Death Walks in Laredo (1967)

Original title:  3 Pistole Contro Cesare

AKA:  Tre Pistole per un Massacre, The Pistol, the Karate and the Eye

Director:  Enzo Peri

Writers:  Piero Regnoli, Enzo Piero, Carmine Bologna

Composer:  Marcello Giombini

Starring:  Thomas Hunter, James Shigeta, Nadir Moretti, Gianna Serra, Delia Boccardo, Umberto D'Orsi, Femi Benussi, Ferruccio De Ceresa, Vittorio Bonos, Adriana Ambesi, Gino Bardi, Gianluigi Crescenzi, Enrico Maria Salerno, Nicola Di Gioia, Jose Galera Balazote

More info:  IMDb

Plot:  A gunman teams up with his long-lost brothers--a French hypnotist and a Japanese kung-fu expert--to fight a villain who is obsessed with Roman emperor Julius Caesar, to the point of having built a palace, complete with slave girls, a huge sunken bath and his own "Praetorian Guard", and who is trying to cheat them out of a gold mine left to them by their father.

My rating:   6/10

Will I watch it again?   No.

You read the plot right.  It's kind of bonkers which makes it more watchable than most of your B-grade spags.  For starters meet your villain, Julius Cesar Fuller!

Yup.  He lives in opulence, like the Caesar of old in a Roman style mansion in the middle of the desert (here the American West as portrayed by location filming in Algeria!), complete with a bevy of beautiful women and the world's largest bathtub (or a big pool for us peasants).  The story has three men come together who all have something in common, they all the same father who was a notorious lothario.  By the end of the movie you find out they're not the only ones and by far!  Each of these three men are distinctive in that one has tricked-out, James Bondian weapons like a multi-barreled pistol that can kill four men at once as well as a pair of pistols that can fire from the butts.  Another brother knows karate (poorly as judged by the fight choreography) and another is a hypnotist with an uncanny, supernatural ability to stop people cold in their tracks!  They're all going to their dead father's homestead to claim their property.  But Fuller has taken it and the town for his own.  

As fuckin' fun as that sounds, it doesn't live up to the potential.  The action is OK, the humor is light, the villain is weak, dull and only has his gimmick lifestyle and a cloudy right eye to stand apart from other Spaghetti Western baddies, and the 82 minute length is further shortened by three, yes THREE musical/dance numbers that waste some time.  Star Thomas Hunter does a fine job.  He looks at home in a Western much like Clint or some of the other big names of the Italian Westerns.  I was surprised to see that his movie career lasted about 11 years from '66 to '76 with 20 features and that's it.  Based on this picture I would've expected more.  The music is pretty good.  As a fan of the genre I've been listening to Spaghetti Western scores for decades and I instantly recognized the theme song and sang along with it.  That was fun.  this is one of the better middle-of-the-road Spags and it's worth checking out if you've seen all the great films in the genre but want to avoid the dregs (and there are a lot of those).

God Will Forgive My Pistol (1969)

Original title:  Dio Perdoni la Mia Pistola

Directors:  Mario Gariazzo, Leopoldo Savona

Writers:  Mario Gariazzo, Leopoldo Savona

Composers:  Vasili Kojucharov, Elsio Mancuso

Starring:  Wayde Preston, Loredana Nusciak, Jose Torres, Dan Vadis, Livio Lorenzon, Giuseppe De Santis, Giuseppe Addobbati, ARturo Dominici

More info:  IMDb

Plot:  Johnny Texas is asked to inquire about the death of Prescott, a rich landowner accused of having robbed a postal wagon. His investigation upsets Prescott's neighbor, Martin, who will use all possible means to stop him.

My rating:  4/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Ugh, was this slow and boring and it took about twenty minutes of it before I realized that this probably wasn't going to get better but I stuck to it.  Every aspect of this was just below average.  Even Johnny Texas' multiple disguises and trick weapons/props (like his crutch with a built-in gun) didn't help much.  The disguises were high school theater quality.  The bad guys were morons for not seeing through them.  This picture smacks of low rent at every turn.  The comic relief from the mute and the dwarf are too broadly played (as was the norm back then) and the horrible "funny" music in those scenes makes it more excruciating.  The audible noise was too much, man.  I'm a big Spaghetti Western fan and this is one of the many that needs to be avoided.  

