Una bara per lo sceriffo

Ravioli/Chorizo Western with a prolific Italian director and two main actors from Spaghetti . It deals with an avenger named Joe Logan aka Shenandoah (Anthony Steffen) who arrives in Richmond town , a location dominated by a corrupt sheriff (Miguel Del Castillo) and a lawyer (Arturo Dominici) . In that place there is a dangerous band led by Lupe Rojo (Armando Calvo) and his hoodlums (Frank Braña , Miguel De Riva) , they carry out bank's hold-up and attack stagecoach and ranch . Lupe Rojo is wanted : ¨5000 dollars , Dead or Alive¨ . Then Joe intrudes himself in the criminal bunch posing as an outlaw .

Offbeat ravioli/tortilla Western follows the Sergio Leone wake , as it is proceeded in Spaghetti models . It's an exciting western with breathtaking gunfight between the protagonist Anthony Steffen against the heartless Armando Calvo and his nasty hoodlums , in addition a stirring ending fight in the saloon and town square . This movie is a lot of fun to watch. It's an entertaining story with a touch of peculiarity , some great characters, and an amazing music score . The picture is a tale of justice and revenge , as a tough man seeks vendetta and his objective results to be a bloody revenge . The basic plot is typical spaghetti western fare , but what makes this movie stand out is its style . Steffen is appropriate in his usual character , he ravages the screen , shoots , hit and run and kills . The picture is well starred by Anthony Steffen . His acting is often accused of being wooden, but in many manners is ideally suited to playing the steely-faced gunslinger synonymous with the genre . His others successes include features as Seven Dollars to Kill, The last Mohican¨, ¨Train for Durango¨, ¨Gentleman Jo¨ , ¨Four dollars for Django¨, ¨Shango¨, ¨Arizona colt¨, ¨Apocalypse Joe¨ and several others . Steffen's performance in the movie is a bit wooden for the role of such an interesting character , but the fantastic performance by the always great Eduardo Fajardo as the slimy, menacing outlaw make up for , here in his ordinary role as bandit and in a cruelly baddie character , he is terrific, and bears a hysterical and mocking aspect , subsequently he would play similar characters . There appears as secondaries the habitual in Spanish/Italian Western such as Frank Braña , Luis Barboo , George Rigaud , Tomas Torres , Santiago Rivero, Miguel De La Riva , among others .

The film packs violence , shootouts , high body-count , full of horse ridding , pursuits and shots and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up 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 , such as in the final gunfights . The movie gets the usual Western issues , as avengers antiheroes , violent facing off , exaggerated baddies and spectacular duels , among them . The sense of pacing is such interesting 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 by expert set designers Cubero and Galicia who designed several Westerns as Spanish as international ones . The musician Francesco De Massi composes a nice soundtrack and well conducted , this turns out to be one of the most memorable parts of the movie; as it's full of enjoyable sounds and haunting musical background . The opening and ending sounds are two of my favorites, and are of those unforgettable tunes that will play in your mind over and over long after the movie is realized . The soundtrack contributes tremendously to the atmosphere of the film, including an emotive leitmotif, the music score is perhaps the best part of this film . Striking cinematography by Julio Ortas , though is necessary a correct remastering . Outdoor sequences with barren and rocky exteriors filmed in Spanish places located on outskirts Madrid , Hoyo De Manzanares and La Pedriza , replacing Almeria . Colmenar Viejo and Hoyo de Manzanares where was built a Western village by the producer Eduardo Manzanos called 'Golden City' and resulted to be the locations in which were shot lots of Western produced and directed by Spanish and Italian and occasionally American people , because Almeria was too far and the landscapes bear remarkable resemblance .

