Du sang dans la montagne

Imagine you have all these ingredients to make a dish. You can do it one way or another but at the end you have to end up with a good meal.

Viewing this movie, for me, was like following a recipe where the instructions we're all mix-up in some weird order.

You have all this elements for a Western. A clear protagonist with motivation and a villian who took advantage of him, the little town in trouble, the cheeky partner, the goon with radical methods and, of course, action (Fist fights, gun fights, showdowns,you name it.). But all this are executed in a weird, poorly and mishandle way. Not all is bad, some plot points and action scenes we're well executed with some shots that can be appreciated.

Thomas Hunter did a decent job as the protagonist but he had two moods, angry or calm. He could've make a better job, like Dan Duryea who's role i believe was misuse. Henry Silva, in another hand, steals the movie. Charismatic, hammy and funny, i ending up rooting for him for all the movie.

Personally, it was a decent view. Nothing great but entertaining nonetheless. Do you like westerns and want to see this? Go for it, I hope you end up appreciating this movie more than me. First western? Look for another title, the're better westerns out there.

I started watching this and thought oh, lord, another howler with every hokey cliché inherent to bad spaghetti westerns. Midway when we see the stunt men grabbing their bellies from feigned gut shots and doing the railing flip to land on their backs on balsa wood saloon tables, one has to wonder if there could be any other way to do it. However the story does develop to reveal some depth to both characters and plot. The clichés endure so don't expect any surprises by the time it's over, but enjoy this period piece as the simple story it was meant to be with a few standouts in the supporting cast roles, if not the lead. There are some memorable items in the soundtrack and the location work cinematography could be called exemplary. The credits state it's a Dino De Laurentis production with much of the shooting done in Rome, which does contradict some of the IMDb data, FWIW. All in all it's the kind of tale that Hollywood had so tired of by the mid sixties they'd have sent it up as a comedy romp with an all star cast cracking one liners- but with admirable humility the spaghetti western production crew delivered this with straight faced sincerity, as if they still believed in what they were doing. Considering that I give it 7 not 6 stars.

Fans of Carlo Lizzani will recognize many subtexts in this film. An interesting take on the sub-sub-genre of Spaghetti Western with a Civil War revenge theme, attempting to reincorporate traditional Hollywood elements, it doesn't lose sight of its Italian inspired roots.

The sets are a little slap dash, but the score and direction make up for it. The current rating on here of 5.6 is way too low. It deserves at least a 7-8 on the all time Spaghetti Western scale.

The sets are a little slap dash, but the score and direction make up for it. The current rating on here of 5.6 is way too low. It deserves at least a 7-8 on the all time Spaghetti Western scale.

An Italian production full of action , exaggerated characters, shootouts and lots of violence . For money, for pleasure, for revenge, he doesn't care why he kills or how ¡ ... A soldier named Brewster (Thomas Hunter) is taken prisoner in Fort Wilson . 5 years later he's freed and sees the atrocity over his family and executes a single-handedly revenge, as he slashes, ravages and murders each person involved in the killing . He is relentless in his vendetta , deadly in his violence. The conflict is a simple one between avenger Brewster , now named Houston, and oppressors, nasties bandits commanded by cruel foreman (Henry Silva) and his chief Milton (Gazzolo), owner of the ranch Mayflower where lives his sister Mary Ann(Nicoletta Machiavelli). Houston/Brewster is only helped by a mysterious vet gunslinger named Getz (Dan Duryea) and May Ann . Meanwhile Houston aids an unappreciated although terrorized town called Austin (Texas) in the process and suddenly finds his little son Tim (Loris Loddi). The town is inhabited by important people as Horner. Then Brewster is submitted a tempestuous trap by a saloon-girl and is caught and he faces the vicious bandits.

It's an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the protagonist Thomas Hunter against the heartless Henry Silva and his hoodlums. Thomas Hunter is fine, he cries, ravages the screen, shoots, hit and run and kills but also receives violent knocks, punches, kicks and wounds . In the film premiere attained bit success , nowadays is best valued and I think it turns out to be a good Spaghetti Western. Henry Silva as a cruelly baddie role is terrific, he bears a hysterical and mocking smile, subsequently the would play similar characters . The film packs violence,gun-play, explosion, high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining. There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shootouts or stunts every few minutes. There are many fine technicians and nice assistants as Goffredo Unger, also secondary , habitual master of arms in numerous Spaghetti Western. Good production design creating an excellent scenario with luminous outdoors, dirty and rocky landscapes under a glimmer sun and a fine set on the Austin town . The musician Ennio Morricone, Lee Nichols, composes a nice soundtrack and well conducted by usual Bruno Nicolai; it's full of guttural sounds, sensible songs and a haunting musical leitmotif. Striking cinematography by Toni Secchi in Technicolor, Techniscope with negative well processed and perfect remastering . Interior filmed at Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica, Studios Rome and outdoor sequences filmed at Spanish outdoors located on Colmenar Viejo, and La Pedriza, Manzanares , Madrid.

Carlo Lizzani's direction -under a pseudonym named Beaver- is well crafted, here he's less thought-provoking and broody and more inclined toward violence and too much action, because he's a expert on serious cinema. Lizzani directed good films as ¨Last days of Mussolini¨, ¨Bandits in Milan¨, co-directed ¨Dirty game¨, ¨The Verona trial¨, ¨chronicle of poor lovers¨ and filmed another S.W. titled ¨Requiescant¨ with Lou Castel, Mark Damon and Pier Paolo Pasolini and today he goes on directing movies. Rating : 6,5, acceptable and passable. The picture will appeal to Spaghetti Western fans.

I'm catching up on old westerns lately. And I must admit I haven't seen many good ones. The John Wayne-"classic" THE SEARCHERS was a real disappointment for example. But this movie is by far the worst I have ever seen in the western-genre. The story is set against the background of the Civil War. Two "buddies" return home with a large amount of stolen money, when they are being caught. One of them(Gazzolo) escapes from the "yankees"(with the money). The other one(Hunter) gets locked away for 5 years. When he is released, he finds out that his "friend" is now the richest and most feared/hated man around. He is also to blame for the death of Hunter's wife. Our hero seeks for revenge, but he stands alone...

The movie is very very bad: the first half might work as a parody, but this is denied by a boring and predictable second half. The acting is really bad, especially by the leads: Hunter is awful as the hero(look out for the scene in which he screams for revenge)and Gazzolo doesn't get much to do either. The only actor I knew in this "film" was Henry Silva and his role(leader of Gazzolo's men) is, to say the least, dynamic, but pointless at the same time. Silva gives an awkward, but often amusing performance. The other performances range (surprisingly) from mediocre to rather good, with Machiavelli as a Catherine Zeta-Jones-lookalike from years ago. Most of the dialogue is dubbed too which can easily be noticed. The music however has some nice moments, but all in all it's by far not enough to cover up for the rest.

If you want a really bad comic(?) western, you might want to see this. Just don't pay any dollari for it. 3/10