Reviews

In the very earliest days of cheap VHS releases, I bought MY NAME IS MALLORY for less than ten bucks. It was the second VHS tape I picked up, the first being DAY OF ANGER under another title, GUN LAW I think. I never got around to watching MALLORY and it disappeared before I got serious about collecting spaghetti westerns. It's a good looking widescreen film, made at Elios Studios. I recognized a set from DAY OF ANGER, also used in DEATH RIDES A HORSE, the staircase in the saloon unmistakable. This one was not filmed in Ameria, Spain though, exteriors are in the countryside around Rome. Larry Mallory (Robert Woods) buys a ranch along with his partner, Col. Hasper (Renato Baldini). It used to belong to the Amblers, Bart (a very mean gunfighter, and his lovely sister Cora (the luscious Gabriella Giorgelli) and they want it back. Bart is willing to kill and steal to make it so, but Cora is innocent of his deviltry. Bart's main partner is Block Stone (shades of Dash Riprock!) played by Artemio Antonini. He's very good and reminds me physically of Eli Wallach's Tuco. He's a formidable opponent for Mallory and they have a terrific fight which leaves both men out of action for awhile. And the elusive Carla Mancini plays Maria, a maid who pours water on Cora while she's taking a bath. I believe it's one of the few identifiable roles she played. MY NAME IS MALLORY is an elusive movie, but it's worth seeking out. Robert Woods is good as always, although he sports a funky hair-cut in this one. He's a half-breed and I guess the pony tail indicates that. A solid six, spaghetti western fans will enjoy it more than non-fans.

If you are wondering why this was titled Fedra West, it's a not so subtle reference to Phaedra of Greek myth. Wife of Theseus (Clash of the Titans), she fell in love with Hippolytus, son of Theseus. When Theseus found out, it wasn't a happy ending for anyone involved. In this version, filmed in lovely Almeria in Spain, James Philbrook is Don Ramon, a wealthy landowner, Simon Andreu is his son Stuart, and Norma Bengell is Fedra, Don Ramon's wife, who loves his son.

It's a heavy, plot-ridden story without much room for the typical spaghetti situations. The music by Piero Piccioni is among the best the genre has to offer. Philbrook has gravitas and is good in the role, Andreu is adequate, and Bengell is just wrong for the role of Fedra. You just cannot understand why she inspires such passion in either man.

It's okay, but hardly the genre's finest moment. Romeo and Juliet fared much better in THE FURY OF JOHNNY KID. For hardcore fans of SWs only.

Director Muller aka Mulargia obviously looked at Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy and Once Upon a Time in the West, but the lesson he took from them is SLOW STUFF DOWN! The stagecoach chase at the start of the movie takes up about ten minutes of outlaws riding in pursuit, the coach racing along the famous "white" road near Rome, built in antiquity by the Roman Empire. Lots of shooting, guys falling off of horses, wheels turning, horse's hooves clattering in the dust. Later on some outlaws wait outside a bank for some money to come out; they check their guns, look tensely at each other, look at the bank, look at their hostages, check their guns again...this goes on for about four minutes as tension builds...or is it tedium? And of course the hero is captured and beaten while the bad guys laugh. They chortle, cackle, and guffaw with each blow that falls. It goes on too long. Otherwise, this is a competent spaghetti of interest to fans of the genre. Tony Kendall is good as the brooding sheriff Dakota, falsely sent to prison by (among others) Dean Stratford as a leather-clad gunman who doesn't like him. Kudos to the stunt team who do a very good job of falling off of buildings, tumbling down cliffs and looking like they are really being hurt. Music is good, a nice soaring trumpet solo as the main theme. Filmed entirely in Italy, at Cinecitta Studio, no Almeria exteriors for this one.

Brett Halsey aka Montgomery Ford stars in this straightforward revenge saga from Alberto Cardone. He presents a thrilling protagonist, dressed all in black, implacable in his thirst for revenge against the seven men who dishonored and murdered his fiancé and stole the fifty thousand dollars with which they were going to begin a new life. Wayde Preston is one of the seven, in such a small role I expected him to turn up later, but he doesn't. Many familiar faces turn up, including Fernando Sancho and Angel del Pozo, Franco Fantasia and others, locations, some in Almeria, are fine, and the action doesn't lag. Michele Lacerenza provides the music, wonderful trumpet solos that add to the spaghetti ambiance. This is a good one, and fans of the genre will be in pasta heaven.

