francesco
De Masi make this a primo spaghetti western!
TEQUILA JOE (1968)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Enzo Dell'Aquila, Rival gangs of Rock Mulligan (Mimmo Palmara) and Manuel Trianas (Furio Meniconi) affront each other in bloody fight while Sheriff Joe Donnell (Dragomir 'Gidra' Bojanic) passively watching and drunk do nothing. The drunken sheriff newly arrived deputy Burt(Jean Sobiski) manages to arrest most of the outlaws except Mulligan who seeks revenge....
HIS NAME WAS SAM WALLASH (1971)-FINALLY LETTERBOXED, ENGLISH DUBBED WITH NO GREEK SUBS AND AN HD PRINT! Director: Demofilo Fidani (as Miles Deem), Stars: Robert Woods, Dino Strano, Benito Pacifico. A cruel and ruthless bandit kills a tavern owner who had ratted him out to the authorities. Sam Wallbush witnesses the murder, as well as the murder of his brother who happens to get in the way of the bandit. Sam swears revenge and sets out for blood. This is a very quirky film. It is, at times, unintentionally funny, and at other times just plain bizarre, but hey I like that kind of stuff so it's alright with me. I actually find this film to be extremely entertaining. Of the four or five Demofilo Fidani movies I have seen, this one is the best. The music score by Lallo Gori is excellent. It is probably the highest-quality part of the movie. The trumpets, guitar, and organ are used skillfully to create suspense and emotion with a style that is undeniably spaghetti western. Though Fidani's movies are not known for good acting, Robert Woods actually does a pretty good job in this one as Sam Wallach, the slightly whacked protagonist who suffers from dooraphobia (Yes, he breaks out in a cold sweat and gets hysterical at the mere thought of a door opening and closing. I'm not making this up!) Simonetta Vitelli is also good as Fanny the barmaid. I can't think of any other Fidani film that actually has TWO halfway decent acting performances.
KILLER ADIOS (1968)-Finally, a beautiful widescreen print of this awesome spaghetti western! Jess Vrain returns to town at the request of a former friend to find that everything has changed. Not only has his ex-girlfriend become a refined lady but someone is killing people with the only clue being a rare Winchester rifle. Director: Primo Zeglio, Cast: Peter Lee Lawrence (Jess Bryan/Vrain), Marisa Solinas (Sheila Simpson), Eduardo Fajardo (Sam Ringold), Armando Calvo (Bill Bragg), Rosalba Neri.
2 PISTOLS AND A COWARD (1968)-FIRST TIME UNCUT AND FULL ENGLISH DUB, LETTERBOXED PRINT. Directed by Giogio Ferroni and starring Anthony Steffen and Richard Wyler. Gary is a young gunman who works in a circus Unseen, he witnesses the killing of some outlaws, carried out by their leader Ellroy, in order to keep their loot all for himself. Gary is believed to have killed the men, but the admiration he arouses turns to ridicule once he is beaten in a gunfight with Ellroy. Gary's problem is in fact more serious; he suffers from a complex which blocks him in front of any violence. Because of this he refuses to help Tony, a young boy whose father has been killed by Coleman. This Coleman, however, kidnaps the boy and promises to set him free only if he shows him where the loot is hidden. During the imprisonment, the boy is beaten up by the bandit and, suddenly, Gary is shaken out of his paralysis and attacks the whole band singlehanded. With his new found power, and with the help of his old circus friends, he is able to defeat the vilains and rescue his friend.
SILVER SADDLE (1978)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Lucio Fulci, Stars: Giuliano Gemma, Sven Valsecchi, Ettore Manni. Young boy who sees his father gunned down kills the assassin. Years later, he has grown up to be a successful bounty hunter who is feared by many. And then one day he discovers secrets to his past... "Silver Saddle" is entertaining in most of its parts. A Spaghetti Western enthusiast, I have utmost respect for Giuliano Gemma for his performances in such films as "Day Of Anger" or "The Price Of Power", but I have never numbered Gemma among my favorite Spaghetti Western actors, since he hardly ever embodied the typical antihero, but was more of a typical 'good guy' in most of his films. Nevertheless, Gemma fits perfectly in some roles, and one has to say that his performance in "Sella D'Argento" is very good, and I could hardly imagine anybody else playing the role of Roy Blood. Geoffrey Lewis also delivers a very good, funny performance as Gemma's buddy Snake. The supporting cast furthermore contains two truly great Spaghetti Western regulars, Donal O'Brien, who only has a small role, and Aldo Sambrell, who once again plays a thuggish Mexican bandit. The locations are good, the score is OK, I especially liked Snake's theme, the only parts I didn't like about the soundtrack were the parts with the singing.
GARRINGO (1969)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Rafael Romero Marchent, Cast: Anthony Steffen [Antonio de Teffe](Lieutenant 'Garringo' Harris), Peter Lee Lawrence (Johnny), Solvi Stubing (Julie), José Bodalo (Sheriff Klaus), Raf Baldassarre (Damon). Johnny was mentally traumatised when he witnessed as a child the killing of his father (a deserter) by a group of soldiers. As an adult he randomly kills every soldier he gets hold of, so that the army sends out the brutish Lieutenant Garringo to stop Johnny. Garringo is an undeservingly lesser known effort by spaghetti western director Rafael Romero Marchent. Anthony Steffen stars as a rogue army lieutenant tracking Johnny (Peter Lee Lawrence), the crazed son of a soldier killed as a traitor, when he was a child. Johnny has a split personality and murders soldiers and leaves their lapels on his father's grave. When he's not killing soldiers he's a complete gentleman. Johnny was raised by the now sheriff of Bell City, who is confronted with loyalty to his stepson or his duty. There's plenty of familiar faces here and a nice score to help the movie along. This good looking western is probably the best genre contribution of the Marchent brothers. Not every aspect of the potential of this more untypical story about a traumatised killer and his similar violent hunter was exploited to the best advantage, and a few characters are also a bit old-fashioned, but there are enough interesting scenes and ideas along the way to make Garringo a fine SW.