$100,000 for Ringo (1965)

Original title: 100.000 Dollari per Ringo

Director: Alberto De Martino

Writers: Alfonso Balcazar, Alberto De Martino, Vincenzo Mannino, Giovanni Simonelli, Guido Zurli

Composer: Bruno Nicolai

Starring: Richard Harrison, Fernando Sancho, Luis Induni, Massimo Serato, Gerard Tichy, Eleonora Bianchi, Loris Loddi, Guido Lollobrigida, Monica Randall, Michel Montfort, Francisco Sanz, Romas Torres

More info: IMDb

Plot: A stranger named Lee Barton rides into the western town of Rainbow Valley where he's mistaken for a former resident named Ward Cluster who was believed killed in the Civil War. Cluster's wife, Rose, is now dead but his young son, Sean -- raised by Indian chief, Gray Bear -- also believes Barton to be his father. Barton soon finds himself in opposition to local boss Tom Cherry who used local Indians to drive off settlers and who then turned against the Indians. Cherry is "sweet" on blonde townswoman Deborah but Deborah loves a drunken man named Ive. Cherry seeks to find $200,000 stashed away by a Mexican general and during the course of his hunt captures and flogs Barton and then kills both Deborah and Ive. Barton, having joined forces with a wandering sheriff from Tucson, kills Cherry in a shoot-out, finds the missing money, and plans a future with adopted son, Sean.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

A lot of what's in this picture is just plain bland, from the English dub to the characters, their costumes and so on.  The scenery is nice but there's nothing all that great about it.  The story is OK but it's rather slow despite the abundance of fights and gunplay.  The music  is outstanding, though, and that's a huge plus but, like anything, it's not enough to elevate the picture to more than a basic watchable level.  It's an OK picture at best and that's only because of the wonderful score by Morricone friend and colleague, Bruno Nicolai. It's far more exciting than the film it accompanies.  And be sure to groove to the theme song sung by none other than Bobby Solo!

I Am Sartana, Trade Your Guns for a Coffin (1970)

Original title: C'e Sartana...Vendi la Pistola e Comprati la Bara!

Director: Giuliano Carnimeo

Writer: Tito Carpi

Composer: Francesco De Masi

Starring: George Hilton, Charles Southwood, Erika Blanc, Piero Lulli, Linda Sini, Nello Pazzafini, Carlo Gaddi, Aldo Barberito

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Sartana lights the fuse and all hell breaks loose!

Plot: Sartana, bounty hunter and gunfighter, witnesses the robbery of a shipment of gold. He finds his way into town where he meets with a lot of suspicious stares from the locals. He also meets with Samuel Spencer, who seems to own the company in this company town. The gold shipments are being stolen, so Spencer agrees to hire Sartana to protect the next gold shipment. Numerous dull-witted villains make attempts on Sartana's life, but he survives. Eventually, Sartana's nemesis Sabbath rides into town. With a showdown inevitable, Sartana and Sabbath square off to settle the score.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

The anamorphic widescreen version I saw was a German print where someone did the nice thing and married it to an English dub.  The German title translates to DJANGO AND SABATA...LIKE BLOODY VULTURES whereas the original Italian title translates to THERE'S SARTANA...SELL THE GUN AND BUY THE COFFIN.  There is no one in this film named Django (which was typical as a lot of movies capitalized on the super hit DJANGO (1966)) George Hilton plays Sartana and Charles Southwood plays Sabath (in the English dub).  There's a lot of confusion if you pay attention to the this crap which I generally don't but it's interesting in some mundane way to point it out.   It's a slightly above average Spaghetti Western which is surprising considering the talent involved where most of the cast and crew had done a lot of them by this point.  Sartana is trying to be too cool for school but he comes off more of a joke than a badass.  Lee Van Cleef can pull it off but not Hilton.  He's got the look but the dub, story and dialogue diminish it.  There are a few little turns and surprises which makes it a little more interesting than the average Spag but it's not enough to save it.

