Ravioli/Chorizo Western with a prolific Italian director and two main actors from Spaghetti . It deals with an avenger named Joe Logan aka Shenandoah (Anthony Steffen) who arrives in Richmond town , a location dominated by a corrupt sheriff (Miguel Del Castillo) and a lawyer (Arturo Dominici) . In that place there is a dangerous band led by Lupe Rojo (Armando Calvo) and his hoodlums (Frank Braña , Miguel De Riva) , they carry out bank's hold-up and attack stagecoach and ranch . Lupe Rojo is wanted : ¨5000 dollars , Dead or Alive¨ . Then Joe intrudes himself in the criminal bunch posing as an outlaw .
Offbeat ravioli/tortilla Western follows the Sergio Leone wake , as it is proceeded in Spaghetti models . It's an exciting western with breathtaking gunfight between the protagonist Anthony Steffen against the heartless Armando Calvo and his nasty hoodlums , in addition a stirring ending fight in the saloon and town square . This movie is a lot of fun to watch. It's an entertaining story with a touch of peculiarity , some great characters, and an amazing music score . The picture is a tale of justice and revenge , as a tough man seeks vendetta and his objective results to be a bloody revenge . The basic plot is typical spaghetti western fare , but what makes this movie stand out is its style . Steffen is appropriate in his usual character , he ravages the screen , shoots , hit and run and kills . The picture is well starred by Anthony Steffen . His acting is often accused of being wooden, but in many manners is ideally suited to playing the steely-faced gunslinger synonymous with the genre . His others successes include features as Seven Dollars to Kill, The last Mohican¨, ¨Train for Durango¨, ¨Gentleman Jo¨ , ¨Four dollars for Django¨, ¨Shango¨, ¨Arizona colt¨, ¨Apocalypse Joe¨ and several others . Steffen's performance in the movie is a bit wooden for the role of such an interesting character , but the fantastic performance by the always great Eduardo Fajardo as the slimy, menacing outlaw make up for , here in his ordinary role as bandit and in a cruelly baddie character , he is terrific, and bears a hysterical and mocking aspect , subsequently he would play similar characters . There appears as secondaries the habitual in Spanish/Italian Western such as Frank Braña , Luis Barboo , George Rigaud , Tomas Torres , Santiago Rivero, Miguel De La Riva , among others .
The film packs violence , shootouts , high body-count , full of horse ridding , pursuits and shots and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes . There is a very odd implementation of shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as the film approaches its climax , such as in the final gunfights . The movie gets the usual Western issues , as avengers antiheroes , violent facing off , exaggerated baddies and spectacular duels , among them . The sense of pacing is such interesting that his film can be counted on to move quickly and smoothly . Good production design creating an excellent scenario with luminous outdoors , dirty and rocky landscapes under a glimmer sun and fine sets by expert set designers Cubero and Galicia who designed several Westerns as Spanish as international ones . The musician Francesco De Massi composes a nice soundtrack and well conducted , this turns out to be one of the most memorable parts of the movie; as it's full of enjoyable sounds and haunting musical background . The opening and ending sounds are two of my favorites, and are of those unforgettable tunes that will play in your mind over and over long after the movie is realized . The soundtrack contributes tremendously to the atmosphere of the film, including an emotive leitmotif, the music score is perhaps the best part of this film . Striking cinematography by Julio Ortas , though is necessary a correct remastering . Outdoor sequences with barren and rocky exteriors filmed in Spanish places located on outskirts Madrid , Hoyo De Manzanares and La Pedriza , replacing Almeria . Colmenar Viejo and Hoyo de Manzanares where was built a Western village by the producer Eduardo Manzanos called 'Golden City' and resulted to be the locations in which were shot lots of Western produced and directed by Spanish and Italian and occasionally American people , because Almeria was too far and the landscapes bear remarkable resemblance .
Mario Caiano's direction is well crafted, here he's less cynical and humorous and more inclined toward violence and packs too much action , but especially this thrilling Western contains long shot'em up and violence . He directed this acceptable western , genre in which he would not only excel but one where he would spent much of the rest of his career , as he directed several Spaghetti : ¨Brandy¨, ¨Avenger of California¨ , ¨Ringo, face of revenge¨ , ¨Bullets don't argue¨, ¨Lone and angry man¨, ¨A train to Durango¨. Caiano is a craftsman who has directed all kind of genres as Peplum as ¨Ulisse vs Ercole¨, ¨I due Gladiatori¨, ¨Maciste Gadiatori di Sparta¨ and Terror : ¨Nightmare castle¨, ¨ Eye in the labyrinth¨ and even Pornonazi as ¨Nazi love camp 27¨. Although Caiano couldn't be deemed an "A"-list director, his movies had a professionalism and a verve that many of those made by his fellow B directors lacked . Muddle and uneven Western but will appeal to Spaghetti aficionados . Rating : 5,5 , riotous Western in which there's too much violence , action and enough excitement
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