Vengeance Is Mine (1967) Poster

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7/10
Violent and tragic Spaghetti with unexpected final and ordinary actors as Gianni Garco and brief appearance by the great Fernando Sancho
ma-cortes5 July 2011
Nice Italian Western with sad atmosphere ,full of feeling ,wonderful musical score and special appearance by the great Fernando Sancho . This is a very entertaining SW from Giovanni Fago and the prolific western and horror screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi. ¨For one hundred thousand dollars per killing¨ deals with two brothers hate until death since one of them killed their father. The film is set during American Civil War . As the bastard brother is a bounty hunter named Johnny Forest (Gary Hudson or Gianni Garco , usual player on Sartana personage , another famous hero of S.W. )and swears to chase his brother(Claudio Camaso) who is a rebel confederate . Clint Forest has one hundred thousand dollars reward and is wanted : ¨Dead or alive¨ and then he double-cross his band ( Carlo Gaddi, Bruno Corazzari) led by evil Jurago (Piero Lulli) . Johnny Forest, tries to carry out his mother's dying wish that he brings in his outlaw brother, Clint, alive. On the run from Jurago, a former pal he has betrayed , Clint accepts Johnny's help, and agrees to surrender . But his lover ( Claudie Lange))is kidnapped and Forest seeks vengeance .

Acceptable twilight Spaghetti Western with interesting dialogue by the usual Ernesto Gastaldi , splendid cinematography by Federico Zanni and memorable musical score by Nora Orlandi . It's a typical Spaghetti Western in which blends the common scenarios , as invincible and tough antiheroes, difficult and fast showdowns with numerous deceases , impulsive and quick zooms , lots of action , musical score with Morricone influence .The film follows the usual SW plot of an arrogant character that takes on more than he can handle, is humbled (beaten, shot, hung) before he either changes certain elements of his character or learns the secret necessary to ultimately succeed. Ernesto Gastaldi isolated this basic plot in most of his westerns and utilized to again in this movie .

The picture has a certain remembrance to ¨100.000 dollars for a massacre¨(by Romolo Guerrieri) regarding the avenging theme and including Clint Forest character well played by Claudio Camaso , who subsequently committed suicide , he bears remarkable resemblance to his brother Gian Maria Volonte , furthermore Claudio Camaso holding physical likeness and similar playing . Besides, good set decoration filmed in Elios studios and of course Almeria (Spain) . ¨Ten thousand dollars blood money¨ was shot at the same time to ¨For one hundred thousand dollars per killing ¨ with similar artist and technician team and also starred by Gianni Garco , Claudio Camaso and Fernando Sancho . The motion picture finely produced by Mino Loy ,Luciano and Sergio Martino brothers is well directed by Giovanni Fago who also made other S.W. as ¨One more to hell¨ that also starred Claudie Lange , Carlo Gaddi with music by Nino Fidenco and ¨O Cangaceiro¨. Fago had collaborated with Gastaldi before on Vengeance Is Mine (1967) and the next year would direct the Tomas Milian vehicle O Cangaceiro¨ . Rating : Better than average Spaghetti Western .If you are into Italian westerns, you won't be disappointed by this movie
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5/10
Familiar spaghetti western story
Leofwine_draca15 January 2018
Warning: Spoilers
$100,000 FOR A KILLING is a familiar spaghetti western story about a couple of brothers fighting against the odds and against adversity. The film's clean-cut hero Gianni Garko is spurred into action at the outset when his dying mother commands him to bring his estranged outlaw brother to book. Doing so spurs a plot into action that sees the two men grappling with and pursued by the usual guys with vendettas and the like. This bright picture has a small atmosphere of nostalgia and regret and is punctuated by solid action sequences, even if the whole thing is a little bit too unremarkable overall.
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7/10
Darkness in the Italian West
BandSAboutMovies12 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Per 100.000 dollari ti ammazzo (Will Kill You for 100,000 Dollars) was also released as For One Hundred Thousand Dollars for a Killing and the title that it has in this Arrow Video set, Vengeance Is Mine.

It's a big film in the life of star Gianni Garko, who met Czechoslovakian actress Susanna Martinkova while making this. She'd be married to him from 1973 to 1986 and they have a daughter named Maria Clara.