Cry of Death (1968)

Original title: Carogne Si Nasce

Director: Alfonso Brescia

Writers: Augusto Finocchi, Aldo Lado

Composer: Coriolano Gori

Starring: Glenn Saxson, Gordon Mitchell, Renato Baldini, Philippe Hersent, Nello Pazzafini, John Bartha, Ferruccio Viotti, Mirella Pamphili, Evar Maran, Antonio Monselesan

More info: IMDb

Plot: A range war between cattlemen and farmers comes to a head with the arrival of a Deputy Marshall and a gunfighter called "Mule" in the town of Houstonville, Texas.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

It's tough sometimes to judge a movie when the dubbing is so bad.  That's what we have here.  The dialogue is at times atrocious and the English voice work is phoned in at best.  Saxson and Mitchell each play dual roles.  Mitchell's craggy face is great for Westerns.  I'd like to hear his voice on this instead of what they went with.  I'm sure it would've been much better.  Saxson is too leisurely to elicit any excitement and that's typical of what's missing from this picture...excitement.  It's about as middle of the road as you can get.  It's neither all that boring nor is it entertaining.  The fist fight scene in the bar is clumsy and handled poorly.  It's oddly shot in that Mitchell doesn't appear to have been in the same room as the people he's fighting.  Except for his facial close-ups, it could've easily, and might've been, someone else standing in for the tight shots of the fists landing their punches.  The bad guys are as bland as the good guys and in the end the good guys win.  Don't waste your time.

Kill Them All and Come Back Alone (1968)

Original title: Ammazzali Tutti e Torna Solo

Director: Enzo G. Castellari

Writers: Tito Carpi, Enzo G. Castellari, Francesco Scardamaglia, Joaquin Romero Hernandez

Composer:  Frncesco De Masi

Starring: Chuck Connors, Frank Wolff, Franco Citti, Leo Anchoriz, Giovanni Cianfriglia, Alberto Dell'Acqua, Hercules Cortes, Antonio Molino Rojo, Furio Meniconi

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Chuck Connors betrays a gang of seven ruthless mercenaries!

Plot: In 1864, mercenary Clyde MacKay leads a squad of hard-case cutthroats on a mission for the Confederate high command: infiltrate an enemy fortress and steal a million dollars in gold from the Union Army.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

I've seen an awful lot of Spaghetti Westerns over the years and I'm certain I'll never see them all (there were more than 500 from the early sixties to the late seventies).  Like any genre, most of them are OK at best with a few that are good and even fewer that are truly great films for the genre much less great films of any genre.  Anyway, I'm always tickled when I see one for the first time and it turns out to be a really good movie.  This one's got action in spades. Connors makes for a great action star and he fits right into Westerns like nobody's business.  It's no surprise that's what he's mostly known for.  His voice is dubbed.  The version I saw was widescreen and dubbed in English although the image was washed out and tinted sepia.  It's still worth watching.  I enjoyed it very much.  It looks great, the score and main theme are great, the performances are great and there's a massive action sequence (big in scale and in length) when the gang steals the gold.  It's a great centerpiece to a film that's already got more action than your average Western.  The ending was good, too.  I did not see that coming.  Hopefully someone will release a better print.  When a film in this genre works, it's a wonderful thing to see.

Challenge of the MacKennas (1970)

Original title: La Sfida dei MacKenna

Director: Leon Klimovsky

Writers: Pedro Gil Paradela, Leon Klimovsky, Edoardo Mulargia, Antonio Viader

Composer: Francesco De Masi

Starring: Robert Woods, John Ireland, Annabella Incontrera, Roberto Camardiel, Mariano Vidal Molina, Daniela Giordano, Giovanni Cianfriglia, Attilio Dottesio, Sergio Mendizabal

More info: IMDb

Plot: An American drifter becomes involved in a deadly family dispute. A powerful Mexican rancher orders the killing of his daughter's boyfriend. Jones earns the wrath of the father when he finds the body and buries it.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

This above average Spaghetti Western stars two prolific lead actors of the genre, Robert Woods and John Ireland.  Everyone does a fine job.  I kind of dug Ireland's character, Jones.  He's got that I don't give a shit attitude that's kind of fun.  He's got no place to go so this place is as good as any.  He's washed up and he's just biding his time.  That is until shit drags him into the middle of it and he's forced into a corner.  He still maintains that attitude but he provides action when he needs to.  I also liked his relationship with Barbara (Molina), at least I think that was her name.  The ending was nice, leaving Jones in the same position he was in 90 minutes earlier.  Francesco De Masi's score is standard issue Spaghetti Western music, neither bad nor memorable but serviceable.  It's just a slow go throughout much of the picture. 

