Black Killer

(1971) Black Killer SPAGHETTI WESTERN DUBBED

Co-written and directed by Carlo Croccolo including a small role as deputy sheriff, that has James Webb (Klaus Kinski) coming and moving into a small town called Tombstone with a load of books. Aside from those books he has some guns hidden inside of them. It appears the criminals of the O'Hara brothers has been terrorizing the town and as a result of the reward poster for the capture and kill of one of them being so small, he goes and murders the deputy sheriff so that the reward would be higher. After that one sheriff is murdered and killed, it is during then Burt Collins (Fred Robsham) comes into town and gets blackmailed to replace that dead sheriff. His actual intention is to visit his brother and see how he is doing living with his native American wife. And of course, he is going to butt heads with the O' Hara brothers.

Although, they are a dime a dozen quickie westerns for a fast buck, I like some for it's uniqueness as this movie is a prime example of it, even though guns hidden in books was done before in other Westerns and so forth, this movie more than overdose it.

This film features good performances by the Italian actresses Marina Malfatti and Tiziani Dini. Bizarrely, although Malfatti is correctly credited in several of the earlier reviews on IMDb, and is also correctly credited on Wkikpedia, the cast list for this title on IMDb has been changed (vandalised) within the last year or so to credit Malfatti's part to a little-known actress named Marina Rabissi. I attempted to correct this some months ago, but the change has not been made. Malfatti looks convincing as a Native American, but the weakest feature of this film is the 'brownface' make-up of some of the Italian actors playing the O'Hara brothers who are the villains of this movie.

I'm a big fan of Spaghetti Westerns, but unfortunately; Black Killer really isn't one of the best. The thing that I like best about this type of film is the entertainment value; and that is where Black Killer unfortunately falls down. The film is likely to be a target for many because of the fact that it stars the great Klaus Kinski, and indeed the actor the helped to make The Great Silence such a pleasure puts in a decent performance amidst a somewhat tedious movie. The plot is all over the place, but seems to have something to do with Kinski's lawyer character (complete with gun concealing books) and a band of Mexicans. The atmosphere is gritty, and the film features a handful of fairly nasty scenes; although it's not nearly as action packed as some of the other Spaghetti Westerns released around the same time. You cant really expect coherency from seventies Spaghetti Westerns, of course, and it really wouldn't be a problem if director Carlo Croccolo had managed to make the action entertaining and the characters interesting; but unfortunately this didn't happen. The title refers to the fact that Kinski dresses in black and goes around killing people; but even this theme has been done better in other films (e.g. The Grand Dual). Overall, someone may get some enjoyment out of this; but in a genre populated by entertaining films; I can't recommend seeing this one.

This exciting S.W. is plenty of zooms , shootouts , double-crosses , thrills , twists and loads of violence and blood . It is an entertaining Pasta western with lots of action , gun-play and fun . The town of Tombstone is at the mercy of the five feared O'Hara brothers : Ramon (Antonio Cantafora or Michael Coby) , Pedro ,Miguel , Ryan & Slide (played by unknown actors) who torture and kill several sheriffs . An expert gunslinger , Burt Collins (Fred Robsham) arrives in Tombstone , when his brother is murdered , Burt is immediately persuaded to take on the duties of sheriff and he then accepts , but he is really seeking vengeance . There takes place a massacre and Burt escapes with the nasty brothers hot on their tail . The tough and rare gunslinger Burt becomes an efficient Pistolero , acting as judge , jury , and executioner . Meantime , the cunning Judge Wilson (Dante Maggio as Dan May) is assisted by a strange lawyer , James Webb (Klaus Kinski), watching mostly in the background and who always carries two large law books with him . Burt helped by the beautiful Indian Sarah Collins (Marina Malfatti) chases the malicious killers and the ending settle disputes by shooting .

This Italian production is a moving S.W. movie starred by Fred Robsham , Klaus Kinski and Marina Malfatti . The film deals with a mysterious stranger , become a new sheriff , who vows to clean up the town of dreaded outlaws ; and it takes on a strange gunslinger against treacherous gang : the O'Hara brothers . This Spaghetti movie gets the usual Western issues , such as greedy antiheroes , violent facing off , quick zooms , and exaggerated baddies . It is an acceptable , passable Western with several titles as ¨Matador Nego¨ or ¨Pistoleiro Negro¨ , or ¨Assassino Negro¨ or ¨Black Killer¨ that contains an interesting and violent plot about a sheriff seeking vendetta . It packs crosses and double crosses , thrills , shoot'em up , violence , and results to be quite entertaining , though drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some pursuits , crossfire or stunts every few minutes . It's a thrilling western with breathtaking confrontation between the protagonist against the heartless enemies formed by a brutal gang of Mexican brothers led by Antonio Cantafora . The main starring is the unknown Fred Robsahm and the popular Klaus Kinski who appears elegantly dressed and with a brilliant look , gaining a reputation for his ferocious talent and equally ferocious temper ; Kinski plays as a strange lawyer who occasionally joins in on the action with his deadly law books . Here he plays with lots of gesticulation and excessive gestures . As he is fine , as he ravages the screen with his peculiar face and using suddenly his hidden weapons . This Spaghetti is made during his Italian period when Klaus starred a lot of Westerns , later he collaborated with Werner Herzog with whom played several prestigious films . They later collaborated on five movies : Aguirre (1972), Woyzeck (1979), Nosferatu, (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982) and Cobra Verde (1987). As Kinski starred numerous Spaghetti such as : Pray to Kill and Return Alive , Black Killer , If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death , Bullet King , Shangai Joe , Clint the solitary , The Ruthless Four , Nevada Kid , The return of Clint , and specially famous resulted to be his acting in ¨For a fistful of dollars more¨ . There is a very odd implementation of shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as well as a lot of twists and turns , as the film approaches its climax , as in the final and the customary conclusion . Atmospheric Eastmancolor cinematography by Franco Villa in WideScreen , though being necessary a good remastering and filmed in De Paolis/INCIR Studios , Italy Elios studios Rome , as usual , and El Lacio . Enjoyable and thrilling musical score by Daniele Patucchi , including catching leitmotif .

The motion picture was middlingly directed by Carlo Croccolo , under pseudonym Lucky Moore , and it was filmed in parallel with another spaghetti western , "Gunman of One Hundred Crosses" , which also was directed and also starred by Marina Malfatti along with Tony Kendall , Jessica Dublín , Mimmo Palmara , Ray Saunders . Carlo Croccolo is usually a secondary actor and occasionally filmmaker , as he has played several films as ¨After the Fox" , ¨In Love and War¨, ¨Three man and a leg¨, ¨Yesterday , Today and tomorrow¨, ¨El Avaro¨, Via Lattea La Prima a Destra , ¨Il Professor¨ , ¨O Re¨, ¨Perdono¨, ¨The Biggest Bundle of Them All" , among others .

Much of the positive that is to be found in "Black Killer" can be found with Klaus Kinski and the character he plays. The cold-eyed Kinski instantly brings in some grit with his charisma, though I have to admit that the unintentionally funny English dubbing for him sounds NOTHING like how Kinski (who could speak English) sounded in real life. There is also some novelty that Kinski is playing a lawyer (!), though one who is handy with a gun. Other positive things in the movie include a good musical score, as well as some good shoot-outs. And there is a significant amount of nudity, which you usually don't see in a spaghetti western. On the other hand, there isn't much of a story here, and the little there is unfolds very slowly. There were a couple of slow stretched where I almost drifted off into sleep. This isn't a bad movie, but I would only recommend it to Kinski fans and/or spaghetti western fans.