El macho

Decent Italian-Argentine spaghetti Western starred by boxing champ Carlos Monzón. While not among the best in the genre and not innovative, it is also far from bad and much better than numerous cheap generic spaghetti Westerns that have been produced in a serial basis in Italy and Spain. Here, Monzón plays two different and phisically identical characters. In the role of a gambler gunslinger turned a scammer he faces a despicable ruthless gang leader played by George Hilton while trying to get back some robbed gold in an adventure in which death is always close, torture is recurrent, and allies cannot be easily trusted. I shall mention that Monzón proved to be a much better actor than other boxers I have watched in narrative movie embarrassing performances, such as Mike Tyson and Joe Louis. This is an exploitation film that has just a brief moment of sexploitation, in the peephole erotic show in the saloon. There are also beautiful scenes with horses, and the movie is well filmed.

As a fan of the violent Spaghetti Westerns I was pretty disappointed in this wanna be! The movie handles the story of "El Macho", a violent gambler who earns his money in 2-day poker games. One day a local sheriff finds out he's the spitting image of the "Buzzard". The perfect opportunity for the arm of the law to replace the "Buzzard" who was recently killed in a gunfight. This way they have the perfect occasion as solution to infiltrate the gang of The Duke. One detail though, the Buzzard wasn't the smartest nor the toughest gang member. He was more like the low life of the bunch everyone picked on. This information didn't suit "El Macho" at all, as a brutal gambler he couldn't take someone picking on him in any way!

The story itself sounds appealing, though the director hits the ball completely in the wrong direction. Instead of delivering a strong original story he serves us a boring and uninteresting plot in a mixture of a totally off beat soundtrack, bad acting and slow motion scenes which will bug the hell out of you while watching this film.

The look of the movie itself is dull and dark, the director must have shot his movie on sun-less days. One of the main characteristics of a Western flick, deserts filled with sweaty cowboys thru a burning sun? Well don't search for it in this picture, you wont find any sweat on their faces or a sunny desert scenes! The scenery in the back drop is mind-numbing and for sure something we've already seen 1000 times before.

The promised violence, which brands most of these typical westerns, is also not to be found. The gun battles are short and you will loose most of the action thru the smoke. I know in that time, firing a gun was accompanied by some smoke of the black powder that ignited though I guess the FX-crew overdid it a little too much!

I guess I hit the ball completely like it should be hit by stating we have a disappointing western flick, which deserves a full 1 out of 10.

Dario/

This movie reminds me of a trip we once took as a family through Oklahoma: Long, boring and interminably forgettable. I am not even going to bother looking up names or dates or facts to try and sound informed. It is a slog from beginning to end with dismal music, a lead "star" lacking any kind of charisma, tacky mid to later 1970s sets & costuming, and action sequences that unfold with a somnabulistic dullness that undermines whatever effectiveness the film may have had. Even George Hilton costumed and made up to look like Christopher Lee as a villain with some interesting dualities cannot save the film, and that is a chore.

The other reviewer is correct -- this movie is a disappointment on a number of fronts. Much of the blame lies with the casting of one Carlos Monzón as the lead, a gambler/gunfighter/would-be lawman referred to as El Macho. Mr. Monzón is not even to blame for his own performance, an Argentinian boxer turned actor who was tragically killed in a road accident in 1995 after leading a colorful life that is more interesting than the entire film (see his bio here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0600406/bio ) and is a textbook example of "gimmick casting" potentially sinking what might have been a passable twilight years Spaghetti Western. While he probably would have made a decent stunt performer or 2nd fiddle action presence, as a lead he leaves a lot to be desired. Lacking the ability to project any kind of emotion or depth, he wanders through the film with the same facial expression and look to his eyes that reminds me of a deer being jacklit by a pair of headlamps.

His technique may have improved over time but here he is about as personable as a plastic action figure doll, which in itself wouldn't have been a bad thing. John Phillip Law is another actor who usually plays the same one or two notes as a character, yet he exudes charisma when compared to Monzón, whom even his leading lady doesn't connect with. Without a lead that can create interest in his dilemma the film relies on it's villain for interest and George Hilton does a fine job channeling Christopher Lee yet the script as written doesn't really give him much to do. About the only thing I can remember clearly is a sequence where he repeats the good old Major Jackson from DJANGO gimmick of giving someone a chance to run for their life before picking them off at the last second, and for a unique touch the film arms Hilton with a flintlock rifle that looks like a blunderbuss.

That's about it though, with the requisite beatings, card games, saloon showdowns, hell bent for leather rides to save the day, and a potentially interesting torture scene where El Macho is stood up on a pair of blocks with a noose around his neck & the bad guys making a game out of trying to pick up a rope to knock them loose while riding on horseback. There are even some downright risqué moments with the leading ladies doing things like taking baths or bedding down with El Macho & some of the extras that injects actual nudity into the film, but if one can't even clearly remember the nude scenes did they really matter? The answer is yes, of course, but since the story never gels they are just smatterings of exploitation to liven up an otherwise forgettable Italian made Western starring a novelty lead who curiously never needs to shave once in the film. If your lead actor in a Western only makes an impression like that you know you are in trouble.

So without even an interesting musical score (synthesizer keyboards?) what are we left with? A clear demonstration of why the Spaghetti Western fad died out and why a few noble attempts to resurrect it failed beyond their individual novelties. Along with a couple of Bruno Mattei films this was one of the last of the Italian Westerns from the 1970s, usually relying on some gimmick (here it's a Hispanic lead actor who was a major sports star) and the injection of exploitation elements to engender viewer interest. Unfortunately the end result is a bit too tame & listless to really amount to much and in my opinion the film is perhaps worthy of it's obscurity. Completist fans of the genre might want to check it out for Hilton's offbeat villain role (look for an extremely rare Greek made video showing the uncensored widescreen print) and to say that they have it in their collection. But one viewing will certainly be enough for most fans, and it isn't every day you can say that about a Spaghetti Western if you love them as much as I do.

4/10