Deadlock (1970)

Director: Roland Klick

Writer: Roland Klick

Composer: Can

Starring: Mario Adorf, Anthony Dawson, Marquand Bohm, Mascha Rabben, Siegurd Fitzek, Betty Segal

More info: IMDb

Plot:  In a deserted mining town at the end of nowhere three desperate men fight over a suitcase full of cash.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

I watched this without knowing anything about it except that it was a Spaghetti Western.  This German picture grabbed me by the short and curlies from the first few minutes and didn't let go.  I was hooked.  I was surprised, and a little disappointed, that this wasn't set in the Old West but it easily could've been.  I loved the sparse locale and the minimal cast.  It's one of those pictures that does such a good job that it held my attention for ransom and it wouldn't give in until it was over.  I didn't question anything.  I just gave myself to the film and went for a ride.  The English dub is pretty good and it didn't interfere with anything.  It's not a dialogue heavy movie as half the characters say very little.  Now that I've given it some time, any questions I have about some of them can easily be answered.  The thing is, writer/director Klick doesn't hold your hand.  It's not a tough film to follow by any means but not everything is explained, either.  Like the landscape (great cinematography, by the way), the characters are violent and don't mess about.  People die.  The body count is dead and for some of them it's probably for the best.  It's a got a good story, performances, set design, the works.  I certainly wasn't disappointed that it wasn't set in the Old West when it was over but it definitely played like one.  Substitute horses for cars and get some period guns and that's all you'd need to do make that happen.  I highly recommend this one.  Now excuse me while I go play some Red Dead Redemption.  I've got an Old West fever and the only cure is killin' some folks that needs killin'.

John the Bastard (1967)

Original title: John il Bastardo

Director: Armando Crispino

Writers: Armando Crispino, Lucio Battistrada, Sauro Scavolini

Composer: Nico Fidenco

Starring: John Richardson, Claudio Camaso, Martine Beswick, Luisa Della Noce, Claudio Gora, Furio Meniconi, Gordon Mitchell, Glauco Onorato, Gia Sandri, Nadia Scarpitta, Patrizia Valturri

More info: IMDb

Plot: A cynical seducer of women discovers he is actually a son of a wealthy Mexican landowner.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

For a while this seemed like an average Spaghetti Western.  It had some attempt at humor, there's a good amount of action and gun play and a man on a quest determined to finish what he started.  The title is most appropriate.  John is a real bastard in more ways than one.  He becomes more of an asshole as the movie progresses and, and at least for me, less likable all the way to the end where I didn't like him at all and wished that some harm came to him.  It's that last twenty or so minutes that turned the tide in that respect and also my OK feelings for the film to really digging it.  It didn't end how I thought it would and you can thank Gordon Mitchell's mysterious character for that.  The ending was great.  I watched a good (but not great) anamorphic widescreen print dubbed in English.  I think this is one of those cases that seeing it dubbed in Italian would be an improvement.  If I see it again then it'll be in Italian or it won't happen.  It's still worth watching for fans of the genre.  It's currently on YouTube free for nothin'.

White Fang (1973)

Original title: Zanna Bianca

Director: Lucio Fulci

Writers: Guy Elmes, Roberto Gianviti, Rhom Keyes, Jack London, Piero Regnoli, Guillaume Roux

Composer: Carlo Rustichelli

Starring: Franco Nero, Virna Lisi, Fernando Rey, John Steiner, Raimund Harmstorf, Daniel Martin, Rik Battaglia, Daniele Dublino, Maurice Poli, John Bartha