I just saw a nice widescreen Italian language version of this seldom seen 1971 adventure. It had English subtitles and although the stills I'd seen from this film looked strange and bizarre, the story is very straightforward and accessible. It's very much in the style of the spaghetti western, stars SW staple Tomas Milian as cow loving peasant Espedito, who is outraged at the massacre of his village by Federales (the Brazilian Army in this case). More than that, they killed his cow. He is wounded and rescued by a Rasputin-like hermit who convinces him that he (Milian) is The Redeemer who will lead his people to freedom. Milian buys this line of reasoning and soon has taken over a band of Cangaceiros, bandits, and is on his way to fulfilling this prophecy. A European mercenary convinces him to work for the government by wiping out the other bands, which he does with relish. But the Government wants the oil underneath a village that Espedito is protecting, and havoc breaks loose. Nicely directed by Giovanni Fago, the music is appropriately Brazilian. Milian's get up is right out of carnival and the locations are eye-catching and unique. Not filmed in Almeria, in other words. Definitely worth a look for spaghetti western enthusiasts, and casual viewers will enjoy it too.

KITOSCH, THE MAN WHO CAME FROM THE NORTH stars two of the genre's best known faces, George Hilton as Kitosch, and Pierro Lulli as Major Baker. Also present are Ricardo Palacios and Gustavo Rojo and quite a large cast running, riding, shooting and being shot in the Aldea del Fresno near Madrid, Spain, a beautiful area quite suitable for westerns, resembling the Alabama Hills of California slightly. The story reminded me more of the German Winnetou films than a spaghetti western; red-clad mounties hassling with the locals, bagpipes playing, lots of Indians falling off their ponies, and Hilton and Lulli sparring with each other, neither one evil, but both interested in the gold and the women they are guarding. In some ways Kitosch is a reworking of GUNS OF FORT PETTICOAT, the Audie Murphy western of a few years before. That film was set in the desert; this one is supposed to be Canada, but sure looks like desert to me. There are some funny bits, and Palacios is very good as a French-Canadian trapper who is Kotosch's sidekick. The women look very sixties, and a few of the mounties sure look Italian or Spanish. Jose Luis Merino directed, not quite as well as his later DUEL IN THE ECLIPSE (REQUIEM FOR A GRINGO). Fans of the genre will have a good time as long as they don't take Kitosch too seriously.

I've loved this movie and the music in it for many years. It's about the music culture of Northern Mexico and the southwest of the United States. Stars like Flaco Jiminez and Lydia Mendoza appear along with other Tex-Mex musicians. I loaned it to a Mexican/American friend who was in his early sixties and when he returned it he confessed that it made him cry, because it took him back to his childhood as a migrant worker and things he hadn't thought about for years. To me that is a high recommendation. Even if you don't like this kind of music you'll get a kick out of Los Alegres del Teran playing VOLVER without missing a note in a horse corral while riders jostle them. Great documentary.

Larry Ward is toplined in this low budget Italian/Spanish oater for some reason; he has less screen time than the other male leads, except for Robert Mark, who disappears early on only to reappear toward the end. Ward was an American actor who had quite a few TV appearances, mostly in westerns, and appears suited to play the town storekeeper, or priest, or councilman, hardly a wandering adventurer. Mark has plenty of charisma as Randall, one of a quartet of killers who hole up in a wonderfully dilapidated ghost town, hiding out until they can escape over the border. Ben (Ward) and Judy, recently widowed, ride into town and are taken prisoner by the gang, who enjoy toying with them. Meanwhile the money has disappeared, Braddock (the fine Furio Meniconi), the leader, is growing agitated, and his lover Shelley is looking around for a better deal. This script was the blueprint for the later MATALO! which is virtually identical, with the addition of boomerangs. The remake is a little crazier, with the women dressing like hippies and wild camera-work, psychedelic music, and a Gothic atmosphere, but KILL THE WICKEDS is a good time for western buffs, available on a nice double feature from Wild East, teamed with KILL OR BE KILLED, also starring Robert Mark.