THE BLACK KILLER (1971)-LETTERBOXED PRINT. Director: Carlo Croccolo (as Lucky Moore), Stars: Klaus Kinski, Fred Robsahm, Antonio Cantafora. Rare nudity in this uncut print. A dark, gritty and to the bone nihilistic western, that is really fun to watch. By all means one of the cheaper spaghetti's. But it's blessed with many cool scenes of violence, strange dialog and good old sleazzzzz. There's more than one moment of unnecessary nudity here. Don't take it to seriously though cause it's just a fun ride, and nothing more. The white horse Burt Collins rides is said to be the same horse that gets loaded in Cat Ballou. The actor Fred Robsahm is actually from Norway and he's currently residing in a small town called Lillesand. He does a lot of the stunt work in this movie (not just he's own). Kinski is cool as the weird lawyer that has a strange habit of transforming he's law books into deadly weapons. Great soundtrack and some nice cinematography gives the film good atmosphere and it's well worth the watch.
DEAD MEN RIDE (1971)-IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED HD PRINT. Spanish-Italian co-production full of action , exaggerated characters , shootouts and lots of violence . A good example of Latino western genre mostly filmed in Spain . This is a co-production Spanish-Italian with a varied cast formed by actors of diverse countries . This meaty Western contains interesting plot , violence , shoot'em up and is quite entertaining , though drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . This moving Spaghetti packs noisy action , thrills , drama with surprising final . For money, for pleasure, for revenge, he doesn't care why he kills or how . After escaping prison Roy (Fabio Testi) crosses Mexico frontier , being wounded he seeks shelter in a mining community where is healed . The miners (Jose Calvo , Daniel Martin , both of whom appear in "For a fistful of dollars") implore the help Roy to protect them from three corrupt owners Redfield (Fajardo) , the hunchback Lawrence (Carra) and Newman (Romano Puppo). As Roy posing as a card-player arrives in a little town dominated by villain Redfield(Eduardo Fajardo , unforgettable nasty in Django ) and his underlings . Roy goes out to avenge battling murderous and executes a single-handedly revenge , as he shoots, hits and kills each person involved in his imprisonment . As Roy seeks vengeance against Redfield and is only helped by a mining leader (Jose Calvo) who is caught and hung . While the Redfield' hoodlums kill , mistreat and harass miners . Roy Greenford is trapped and receives violent punches, kicks , and ultimately is helped by Jessica (Charo Lopez)
THE CURSED CITY (1978)-IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBS, LETTERBOXED HD PRINT. NOW HERE'S AN AMAZING RARITY!! A SPAGHETTI WESTERN VERSION OF DASHIEL HAMMET'S RED HARVEST!! Director: Juan Bosch, Stars: Chet Bakon, Diana Lorys, Roberto Camardiel. A wandering gunman/lawman comes to a town in the old west where lawlessness and crime roam. A murder-mystery set in the old wild-west. This is a Spanish, Italian coproduction set in the Old West and shot in Almeria, Spain, of course. It deals with a San Francisco investigator who arrives in a little town in the Old West called Personville, there he attempts to stop corruption , vice and killing . After being hired by Don Wilson , this one being eventually killed. Wilson was a powerful magnate, a rich owner whose ownerships expand into Morning Herald newspaper, mines, hotel and bank .There are various suspect people, such as : the gunman Peter the Finesh :Antonio Molino Rojo, the nasty pistolero Max Thaler nicknamed the whisperer : Daniel Martin, the beautiful widow Mrs Wilson who has bloodstains on his clothes : Lone Fleming, the sexpot Saloon girl Dina who posseses Wilson's money : Diana Lorys , a suspicious banker : Antonio Mayans, the sheriff Noonan : Roberto Camardiel and even Wilson's father : the handicapped Alan Collins or Luciano Pigozzi. The main premise of the film is to find out who's the killer. A bit later later on , in the bustling town takes place other grisly killings , including hanging , stabbing and slashing in Giallo style.
REVENGE OF SARTANA (1965)-WIDESCREEN HD PRINT! Director: George Sherman, Stars: Jeffrey Hunter, Diana Lorys, Arthur Kennedy. The story of Joaquin Murrieta, a real life Mexican bandit who terrorized California with his gang of raiders and cutthroats during the first half of the 19th century. Some saw him as a murderous outlaw, others as the Mexican Robin Hood. Peaceful Mexican prospector Jeffrey Hunter is beaten, his claim stolen, and his pregnant wife murdered by a group of racist thugs. Getting revenge, he finds himself pursued by lawman Arthur Kennedy and usurping control of a gang of banditos, before declaring war on all the gringos in California! Another mean, hate-filled, hard-boiled, Spanish made, though American directed, low-budget western, this is sparked by an intense performance by Hunter, who's too-short career was practically built on playing angry anti-heroes. It's also a joy to see old Hollywood star Kennedy as the voice of justice and reason, the type of role he didn't get to play much in his latter career, where he like Ray Milland, was typecast as bitter curmudgeons or sour-puss detectives. It's always nice to see Euro- starlet Diana Lorys as well.