His Name Was Holy Ghost (1972) User Reviews (4)

Entertaining Spaghetti/Paella western co-produced by Italy/Spain that packs action , thrills , explosions and laughs

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 9 February 2016]

This exciting picture displays Western noisy action , gun-play , fun situations and bits of humor. The film gets the comic remarks from Western parody united the features of typical Spaghetti . Offbeat Western comedy with a hero named Spirito Santo / Holy Ghost / Hawk / or Falcon who looks exactly like Sartana . ¨His name was Holy ghost¨ is an amusing SW with lots of mayhem , crossfire and funny incidents ; however , being slightly mediocre . This time the new hero is named Holy Ghost (John Garco) dressed in white (though Sartana is dressed in black) , he is a tidy and rapid gunfighter to face off a powerful tyrant . At the beginning he wins a mine in a poker game . However , the scroll is damaged and the only person who knows the location is in prison and locked in Morelos (Mexico) by the ruthless general Ubarte (Poldo Bendandi) . ¨Holy Ghost¨ join forces with a beautiful Mexican revolutionary (Pilar Velazquez) , her likable father (Jorge Rigaud) and a chubby swindler boxer (Chris Huerta) to overthrow the ominous ruler who enslaves the poor countrymen . The resourceful , elegant hero , freelance gunman , named Spirito Santo appears to chase nasty gunfighters and to dethrone the heinous leader , as well as to find his golden mine . The confrontation will be inevitable between the cruel despot , a villainous murderous gunslinger (Paolo Gozlino) and , of course , Holy Ghost.

This first movie on ¨Holy Ghost¨ character starred by Gianni Garco is plenty of action , shootouts, tongue-in-cheek , double-crosses , twists and loads of shots . The movie is running out of ideas a bit ; nevertheless , it is still good enough to be fun . ¨Holy Ghost¨ is another hero of second class in the S.W. genre as Sabata (Lee Van Cleef) , Sartana (Gianni Garco who continues his similar role again) or Cuchillo (Tomas Milian) . ¨Holy Ghost¨ character bears remarkable resemblance to Sartana . Spirito Santo is a two-fisted and tough gunfighter with technical weaponry (like a Western James Bond) and a lot of tricks similarly to previous Sabata . This bewildering picture gets the humorous remarks from Western parody combined to features of Spaghetti . The movie gets the usual Italian Western issues , such as greedy antiheroes , violent facing off , quick zooms , exaggerated baddies , among them . It appears ordinary secondary actors who are habitual in Italian Western and Peplum genre , such as : Nello Pazzafini , Franco Pesce , Carlo Gaddi , Goffredo Unger , and Rick Boyd . Being a Spanish/Italian co-production , it shows up several Spaniard players as Chris Huerta , Jorge Rigaud , Cesar Ojinaga and Victor Israel .

Enjoyable musical score by Bruno Nicolai , Ennio Morricone's usual collaborator , full of guttural sounds and whistles . Atmospheric cinematography by the good cameraman Miguel Mila and adequate set decoration by regulars , Jaime Pérez Cubero and José Luis Galicia . The picture was middlingly directed by Giuliano Carmineo or Anthony Scott , who directed Westerns with Spaghetti-hero named Sartana , usually played by Gianni Garco in the title role . Giuliano Carmineo , alias Anthony Ascott, directed various Sartana with George Hilton who replaces Gianni Garco , as Hilton played more natural and roguish than Garco who was cold and peculiar . Giuliano Carmineo realized several Spaghettis , most of them featuring mainly the same cast again , such as "Di Tresette Ce N'è Uno, Tutti Gli Altri son Nessuno" ,"Lo Chiamavano Tresette... Giocava Sempre Col Morto" that actually was the last time George Hilton/Chris Huerta and Carnimeo worked on such a western comedy together , ¨The moment to kill¨, ¨Find a place to die¨ , ¨They call him Cemetery¨ , ¨They call me Hallaluya¨ , and the Sartana movies : "Have a Good Funeral, My Friend, Sartana Will Pay" , ¨Sartana the gravedigger'(69) ,"Sartana's Coming, Get Your Coffins Ready" , ¨Light the fuse Sartana is coming¨(1971) , among others . Giuliano also directed other kinds of genres , as Sci-Fi : ¨Exterminators of the year 3000¨, ¨Computron¨, Giallo : ¨The case of the bloody iris¨ , Crime thriller : ¨Secrets of a Call Girl¨ , Buddy movie films : ¨Convoy Buddies" or "Kid Stuff" , "The Diamond Peddlers" . This "Uomo Avvisato Mezzo Ammazzato... Parola Di Spirito Santo¨ (original title) or "His Name Was Holy Ghost" (American title) is clearly inferior to his entries in Sartana series . Rating : 5.5/10 . Acceptable and passable .