I recently saw a nice widescreen English language release of this DVD and really enjoyed it. First off it's a great travelogue of spaghetti western locations; I recognized locales familiar from FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE and many others, all beautifully shot for maximum effect, Spain standing in for Mexico effortlessly. Second, it's a who's who of Spanish character actors; only Frank Brana seems to be missing of the stalwarts...well, so is Fernando Sancho, but most everybody else is here. Third, the leads all do a good job. Steffen is well cast as Gringo, a down on his luck Americano looking for a break south of the border. Mark Damon puts his shark-grin handsomeness to good use as the mysterious gunman who shows up from time to time to help out our heroes. And Enrico Maria Salerno was a revelation to me as Lucas, Gringo's Mexican sidekick. After seeing his performance I could totally see him pulling off the role of Tuco in THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY; he's sly, grinning, full of life, and not entirely trustworthy. This is an early comedy western, and for once the comedy works. It has some pretty funny scenes which made me laugh aloud, comic characters who aren't just irritating, and the comedy rings true, especially the ending, which I thought was hilarious. If you haven't seen it, you're missing out.

Gilbert Roland was perfectly suited to the spaghetti western; he seemed to GET it, the rituals, pauses, steely glances, the ambiguity of his characters. You're never quite sure of his motives; is he the hero or the villain, on the hero's side or against him? Already elderly when the Italian western made its debut, he was in remarkably good shape and looked a good decade younger than his actual age. He made several Italo-oaters including BETWEEN GOD, THE DEVIL, AND A WINCHESTER, GO KILL AND COME BACK, THE RUTHLESS FOUR, JOHNNY HAMLET,and this one, SARTANA DOES NOT FORGIVE, my favorite of these. He plays Kirchner, a veteran gunfighter who may or may not be an adversary of Uriah Sartana, (George Martin), who is searching for a man, Slim (Jack Elam) who raped and killed his fiancé. Standing between Uriah and his vengeance are the Mexican bandidos led by Reyes who are allies of Slim, and a Mexican rancher, Jose (Alfio Caltabiano) who wants vengeance against Slim for his own reasons. There is the usual maneuvering of gunfighters, a fun Laurel and Hardy-type routine between Kirchner and Uriah with cigarillos being put out in drinks, drinks poured into dishes of food, dishes of food spilt onto boots...they don't mix up their hats, thank goodness. Martin is good as the steely-eyed avenger who typically gets the snot beaten out of him without losing his good looks. Elam is slimier than ever as Slim, who doesn't regret the rape/murder of Uriah's fiancé and even taunts him about her. The lovely Rosalba Neri makes an appearance to get some of her clothes ripped off and instigate a gunfight, and a nicely set up duello at the end will keep you in suspense (even though you KNOW how it's going to come out) and this turns out to be an entirely satisfying entry in our favorite genre. And of course the music by de Masi is outstanding, as well. This cries out for some attention from Wild East or Franco Cleef. The version I saw was from SBS in Australia, nicely letterboxed (if not the O.A.R.) but dialog was in Spanish with English subtitles. Does an English track of this one exist? If not, too bad, because Elam's voice is definitely missed!

Steve Reeves only made one spaghetti western, but it's a good one. VIVO PER LA TUA MORTE was made in 1968, a golden year for the Italian Western, and many of the genre's favorite sons appear in this tale of revenge and redemption, among them Aldo Sambrell, Nello Pazzafini, Spartaco Conversi, and Silvana Bacci. Reeves makes a good western hero, losing his shirt at times to give us a glimpse of his splendid physique; at age 42 he was still in great shape and spends lots of his screen time running, jumping, engaging in fist fights and carrying on like a much younger man. The film's depiction of Yuma Territorial Prison is good also, replicating the feel of the prison remarkably well. A very minor knock is that the pistols are of the John Woo variety, shooting fifteen or sixteen times as needed, particularly noticeable in the prison break. The music by Carlo Savina is outstanding, but that's as usual for this genre. A lesser gem, in a nice package from Wild East including an interview with Mimmo Palmera.