Director Giovanni Fago is billed as Sidney Lean here. Before this film, often using the name John M. Farquhar, he'd work as an assistant director on films like Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory, The Loves of Hercules and Massacre Time. It was written by Ernesto Gastaldi, whose resume boasts some of the most important films in Italian genre cinema, including All the Colors of the Dark, My Name Is Nobody, So Sweet... So Perverse, The Whip and the Body and so many more. His co-writer? Sergio Martino!

John Forest (Garko) has had a rough life. Ten years in prison for a murder he was innocent of committing, a brother named Clint (Claudio Camaso) who kicked him out of the family when it turned out he was illegitimate and now working as a bounty hunter. And oh yeah, that murder? When their father tried to bring John back home, Clint gunned him down like a dog and said his brother did the deed.

John's mother dies just as a bounty on Clint's head is named. She has a dying request for her son: Clint is to be brought to justice, but not killed. But if there is a gunfight between the brothers, John can't fire the first bullet.

As always in the Italian West, the lure of happiness -- a life for John with Annie (Claudie Lange) and her son -- isn't as strong as money, blood or vengeance. She tells him that they could have a life together. He replies, "Sorrow and hate just don't mix with happiness, Annie."

It's intriguing that this film is in the same set as $10,000 for a Massacre, as they share leads, writer and composer Nora Orlandi. Garko is a bounty hunter in both; Camaso is his bounty. The difference is that in this film, Garko's morals aren't in question. This is more of a tragedy, as the divide between brothers has led to a decade in prison for one and dissolution into darkness for the other. Both movies also are tragic for anyone who tries to make a life with Garko's characters.

When watched one after the other, they make for an interesting study in how violence and retribution in the world of the Italian West destroys the lives of its heroes.
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8/10
Cain/Abel Western with Flashbacks
lostinaction8 February 2009
Fans of Italian Western will know Gianni Garko (aka Gerry Hudson) as Western Hero Sartana in many of his later movies. The first scene with the wonderful Fernando Sancho will remind you on Sartana but this time Gianni Garko will be another main Character. In "Per 100,000 dollari ti ammazzo" he is Johnny Forest (in some alternate Version round the world Django) a man who was accused to have killed his father by his brother. After years in prison he became a bounty hunter and his brother an outlaw. Johnny Forest chases his brother. The background to the Cain/Abel story is set place during the civil war. There are several interesting scenes including brutality of war and melodramatic sequences. As there are some flashback scenes and some atmospheric scenes in a ghost town. These flashbacks are the highlights of this movie and important for the story of the main characters. Overall the music score is very good but in the flashback scenes a bit too overwhelming.

If "100.000 dollari ti ammazzo" will remind you on another western with Garko you probably have watched "10.000 dollari ti un massacre". More or the less the same cast was used in both movies. If you would like to see a Western with full time action and cynical one liner all the time this one isn't really for you. There are of course several shootouts but not as much as in other contributions. The mixture of action and drama is well balanced. Watch out for the duel it's outstanding for a Western. The revenge with a gold treasure might be not unusual for this genre but with all these dreamlike flashbacks from the main character it's a fresh look.

If you are looking for Westerns from Italy with lesser Action but more Story and atmospheric scenes "100.000 dollari di ammazzo" should be for you.
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4/10
your basic B movie
lee_eisenberg3 June 2016
The spaghetti western is generally an enjoyable genre. Whether it's Clint Eastwood shooting bad guys, Franco Nero standing tall, or Lee Van Cleef being an all-around tough guy, there's plenty to like in these movies.

Unfortunately, even this genre has its low points. Nowhere is that more apparent than with Giovanni Fago's "Per 100.000 dollari ti ammazzo" (called "Vengeance Is Mine" in English). Although it has an interesting plot, the action takes too long to get going. The end has a lot of fun, but they could've trimmed fifteen to twenty minutes off of the movie. I recommend sticking to either Sergio Leone's movies, the Django series, or the Sartana series.

For the record, although John Wayne's movies usually get treated as the great westerns, the real masterpieces are Arthur Penn's "Little Big Man" and Robert Altman's "McCabe and Mrs. Miller".
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