More info: IMDb

Plot:  The wolf dog, White Fang, aids a reporter, a fur trapper, a nun, a young Eskimo boy and his father of ridding a gold mining town of a sleazy crime lord in 1896 Yukon, Canada.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Think of this like it's Lassie with a vengeance.  This is a family picture but it's violent as hell...and that's what I dug about it.  The cast is filled with loads of famous names from Spaghetti Westerns and other Italian flicks from the 60s and 70s.  The movie's OK.  It gets hokey periodically but the violence that peppers it is harsh.  That poor dog, I mean wolf that looks just like a German shepherd is put through a lot.  Fang fights people, dogs and a bear.  The best thing that could've happened to him at the end of the movie is live on a farm free of predators and assholes.  I actually liked the last few minutes of this flick with Fang wandering around the recently abandoned town looking for his master.  That was nice.  Another oddity is that this was directed by famed horror director Lucio Fulci.  That would explain the abundance of violence.  I'm not one to watch family films like this but how could I resist when I'm on a mission to watch all 500+ Spaghetti Westerns and this stars Franco Nero, John Steiner, et al directed by Fulci?

Death Is Sweet from the Soldier of God (1972)

Original title: Semino Morte...lo Chiamavano il Castigo di Dio!

Director: Roberto Mauri

Writers: Roberto Mauri, Roberto Bianchi Montero

Composer: Vasili Kojucharov

Starring: Brad Harris, Jose Torres, Maretta Procaccini, Roberto Messina, Zara Cilli, Franco Pasquetto, Matilde Antonelli, Mariella Palmich, Gino Turini, Irio Fantini, Ivo Scherpiani, Emilio Messina, Pietro Fumelli, Vassili Karis

More info: IMDb

Plot:  Respectable lawman Django is wrongly accused for stealing the town's money.  He escapes from jail to find the real thieves who are perfectly OK with him taking the blame.  He's out for revenge to clear his name and bring in the bad guys.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Eh, it's OK but it leans to the slow, boring side of the Spaghetti Western spectrum.  Kojucharov provides a pretty good theme but it's used too much and there's very little variation.  It is a good theme, though, so that makes it better than a lot of these pictures.  But then you've got a film full of simple camera movement and editing.  It lacks any punch or excitement.  The characters are OK I guess and the dubbing is serviceable.  I didn't find much to like about this picture except for the music.  At its best, this genre offers excitement, great locations, violence, great heroes band better villains.  This picture is watchable if uninspired. 

Kung Fu Brothers in the Wild West (1973)

Original title: ...Altrimenti vi Ammucchiamo

Director: Ban-Yee Yeo

Writers: Nagi Hon, Tu Lung Li, Carlo Mancori

Composer: Franco Bracardi

Starring: William Berger, Jason Pai Piao, Donald O'Brien, Po Chih Leo, Sally Leg, THompson Kao Kang, Joe Chan, Winnie Tang

More info: IMDb

Plot:  Chen comes to America in order to complete a duel with his younger brother, Chou, to decide who will succeed their grandfather as master of kung fu.  He arrives in the town where Chou and their younger sister have started a Chinese restaurant just as Steve’s gang arrives in town, raping and pillaging. Steve works for Angelo and Dragon and after a few failed attempts to kill the king fu brothers, they send for their bosses. When they arrive, there is a final gunfight/kung fu duel.

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

OK, so yeah, this isn't that good but it's not THAT bad, either.  There was a little genre mixing in the Spaghetti Western genre but not much.  This isn't the only Western/Kung Fu hybrid but there can't be more than five I think.  Anyway, the wild west is the backdrop to this story that's heavily laden with kung fu action.   Don't get too excited because the fu action, while not bad, has way too many clunky moves like reacting to taking a hit too late.  The music isn't good but there's a neat thing done in the big fight at the end.  The fight starts in the town's street before it moves to a river nearby.  For that first part of the fight, the music is accentuated with vocal noises, howls and screams.  That was cool.  Spoiler alert...William Berger's character, Angelo, gets kicked down and then the fight focuses on Chen and the Chinese bad guy until the end of the film.  What the hell happened to Angelo?  In movies like these his character would certainly be killed to pay for his deeds.  I'm not going to lose any sleep over that one.  I'm already thinking about what I'm going to watch next and it's got something to do with a hooker who is happy.

Deadly Trackers (1972)

Original title: La Lunga Cavalcata della Vendetta

Director: Tanio Boccia

Writer: Tanio Boccia

Composer: Carlo Esposito

Starring: Richard Harrison, Anita Ekberg, Rik Battaglia, Furio Meniconi, George Want, Emilio Vale, Dada Gallotti, Omero Gargano

More info: IMDb

Plot: Jeff sets out to murder each one of the five outlaws who robbed, raped and killed his poor sister.