This looks like a pretty low budget effort but manages to move along at a brisk clip and will satisfy undemanding fans of the slasher/gore genre. Production values are okay, and the early part of the movie reminded me of Kevin Smith's early efforts with earthy dialog between male friends featuring scatological punch lines that stretch the R rating. Then the family arrives in town, led by Charlie's son who wants to follow the family legacy; he wants to kill the entire 67 person population of the small town! Most of the family's female members go topless at times, and this would have been perfect fodder for the drive-in days. Performances vary between professional (Gunnar Hansen as a local businessman) and not so much (Hansen's niece Kristen as his daughter). Still, the principals avoid looking at the camera, so this is a cut above flicks such as THE CURSE OF PIRATE DEATH and its ilk. It didn't bore me, I was reasonably diverted, so it gets a marginal recommendation for gorehounds.

Giulio Petroni directed some very good spaghetti westerns during his short career, among them DEATH RIDES A HORSE, TEPEPA, AND FOR A ROOF A SKYFULL OF STARS, and this very obscure 1970 story of intrigue and murder, NIGHT OF THE SERPENTS (NEST OF VIPERS, RINGO KILL) starring the little known American actor Luke Askew and genre regulars Luigi Pistilli and William Bogard. Luke plays Luke, a gringo saved from death in the desert by bandit leader Bogard, whose men treat the Americano like the drunken fool he is. He's been inside a tequila bottle for a long time (later on we find out why) and is chosen to be a sacrifice in a plot hatched by Federale Lieutenant Hernandez (Pistilli). The plot? Kill Manuel, a kid who stands to inherit 10,000 dollars, and all of Manuel's relatives want a piece of it. Askew is good as the drunk, nervously rubbing his lips and eyeing bottles of tequila he can't afford. When he decides to sober up and take a stand the hair on your neck will stand up. The drunk fights like he's ten feet tall, says one of Bogard's men. Chelo Alonso is along for the ride as Manuel's immoral aunt, and the entire cast is good, as is the music by Riz Ortolani. The English track for this was very elusive, finally surfacing in a nice South African widescreen print released by Global under the nonsensical title RINGO KILL. Definitely worth a watch by fans of the genre.

Chuck Connors stars in KILL THEM ALL AND COME BACK ALONE!, not to be confused with GO KILL AND COME BACK by the same director. He's assigned, along with his hand-picked team, to make off with a huge sum of Yankee dollars from an impregnable fort, to thwart the Union buying weapons to defeat the south, Connors' employers. Among his team, the usual: a knife thrower, dynamite expert, the Kid, the strongman. Along for the ride is the Captain (Frank Wolff) who dreamed up the whole scheme. The expected treachery occurs and when the dust settles not too many of the characters are still around to divvy up the loot. Connors is very good in this, although he's not, as one of the prints in the poster gallery boast THE SUPREME American ACTION STAR! Most of the team is played by stuntmen like Ken Wood and Alberto Dell'Acqua and seeing them leap and tumble is part of the fun. Nicely produced, with sweeping panoramas of the Spanish countryside, and with a great score by Francesco de Masi, this one is a lot of fun. The Wild East version is widescreen and in English for the first time, and has an interview with Ken Wood that reveals many interesting facts about the Italian cinema of the 60s and 70s.

I noticed a couple of scenes that were recycled from earlier episodes (Gomez and Fester standing on their heads and Gomez and Morticia fencing) that had new dialog dubbed in. The dubbing was pretty obvious and I've just been watching the collected first season so the scenes were familiar to me. In the first scene when Gomez rolls to his feet, Fester isn't present. I thought that maybe it was something to do with Jackie Coogan not being present, as he'd been absent from the prior two episodes, but Fester shows up later in the show with new scenes, so what goes? I can't imagine that they saved that much money on reusing two scenes like that.

Which is a shame, because this is a great-looking film. Some locations familiar to spaghetti western fans are revisited, the cast is full of familiar faces like Frank Brana and Lorenzo Robledo, and the always charismatic Garko leads the way as Bryan, a decent man crazed by the rape and murder of his wife by renegade Union deserters. No longer a believer in justice he turns against his rescuer, Daniel, the man who dragged him out of his burning house, and takes up a life of crime. Daniel, on the other hand, becomes a sheriff and vows to bring Bryan in. As they say, complications ensue. One of the problems with Taste of Vengeance is that Garko is just too good as the villain; you tend to like him more than Sean Todd (Ivan Rassimov), the good guy, who frankly is written a bit bland. Music is nothing to write home about, and some of the English dialog sounds stilted. Garko gets crazier and crazier and by the dramatic shoot out at the end I really didn't care too much how it ended up. One point; at the beginning Bryan takes a bullet to the stomach as his home is invaded. He passes out and when he wakes up, having been rescued by Daniel, his wound is miraculously healed, and never mentioned again. Sloppy film-making, but partially redeemed by a strikingly filmed ending. For SW enthusiasts only.

