Odia il prossimo tuo

"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.

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.

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.

Along with the town undertaker, a Man follows his brother's killer (George Eastman) to Mexico, where sinister (and I mean sinister!) gringo Horst Frank forces his Mexican slaves to fight to the death using steel claws. Frank then sets his sights on Eastman's secret goldmine, holding him captive and torturing him until the justice seeking brother comes to take him away.

A fairly standard revenge plot is helped along nicely by some interesting ideas, unusual developments, and some fairly graphic violence, keeping things exciting and entertaining throughout.

Due to the crackpot nature of some of the film's plot elements, this seems more like a drive-in movie than a spaghetti western.

Horst Frank is a lot of fun to watch as the deranged, yet urbane bad guy, while George Eastman is good and nasty too. However, the hero is too bland and cardboard. You don't really feel anything about him, one way or another.

This Eurowestern has a solid revenge storyline that holds your interest from start to finish. Horst Frank is fantastic in the role of the cool as a cucumber villain Chris Malone. George Eastman also gives a great performance as Malone's enforcer/partner. The score is typical of the genre, which to me, since I really dig spaghetti western music, means that it is excellent even if it doesn't rank among the very best. There is a little bit of that annoying kind of unfunny comic relief in this one, but thankfully just a very small amount. The overall feeling here is brutal and dark. And it has a bit of that spaghetti western strangeness that I love so much. I would have given this movie a 7 1/2 if I could have. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's great even if it isn't "one of the greats." I highly recommend it if you are really into these movies like I am.