Mario Caiano's direction is well crafted, here he's less cynical and humorous and more inclined toward violence and packs too much action , but especially this thrilling Western contains long shot'em up and violence . He directed this acceptable western , genre in which he would not only excel but one where he would spent much of the rest of his career , as he directed several Spaghetti : ¨Brandy¨, ¨Avenger of California¨ , ¨Ringo, face of revenge¨ , ¨Bullets don't argue¨, ¨Lone and angry man¨, ¨A train to Durango¨. Caiano is a craftsman who has directed all kind of genres as Peplum as ¨Ulisse vs Ercole¨, ¨I due Gladiatori¨, ¨Maciste Gadiatori di Sparta¨ and Terror : ¨Nightmare castle¨, ¨ Eye in the labyrinth¨ and even Pornonazi as ¨Nazi love camp 27¨. Although Caiano 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 . Muddle and uneven Western but will appeal to Spaghetti aficionados . Rating : 5,5 , riotous Western in which there's too much violence , action and enough excitement

The setting is an area in the Wild West terrorised by a violent outlaw gang who have the corrupt sheriff in their back pocket. Into this enters a mysterious loner who takes it upon himself to protect the people against these criminals by joining the gang and infiltrating them from within.

From the above synopsis it should be clear to any seasoned fans of spaghetti westerns that A Coffin for the Sheriff (great title, pretty irrelevant though) is a film with some very familiar plot elements seen in many other entries in the sub-genre. But in fairness, this is a pretty early entry in the Italian western cycle of movies and so these clichés weren't quite as cemented in as they were going to be by the end of the 60's. This one was helmed by Mario Caiano who, like most of his Italian contemporaries, made a number of films in the different popular genres of the given year; the best of the one's I have seen is his impressive Agatha Christie styled giallo Eye in the Labyrinth (1972). With this one, it's really more a case of business as usual, as opposed to an entry that brings anything new to the table. It is one of the sub-sets of spaghetti westerns that fall under the revenge-themed bracket and I thought it essentially delivered its goods in an effective and entertaining enough manner. The star of the show is Anthony Steffen, who seemed to specialise in roles such as this one; he is a fairly limited actor in many ways but fits the persona of spaghetti western anti-hero pretty well it has to be said.

Ultimately, this one is more of the same but more of the same is okay sometimes and it's perfectly acceptable when it's based around an original formula which is so dependable to begin with.

Vengeance-minded stranger Anthony Steffen worms his way into a gang of thieves led by a crooked ex-lawyer and a Mexican bandit in order to find the perpetrator of a previous murder attributed to the gang.

A vivid atmosphere and some great Spanish locations make up somewhat for some rather pedestrian script-writing. Steffan and villain Eduardo Fajardo are always fun to watch too.

Though not really bad, this is still recommended only for die-hard spaghetti western fans.

Director Mario Caiano has done better work, especially in the horror genre.

Shenandoah (Steffen) works his way into a band of highwaymen led by Rojo (Armando Calvo). His initiation consists of hunting down and killing a member of the gang who has 12 bullets while he is only given 2 bullets. When the bandits attempt to rob a wealthy rancher, whom Shenandoah knows, he warns him. The outlaws begin to suspect they were betrayed and commence to rough Shenandoah up. Shenandoah then reveals his true reason for joining the gang; one of them killed his wife and he is there for retribution.

A coffin for a Sheriff is an odd title for this 1965 spaghetti western because there's no coffin - there's a sheriff but his link to a coffin is non-existent. Its other title is much apt as Anthony Steffen is certainly a "Lone and angry Man" as the stranger who ends up joining a cutthroat gang led by Lupe Rojo and there's the usual showdowns, brawls and a vendetta. One beating that Steffen takes is quite brutal for its time. It's an entertaining western, a little slow at times, perhaps, but Steffen's performance, the landscapes and the efficient plot makes this worthwhile.

Sheriff Joe Logan (Anthony Steffen) goes on an undercover mission to find the murderer of his wife. Under the guise of 'Texas Joe', he becomes a member of the bandits who held up her stagecoach. Lupe (Armando Calvo) is the leader and accepts Logan after a special contest. Murdock (Eduardo Fajardo) doesn't trust the new guy and keeps an eye on him. Wilson (George Rigaud, misspelled as 'Rigaut' in the movie credits) is the only one who knows the real identity of Texas Joe, but Lupe is planning an attack on his ranch...

Simple, straight-forward revenge movie, nothing extraordinary, but it delivers perfectly what a genre fan expects. Director Mario Caiano, passed away in 2015, and composer Francesco De Masi were always reliable contributors. Shot in 1965, re-using some locations from "A Fistful of Dollars", this is a rather early Italian western following the big success of that movie. It doesn't feel tired yet, but has some relentless energy and good pace.