Ciakmull, le bâtard de Dodge City

Starting with the very first scene, this flawed masterpiece of pastaland gunslingin' grabs your attention and keeps it locked in until the final, intricately choreographed shootout.

When some bank robbers set fire to the local nut-house to create a diversion, four inmates manage to escape and take in on the run. One is an amnesiac who is searching for his identity and in the process the four find themselves on the trail of the bank robbers. The trail leads to a town where Chuck Mool's family is located, but who are they? And why is everyone in town deathly afraid of him?

The plot outline may not sound like much but this top-notch spag is excellently made with great camerawork, a well written script, exciting, intricately choreographed action and hell, even the costumes and sets are done with style.

It's not just plot that makes a classic spag, but character bits, atmosphere and action, and this one's got it in spades. One of the more amusing character moments is when Eastman finds Strode in the local church cheerfully playing the organ and singing hymns while an exhausted preacher, in fear of his life, is madly pumping the instrument.

From blazing infernos and barroom brawls to cat n' mouse gunfights in dark cemeteries this one is a winner from the first frame. Too bad nobody seems to know about it.

The script for this revenge western manages to avoid most pitfalls that threaten most run of the mill productions of the genre. The story of four men, escaped from a lunatic asylum, helping a friend of theirs to revenge himself on the man who almost killed him gives room to the usual nonsensical duels and shootouts. It is here, however, that truly inspired camerawork leaves us breathless. The antics of the four men bring a healthy dose of humor and diversity to the script and director Enzo Carboni knows how to bring out their different characters. As is often the case, an American actor is hired to make the film more attractive for the US market. Gun for hire this time around is Woody Strode, who visibly has a lot of fun playing the simple but loyal brute. A hugely enjoyable spaghetti western, then, from the man who brought us the Trinity films starring Terence Hill.

This film begins in Dodge City where a heavily guarded wagon carrying gold to the local bank gets ambushed by some outlaws who set fire to a nearby mental institution to create a distraction. Although most of the inmates perish in the fire, four of them manage to escape and head out in the same direction as the outlaws. However, although three of the inmates want to get their hands on the gold, the fourth one by the name of "Chuck Mool" (Leonard Mann) has been stricken with amnesia and believes the town these outlaws are heading for holds the answers to his identity. What he doesn't know is that some of the people in the town remember him all too well and have their own private scores to settle with him once he arrives. Now, rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an okay Spaghetti western managed to pass the time fairly well all things considered. Admittedly, I didn't care too much for the ending but even so it wasn't a bad film overall and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

This spaghetti western might have been the germ of inspiration for the movie "Four of the Apocalypse", which came out five years after this one. (Though both movies only have a few minor similarities in the end.) Anyway, while "Apocalypse" has in recent years been rediscovered and acclaimed, this one has mostly been forgotten. To a degree, this is understandable. As others here have pointed out, the movie is quite slow, not only taking a very long time to set up the plot and characters, but also that the last third of the movie drags at times. Strangely, even though the movie doesn't have all that much plot elements, not only are most of the members of "the unholy four" not fleshed out well, there's at least one plot thread that's unresolved at the end.

But despite the sluggish pace, the movie does have its share of rewards. While there isn't a terrible amount of action, what there is (ranging from gun fights to fist fights) actually packs some punch, thanks to the skillful direction and editing. The musical score, while a little repetitive, is upbeat and pleasing to the ears. And while the movie is often slow and uneventful, it's a credit to the filmmakers that all the same things never get downright boring. While the movie isn't really all that memorable - I'm sure I'll eventually forget everything I saw in it - it does manage to engage and entertain the viewer while he or she watches it.

E.B. Clucher is the pseudonym of Enzio Carboni. He is the director responsible for the Trinity westerns featuring Terence Hill. This spaghetti western is a notch above most of the Italian run of the mill flicks. It has a decent plot that does away with the pitfalls of most ordinary revenge westerns. The characters that befriend Ciakmull are a bunch of escaped looneys and their antics heighten the entertainment value a lot. The silly duel myth is kept alive here but when the bullets start flying the spectators are treated to spectacular and inspired camerawork. In genre films it is always nice to be treated to a familiar face to give the product some, often much needed, touch of class. In this film that honor lies with John Ford regular Woody Strode. This excellent athlete turned actor plays a simple but loyal and brave buddy to the bewildered hero. One cannot say there is one single original idea in this spaghetti gunfest, but when served up hot and spicy like this it's sheer pleasure to watch.