5/10
Mediocre Italian Western with Spaghetti all star cast and full of shots , action and fun
23 August 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Acceptable but middling Western with typical Spaghetti actors as Gerge Hilton and Hunt Powers . A good example of Latino western genre from Italia . It deals with a nasty band under Jarret (Walter Barnes) , being formed by Santo ( Jack Betts or Hunt Powers) , his girlfriend (Sarah Ross) and other hoodlums (Rick Boyd , Salvatore Borghese , Mario Brega). Santo poses as a fake monk , including the San Bernardo's sculpture, to carry out the bank heist . They are wanted ¨Dead or alive¨ , north of the border . The gang arrives in Porland , a little town now dominated by Jarret and his underlings . After robbing they wait for an Indio who is supposed to lead them across the desert to Mexico . The false priest who has his own schemes murders Indio so that the outlaws can't leave the little town . They kill a good Sheriff (Enzo Fiermote) who is Billy's (George Hilton of Sartana series ) brother . Then Billy who is in prison hears his brother was murdered in a gun-down . Billy goes out to avenge his brother and breaks out from jail by a secret corridor to encounter brother's assassin . As Billy , helped by Mark (Jeff Cameron), seeks vengeance against Jarret , while his hoodlums kill , mistreat and harass townspeople . Two nasties attempt to rape a young girl (Katia Christine) but she is helped by Santo . At the end takes places a spectacular gun-down between Billy , Santo , both of whom join forces , against Jarret and his hoodlums .

Offbeat Spaghetti Western that follows the Sergio Leone wake , but it is also proceeded in American models . It's an exciting western with breathtaking gunfight between the protagonist George Hilton against the heartless Walter Barnes and his hoodlums . George Hilton and Jack Betts as starring couple are fine, they ravage the screen, shoot , hit and run and kill . This movie is a lot of fun to watch . It's an acceptable story with a touch of peculiarity, some likable characters, and an amazing music score . The picture is a tale of justice and revenge, as a man escapes after his prison and looks for vendetta . The basic plot is ordinary spaghetti western fare, but what makes this movie stand out is its style . Atmospheric musical score by Luis Bacalov who subsequently won Academy Award for ¨The Postman and Pablo Neruda¨, but here he rips off from Ennio Morricone's Once upon a time in America¨ . Badly photographed , the picture deserves a necessary remastering , as the film-copy is worn-out . Appears as secondaries the habitual in Italian Western such as Rick Boyd , Luciano Rossi, Bento Stefanelli, Umberto Raho ; Mario Brega , Sergio Leone's customary , and the always sympathetic Salvatore Borghese ; furthermore a Eurotrash Goddess as Erika Blanc as Saloon girl. The film packs violence , shootouts , high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up , cat-fights between Sarah Ross and Erika Blanc , brawls or stunts every few minutes. There is a very odd implementation of shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as the film approaches its climax , as in the final gunfights full of shots and explosions and of course lots of zooms . The movie gets the usual Western issues, such as avengers antiheroes , violent facing off , exaggerated baddies , soundtrack with Morricone influence , among them . The sense of pacing is such that his film can be counted on to move quickly and smoothly . Good production design creating an excellent scenario with luminous outdoors, dirty and rocky landscapes under a glimmer sun and fine sets . Interior scenes filmed in Italy , Elios Studios and outdoor sequences with barren exteriors filmed in Almeria , Spain , as usual . This motion picture is professionally directed by Maurizio Luzidi . Although Maurizo couldn't be deemed an "A"-list director, his movies had a professionalism and a verve that many of those made by his fellow B directors lacked . He was a fine editor and also filmed detective thrillers , Giallo , comedy and even a horror film or two . He directed two Western more as ¨Saddle tramps¨ with Bud Spencer and ¨Pecos¨ with Robert Woods , and even made films with international cast as ¨Sweet people¨ with Roger Moore and Stacy Keach and ¨The last chance¨ with Elli Wallach and Ursula Andress . His greatest conquest was the edition of ¨Don Quijote¨ by Orson Welles . Rating : 5,5 . Acceptable , passable but average .
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