D: Leopoldo Savona;
S: L.S., Eduardo di Broschero; C: Julio Ortas; M: Bruno Nicolai; with: Antonio de Teffè (“Anthony Steffen”), Eduardo
Fajardo, Maria Paz Pondal, Fernando Cerulli, Stelio Candelli
Joe
Clifford (Antonio de Teffè) inherits a goldmine from his uncle, situated in the little village
of Landberry. As he arrives to accept
his inheritance, he has to recognize a biting wind blowing there: The town is completely under control of rich and insane
Berg (Eduardo Fajardo), who claims to be the legal owner of the goldmine, because he has bought it just shortly before uncle’s
death. But Joe knows: There are strange things going on, and he decides to stay a while to grill Berg a little bit. Joe’s
suspicion substantiates, as a former employee of his uncle tells him the truth about the “deal” with Berg. Now
Berg incites his gang on Joe, who leaves town because of its plumbiferous atmosphere. Two months later he returns anonymously,
and with the little help of different masquerades, the sottish Doc Klan (Fernado Cerulli) and the personal of Rita’s
(Maria Paz Pondal) saloon he accomplishs his revenge and re-estabishs justice and peace.
I/E 1970
The
Gunslinger says:
And once again we have an above-average Spaghetti-Western by Leopoldo Savona,
who didn’t produce any crap in the genre, as far as I know. The story seems to be a little bit poor and is told just
after an hour. Therefore you see a quite solid showdown between the Berg-gang and Joe’s allies during the last 30 minutes.
To keep tension, Savona has integrated some nice gimmicks, like the bundle of wood, which supplies a
kind of catapult with energy ;-). Fajardo and de Teffè act within their well known stereotypes – the lunatic sadist
and the gunman as cold as marble – but they’re really good as usual in doing this. Fat sounds, a tight atmosphere,
and furthermore Bruno Nicolai has contributed a great score, dominated by fuzz-guitars, trombones and a flute. Especially
the flute parts resemble me a bit at the theme of “Nobody”. Could it be?
Rating:
$$$$-
Bodycount:
ca. 65, 1 woman
Explicit brutalities:
- Clifford is beaten up heavily by the "Bergsters",
because he should forget his inheritance.
Luv’:
0/10
Splatter:
1/10
Specials:
During the final
showdown we see a kind of “car bomb”, a wood-driven catapult, a “fishing rod”, made by dollars and
some yarn, and a mirror