My rating: 4.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Yawn.  Example.  In the first half hour there's a chase (of sorts) of the bad guys chasing a woman on horseback in the desert.  It lasts far too long and the music, which does nothing to build any attention or excitement, is dull and repetitive.  I wouldn't say that that scene represents the problem with the film but it's certainly a real drag on it.  The only thing I thought was interesting was having Jeff (Harrison) makes himself sheriff in the town the bad guys have taken over so he can wait for them to return and kill them.  Even the finale was ho-hum and it didn't help that the time before that was spent in a lull while he and Jane (Ekberg) have tender talking time.  Hell, she's barely in it until at least the last half hour.  It's middle of the road at best but the slow (unintentional, I'm sure) pacing pulls it down.

The Cry of the Black Wolves (1972)

Original title: Der Schrei der Schwarzen Wolfe

Director: Harald Reinl

Writers: Jack London, Kurt Nachmann, Rolf Olsen

Composer: Gerhard Heinz

Starring: Ron Ely, Raimund Harmstorf, Gila von Weitershausen, Arthur Brauss, Angelica Ott, Jean-Claude Hoffmann, Hans Terofal, Catharina Conti, Carl Lange, Alexander Grill, Dan van Husen

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The power and savagery of the Northern wilderness leaps from the screen as only Jack London could describe.

Plot: Mountain man Bill Robin (Ely) battles nature and the bounty hunter hired to kill him for killing another man, only he's innocent.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  Probably not.

I've had a boy/man crush on Ron Ely since I was a little kid in 70s watching him in TV's TARZAN and DOC SAVAGE: MAN OF BRONZE (1975).  He's got that cool, calm badassery about him that few actors possess.  Plus he's about 6'5" so he makes for an imposing dude.  There's a lot to like in this picture besides Ely (even though his voice is dubbed by another actor).  The story, while somewhat simple, has enough going for it that I wasn't bored for a moment and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous (it was filmed in Austria but it sure looks great standing in for Alaska).  The buildings look and feel authentic, inside and out and there's a little gunplay and action spread throughout the film, from beginning to end.  And the ending?  Not bad.  I liked it.  One bonehead reviewer on IMDb said it was the worst movie he'd ever seen.  He must not've seen many movies.  This is definitely worth watching.  I watched a great looking widescreen print.  I'd steer away from anything fullscreen.  The scenery alone deserves better.

The Sign of Zorro (1963)

Original title: Il Segno di Zorro

AKA: Duel at the Rio Grande

Director: mario Caiano

Writers: Guido Malatesta, Luis Marquina, Casey Robinson, Arturo Rigel

Composer: Gregorio Garcia Segura

Starring: Sean Flynn, Folco Lulli, Gaby Andre, Enrique Diosdado, Armando Calvo, Helga Line, Danielle De Metz, Carlo Tamberlani, Mino Doro, Mario Petri

More info: IMDb

Tagline:  Regal's great holiday "U" programme for the masses!  In colour!

Plot: Living in Spain, Don Martinez, the son of an aristocratic mother, receives an invitation from his father, living in Mexico, to come aid him in hi struggle.  His father used his wealth and influence to help free the people from their tyrannical leaders.  Upon arrival, Martinez discovers his father was labeled a traitor and murdered.  This propels Martinez into exacting revenge and continue his father's fight.  Viva la Mexico!

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  Nope.

The story is simple yet filled with enough action to keep things moving at a good pace.  The rousing score gives the picture more momentum than the visuals are willing to part with.  The score is at times too busy and the action on screen can't keep up.  Sean Flynn (son of Errol) brings the physicality to the screen but he fails to deliver even a fraction of his father's charisma.  To be fair, Errol had more charisma than anyone around).  Sean's acting is bland and amateurish but damn if this guy isn't sword fighting (and he's really putting swashing that buckle around with real gusto), tumbling, horse jumping and fighting his ass off.  There are some different and dangerous stunts in this thing.  He certainly gave it that old college try.  The rest of the cast does a good enough job.  It's not a bad picture and it serves its Saturday matinee purpose well.  It is entertaining but it's not likely anything you'd watch more than once. 