Sean Todd (aka Ivan Rassimov) stars in this little known spaghetti western as Cjamango, one of the countless Django-like gunfighters who roamed the Italian west. He's seeking a gold treasure that he won in a poker game which was immediately hijacked by El Tigre and Don Pedro (Pierro Lulli and Lorenzo Livion). Helping him along his way is the mysterious stranger Clint (Mickey Hargitay), an orphan (Giusva), and the beautiful Pearl (Helene Chanel). This one has a higher body count than usual, and among them are some of the good guys. Chanel rather resembles Rada Rassimov (Ivan's sister) who played Maria in THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, but contrary to rumor, they are not one and the same. Livion is the guy underneath the pillow in a scene he shares with Lee Van Cleef in that movie, so the film abounds with spaghetti veterans. The music is great, trumpets and guitars, and the final scene is nicely choreographed. One of the best middle-grade Eurowesterns, and a nice widescreen transfer by Wild East.

As a long time fan of Eurowesterns, I'm inclined to find something of value in even the most pathetic of efforts. THREE SILVER DOLLARS, though, took me two sittings to get through. It's an average film at best, with very little to recommend it except to the die-hard SW fan. Charles Southwood stars as Alan, one of his first roles, and it's easy to see why he was chosen as the lead; he's handsome in a traditional movie way, blonde, even features, a touch of charisma. He looks like a slighter Richard Harrison, and should have been better as a star of westerns; perhaps he just wasn't that interested in a film career. Julian Mateos is okay as Hondo, a Mexican cell mate of Alan's who wants to team up with him on his search for the gold, the three bucks in the title being the key to the treasure. There is an okay theme song which is used again and again, and Mirko Ellis rants and raves as the villain, the mysterious El Condor. The dubbing is particularly bad on this one, as the love interest, a half-Mexican girl, sounds like a street-wise film noir broad. Also, incredibly, the line "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" is used seriously. I guess it's a sign of a bad movie when the best thing about it is the silver dollar props they used. Southwood is seen to much better effect in SARTANA'S HERE; TRADE YOUR PISTOL FOR A COFFIN, teamed up with George Hilton.

This rather American-looking spaghetti western has an unusually large German contingent in the cast; Pinkas Braun as the crippled brother, Gerhard Riedmann as the devoted neighbor, and of course the lovely Marianne Koch (A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS) as Julie, Clint's distant wife. Also, it looks as if it was filmed in Bavaria, standing in for Wyoming. In keeping with its SHANE roots, George Martin (very good here) is Clint, a notorious gunslinger, trouble following him everywhere. All he wants is to settle down with his wife and son (who doesn't remember him), but he rides into a range war. The Shannons, led by pa Walter Barnes and their foreman, the great Fernando Sancho, want the valley for their grazing herds. The farmers and small ranchers don't want to leave. Sound familiar? Into this scenario rides Clint, promising his wife he will leave the violent life behind. Complications ensue. This one's pretty good. Wild East has put together two prints, and some of the lines of dialogue here are in German, subtitled in English. The print is nicely widescreen, if not the exact o.a.r., and a nice picture gallery of posters of the film round out the package. This one is especially recommended to the fan of pasta oaters, but all western fans should get a kick out of this winner.

Shango is a typical Anthony Steffen spaghetti western, beautifully photographed with great music, lots of sweaty Mediterranean actors posing as Mexicans, bad dubbing, and a sneering Eduardo Fajardo as a Confederate Major who is reluctant to see the south go down in defeat (a staple of these pasta oaters!). Lots of gun play, hurtling stunt men, put-upon villagers, and the reliable Steffen as Shango, a Texas Ranger who just wants folks to believe that the war is over. Good production values, great sets, fine music and lots of action make this one a winner, if you like spaghetti westerns. Franco Cleef's restoration is fine with only an unavoidable slight hiss on the soundtrack.

