Ammazzali tutti e torna solo

If you like cheese the chance is great that you watched one of the movies of Enzo G. Castellari without knowing or remembering his name - like every good Italian director in the 60s up to the 80s he directed a lot of different movies in different genres - be it war, horror, adventure, sci-fi, or some Spaghetti western. A broader audience outside of Italy may know such "gems" like Striker or The New Barbarians among a few others. Ammazzali tutti e torna solo (Kill Them All and Come Back Alone) is one of this contributions to the Western genre and a fun one: a solid production, some well known faces of B-movies of that era and a lot of shooting and killing. The story is a kind of commando movie set in the time of the Civil War in the USA spiced up with some humor and cool guys on the loose and we witness maybe the first panzerfaust ever in action. For sure not to be taken seriously, this one is a fun and entertaining piece for the right kind of audience: nothing more and nothing less. In my youth I loved such kind of movies a lot. Good.

I always reckoned Chuck Connors just came along ten years too late to be a "Tarzan". He has precious little acting ability but would have been great rolling around in a loin cloth, or swinging through the trees with a knife between his teeth. Well, to be fair to that image - it's sort of what he ends up doing here in this very routine spaghetti western. He is "Clyde" who is charged with pinching an huge gold consignment being held by the Yankee army during the American civil war. Allied with half a dozen pretty disparate cutthroats and an even more duplicitous union captain "Lynch" (Frank Wolff) we now follow their escapades as betrayal begets betrayal and killings become routine as they search for the loot. It's all very cheap, cheerful and predictable - and Connors must have a jaw made of wrought iron. Francesco De Masi is no Ennio Morricone so we haven't even a quirky or original score to rely on to help this as it limps along to a denouement that matters not. The production - especially the editing - is really basic, but it might have worked better had the cast, dialogue and story been a bit more robust. As it is, though, well it just passes the time, that's all.

No pun intended - Enzo G ... anyone who cares about Western movies is aware of this name. Really into them that is - because yes anyone knows Sergio Leone (or John Ford and many other people who made their name in the Western business) ... but Enzo? Almost like a litmus test to see if you really are a fan - only slightly kidding here by the way.

The movie is quite fast paced - although it also has a few passages, where you may question why the movie ... well moves slowly. And depending on your moral code ... you may take issue/offense with how the characters are portrayed. Especially our main character ... but it is a movie. So lack of emotion (morally speaking) is probably a good thing ... if you want to survive and not be counted to the all of the title ... a lot of action, a lot of hand to hand combat/fighting too. A bit aged, but surely top noth at the time it was made - and nothing that should deter you or take any of the fun you can have away. Just be sure you know what this is ... and hopefully you're also a fan of Western ... I did mention this already, right?

In 1864, mercenary Clyde McKay leads a squad of determined daredevils tasked with a dangerous mission by Captain Lynch of the Confederate high command: to infiltrate and raid a Unionist army fortress where a million dollars in gold has been hidden in boxes of dynamite.

A single Colt bullet could send the whole treasure sky high but for these scoundrels - Lynch the killer, Deker the dynamite specialist, Hoagy the hit man, Blade the knife expert, the vicious Kid and Bogard with his brute strength - nothing is impossible. Only madmen could pull off such a job, piercing the enemy lines at the only river crossing and creating a diversion for the garrison where the arsenal is situated.

But before long the betrayals begin as the men attempt to double cross each other in order to take the money for themselves in this bloodthirsty Civil War tale of revenge.

The plot and characters are straightforward and simple to the point of being cartoonish - which it is meant to be. A hard-boiled collection of scoundrels, each with their own lethal skill, plan a daring heist of a hoard of gold from a desert fortress during the Civil War. And as expected, Double crosses crop up, well they captured and learn that the mastermind backing the heist is playing both ends against the middle. There's not much depth in the story nor has it any subtlety or suspense - it's just non-stop action, stunts, gunplay, combat, heroic last stands and betrayal. The stunt work is amazing, the action set pieces are well thought out and the terrain of Almeria in Spain are as cruel as the double crosses. Chuck Connors fits the SW mould really well - pity he didn't do much more. The rest of the cast is good. Having said that, the morally bankrupt and greedy characters can be shallow, nihilistic, and there's no one to root for, unlike in traditional westerns of the 40's and 50's.

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.