Le salaire de la haine

There are some positive things I can say about the spaghetti western "Hate Thy Neighbor". The colorful outdoor location shooting makes the movie look different than the average spaghetti western. The musical score, while not a classic of the genre, is tuneful enough. Eastman and Frank make a couple of charismatic villains. And the action sequences, from the hand-to-hand combat sequences to the shootouts are pretty energetic.

Unfortunately, despite all those positive things, the movie is almost ruined by two factors. One is the hero, played by Spiros Focas. He is not very charismatic, especially when placed before the movie's villains. He is also written to be a pretty boring hero, someone who needs assistance from a sidekick among other things. But a bigger problem is the movie's pacing. Between the (few) action sequences, the movie moves at a sluggish pace, and the story feels very boring.

So if you're not a spaghetti western fan, forget it. Even if you are a spaghetti western fan, don't seek it out. But if you are a spaghetti western fan AND you happen to come across it AND if you are pressed to watch something you haven't seen before... only then should you watch it.

Sure, the lead hero guy here is a bit bland and not given much to do, but thankfully the two bad guys here - George Eastman and Horst Frank, save the film! Maybe director Ferdinando Baldi knew this, as he seems to focus more on Eastman than anyone else. That, and there's a them tune seemingly sung by a pre-op transvestite whose hormone supplements have gone wrong.

26 foot tall Eastman plays Gary Stevens, and when we first meet him, he's riding into town following a guy called Dakota, who owns half a map that leads to a gold mine. After no one in town will help Dakota, and grinning Stevens guns him and his wife down (he doesn't spot their son, however). A local undertaker saves the son and takes him to Dakota's brother, who is also called Dakota.

This, more alive Dakota, starts things off by giving local sheriff Franco Fantasia a good kicking for not helping his brother, but it's really Stevens he's after. Things get a bit complicated as Stevens actually works for evil Horst Frank, and Frank wants that map, but also doesn't want to give Stevens his share - cue double crossings! The good thing about Frank is that he likes to force people to fight each other using huge metal claws. Why I don't know, but it looks cool and it's not something you see often in these films. That's another thing this film has going for it - claw fighting. And explosions.

While it's mostly a kind of run of the mill Spaghetti Western director Baldi throws in enough weirdness to grab your attention (claw fighting!) so it kind of stands out that way. Plus, Baldi also made Warbus so he ain't no fool. Eastman is good as the goofy, laughing Stevens and Horst Frank has a stare that could pierce metal. Needed a better leading man, though.

After "Preparati la bara!", director Baldi made another movie with the same team of villains: Horst Frank as the boss and George Eastman as his right hand man. "Odia il prossimo tuo" is just a minor work, but overall enjoyable. Ken (Spiros Focas) wants to kill his brother's murderer Gary Stevens (Eastman), but Stevens seems to be protected by the powerful Malone (Frank). But when Stevens and Malone become enemies, Ken tries to get his revenge.

The three most memorable scenes of the movie are: 1) at the beginning of the movie, when Ken's brother is desperately knocking on every door trying to find help while Stevens is hunting him. 2) The duel with metal claws instead of knives, quite unique. 3) Malone tortures Stevens, hanging upside down above a snake pit. Yes, it's a violent movie. It suffers a bit from Focas not being one of the familiar (anti-)heroes of the genre, but with Eastman, Frank and beautiful Nicoletta Macchiavelli, some good actors save the flick.

"Hate Thy Neighbour" combines the classic Spaghetti revenge scenario, with the regular Spaghetti "map" tale. The story centres around Ken Dakota's search for the murderer of his brother, who was killed by bandit Gary Stevens, at the behest of Mexican land owner Chris Malone, for a goldmine map. Stevens tears the map in two, and gives Malone half, spiralling into a running feud of double crosses between the two, whilst Dakota attempts to bring the men responsible for his brothers death to justice.

This is a really enjoyable Spaghetti Western, albeit with the odd moment of corny dialogue. It includes some really exciting moments, such as peasants and bandits duelling with metal claws for Malone's pleasure, torture by hanging over a pit of snakes, and some very talented bandito musicianship! My experiences to date have highlighted that Director Baldi can come up with some great movies (Blindman, Viva Django) and some absolute turkeys (Get Mean and, so I've heard, Rita of the West). Hate Thy Neighbour doesn't hit the highs of Blindman by any means, but is certainly an enjoyable view, with George Eastman (as Stevens) and Horst Frank (Malone) putting in good roles, and the plot having some quality twists and turns.

Not the easiest of movies to get your hands on, but certainly worth the effort if you are a fan of the Spaghetti genre.

I gave this movie a 2 only because the dubbing into English was pretty good. Other than that: simplistic, unbelievable and amateurish. I watch these things only for the comic value while wondering why anyone would actually spend money producing it. I like westerns, but they have to have some semblance of reality. Apparently the director invented a whole new way of fighting when the two fighters with the steel hooks would dance around each other covering their faces. Very strange. And it was amazing that so many men could be shot with one bullet and just fall over dead. One even got stabbed in the stomach and just died instantly. Give me a break.