The main conceit of this psycho-killer thriller is a good one. The Mexican government, circa 1960, desperately wants to win a gold medal at the Olympics, so they "disappear" the top four Mexican wrestlers and assemble from them the perfect wrestler...with superior wrestling skills, but unfortunately, warped by the process into a maniacal, murderous mat-man. He is stashed in a secret government facility, and forgotten. Enter our protagonists, Jimbo (Zack Bennett), Steve (Jeremy Radin), Dallas (Leyla Razzari) and a few others, in Mexico to film a cheap porno film. They stumble upon the town where the forgotten facility was, and Steve (a wrestling fan) recognizes it as the final repose of El Mascarado (Rey Misterio Sr.). Mayhem ensues. This is a good attempt to create a franchise character ala Freddie Kreuger or Jason Vorhees. The masked wrestler is inexorable and has superhuman strength. The victims struggle, with various success amid the great sets, outstanding in a low budget film. It's filmed with considerable flair, and the characters survive according to the skill of their portrayals. If you like slasher flicks, masked wrestler movies, or are just a fan of well made low-budget films, check this one out.

This episode is interesting from an historical point of view; the murderous family, the Bleecks, are obviously intended to be the Benders, the infamous predatory family who preyed on travelers in 1870s Kansas. The m.o. is the same in this episode--unwary men are lured into relaxing at the B's dinner table, which is backed by a canvas tarp, and at some point the father bashes them in the skull with a hammer. The victim's belongings are ransacked and the body is hidden. Historically, when they were discovered, the family disappeared. Rumor has it that they were "disappeared" by a mob who didn't want to wait for justice, but in the Big Valley universe they reappeared as "The Bleecks" and own an inn where two of the Barkley brothers visit. Good episode, great sixties TV.

I kind of liked this slow-moving western, filmed in Spain's Almeria region. Technically this is a spaghetti western, a USA-Spain co-production, although only the location and one of the stars have any sort of Euro-Western pedigree. The music, by Janice Ian, is about as far from Ennio Morricone as you can get, although some of the banjo plunking is appropriate. Pernell Roberts is very good as the Marshal, after fugitive Julian Mateos (THE HELLBENDERS, RETURN OF THE SEVEN) who robbed a bank during which a teller was killed. Along for the ride are slimy Pinkerton man Brown played by Leslie Nielsen in a rare villainous role, and lovely Sue Lyon as Mateos' fiancé, who wants to see him brought in alive. They ride and ride, then ride some more, and finally pause for a brief action scene, then ride back the way they came, but now they're low on water. It takes patience to watch, but the actors keep our interest, and I was pleased by the ending. As half of a dollar DVD I felt my fifty cents was pretty well spent. Two puzzles though, all the listings for this flick say 1971 but the titles at the end claim 1968. I tend to believe the titles. Also, the version I saw bleeped the word whore when it was spoken, several times in the first few minutes. I wonder why?

This was quite an event for a fifteen year old boy in 1967! Hammer Fillm fans tuned in and we weren't disappointed, with Lee as a dapper scientist, Frank N. Stone, who just happens to be involved with creating robot duplicates that are indistinguishable from the real thing. This one has thrilling scenes of Lee lumbering about the countryside, stalking people who are using radio-controlled toys, drawn to the frequency and bringing a fistful of violence with him. Great fun, Emma is lovely and spunky as ever, Steed polished and urbane, and if it's not the best episode, nor even in the top ten, it's still essential viewing for any fan of horror cinema or this wonderful show from TV's golden age.

Directed by Norm McCabe, an animation director I'm unfamiliar with, this early Porky Pig effort is pretty poor; not only is the animation sloppy, with Porky occasionally gliding against the background as scenes start, but the sense of humor is very early forties, with references to radio shows of the time that will be lost on today's viewers. Also, Friday is an unfortunate racial caricature, common at the time but jarring by current standards. The biggest problem though, is that the cartoon just isn't funny. This one along with several other early Warners efforts is available on one of those one dollar dvds, mostly efforts from 1941, and the only trait they share is the racial characterizations which would keep them from being shown today.