Yankee (1966)

Director: Tinto Brass

Writers: Alfonso Balcazar, Tinto Brass, Gian Carlo Fusco, Alberto Silvestri

Composer:

Starring: Philippe Leroy, Adolfo Celi, Mirella Martin, Tomas Torres, Francisco Sanz, Franco De Rosa, Victor Israel, Pasquale Basile, Jacques Herlin

More info: IMDb


Plot: A man referred to only as "Yankee" rides into a dying, desolate town in frontier New Mexico which is completely controlled by a man called the "Grand Cougar." Almost immediately, a battle for dominance ensues.

My rating:  6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Our hero, Yankee, is played by French actor Philippe Leroy and he doesn't have that classic Western face.

But he does a fine job in the role so it didn't take but a few minutes to get used to that mug...that's a few minutes after they finally showed it.  It's probably twenty minutes in that we finally do see his full face as it had been partially hidden until then.  Adolfo Celi (most famous for playing the bad guy, Largo, in THUNDERBALL (1965)) is well hidden under dark makeup, big ass mustache and garb, playing a Mexican.  I didn't recognize him (and I tried to) until the end when he was smiling and in closeup.  Only then did I see the actor I knew from the Bond picture.  The movie isn't bad even though it follows a well-known formula where the nameless good guy shows up in a town run by the bad guy.  He kicks some ass for a while, gets captured, escapes to waste the bad guy.  It's often disappointing when you can smell what happens next before it happens.  Hopefully the movie will overcome the formula and deliver something different or at least fun.  This one is a little better than average and there's not much to it but it is an early film by Tinto Brass and there are some really cool shots.

The print I watched looked fantastic.  It was anamorphic widescreen and nicely dubbed in English.

Halleluja to Vera Cruz (1973)

Original title: Partirono Preti, Tomarono...Curati

Director: Bianco Manini

Writers: Bianco Manini, Ofelia Minardi

Composer: Luis Bacalov

Starring: Lionel Stander, Riccardo Salvino, Jean Louis, Giampiero Albertini, Clara Hopf, Flavio Colomaioni, Camillo Milli, Giancarlo Badessi

More info: IMDb

Plot:  Two con men disguised as Priests get mixed up with Bandits/revolutionaries looking for gold to fund their cause and the Mexican Army.

My rating:  4/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

The print I watched was a horrible fullscreen VHS copy with Greek subs burned in.  I had a hunch this wasn't going to be good.  It wasn't.  I don't know if the Italians loved broad, silly comedy or if its because I'm not watching the right ones that have a better sense of humor but it's too much for me and I like that style of funny...when it's funny.  The story meanders a little and there are spots that feel like filler like when Sam (Stander) and John (Salvino) take the time to deliver a baby in the middle of nowhere.  It's not funny (nor did it look like it was supposed to be) and it didn't add anything to the story.  It was just a few minutes of distraction from their mission to find the gold.  Maybe there's something I missed in the story like it parallels some religious adventure or something.  Beats me.  I wouldn't think you'd need to have some pretext in order to enjoy a goofy Spaghetti Western with only one known actor.  Even Stander's voice was dubbed by another actor.  I'm not sure I've seen much of his movie work (if any) outside of his European output from the 60s and 70s.  There was a brief moment of nudity which is unusual for this genre at that time.  It's a bland film that tries hard enough but the jokes didn't land with me and the pacing was slow.  Watching a nice widescreen print would've helped but probably not much. 

I was hoping for a more enjoyable score from Bacalov.  I listen to A LOT of Spaghetti Western music so I'm familiar with a good deal of it.  I can recognize the tunes, I can probably name the composer based on their style but I'm terrible with remembering any of the movies they go to unless it's the big films that I know very well.  This picture had one track that I knew but with a different arrangement.  I'm thinking of a cue from CHAPAQUA'S GOLD (1970).  I used to play this one on the trumpet (the track used in that film features the horn and it's beautifully played).  In HALLELUJA TO VERA CRUZ it's faster and it's a different arrangement altogether.  Being how it's the same composer from a couple of years earlier, it's understandable how it turned up in this movie but only once.  Another track was a mariachi band tune that I'm familiar with but I can't place the name or the movie it was used in previously.