A decent alternative to the masters of such flicks

[lotekguy-1 · 6/10 · 15 February 2022]

When you've seen all the buddy-action comedies - Spaghetti Westerns and modern settings - of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, this pair will do a fair job of feeding your residual hunger for more. Garko's Holy Ghost character has everything fans could ask for in this vein - the cool swagger and skills of Hill's Trinity/Nobody roles, plus a flair for weaponry that would make James West and Artie envious. It's a shame this didn't lead to a few more outings for Garko as this character. Bulky, bearded Huerta bonks baddies with gusto, like one who learned well from Spencer. Good no-brainer fun.

Way too over the top for me

[jordondave-28085 · 3/10 · 17 January 2024]

(1972) The Call Him Holy Ghost./ Uomo avvisato mezzo ammazzato... Parola di Spirito Santo DUBBED SPAGHETTI WESTERN

It centers on a fascist General Ubarte (Poldo Bendandi) who also happens to be President around the area as well. Ordered one of his captains to cause havoc and deal with the village leader, Don Fermino Mendoza (George Rigaud) and his daughter, Juana Mendoza (Pilar Velázquez). The appointed captain humiliates the village leader by having him tied up before ordering villagers to spit on his face. And with Ubarte's capatin and his men sitting around a long table they are then shot and killed by the Holy Ghost (Gianni Garko). What is supposed to be an unique about the character is the fact that he wears white clothing carrying with him is a dove, who's objective in partaking to help Don Fermino Mendoza and his daughter, Juana was that he needs his signature in regarding a deed with a map that supposed to have some gold buried around the area. And as soon as both him and his daughter are freed, he informs him that he no longer has the authority since General Ubarte has taken over the area of Moreles and is apparently the new President. He also has a handler, Sam Carl (Paul Stevens) who handles his business affairs, regarding uncovering his gold. . To make the long story short, Juana manages to manipulate the Holy Ghost into helping their cause with the help of a strong man, who wears a pastor uniform nicknamed Chicken (Victor Israel). And he and Chicken used to have a history with one another as he is the only one who calls him Harold.

The sequel to "They Call Me Hallelujah" with a single unique moment in regarding the soldier often lightening the General's cigar. It is when the general sends his soldiers to go after the Holy Ghost, and he suddenly appears right behind him lightening his cigar instead of the soldier who usually does it. Throughout the rest of the movie, it is nothing but over the top and corny. The way the Holy ghost avoid getting shot by the soldiers was over the top; the hand held machine gun; and the exploding eggs because chickens were fed gun powder. It is way too much for me if watched as an adult made me want to shake my head.

"Fire at will!" "Who's Will?"

[spider89119 · 9/10 · 18 June 2005]

This movie is not exactly what I expected, but it is extremely enjoyable nonetheless.

As a spaghetti western, this film certainly delivers the goods. It has lots of action, a very good spaghetti style music score, fun dialogue, a great villain, gold, the Mexican revolution, and the great Gianni Garko as The Holy Ghost.

Generally, I prefer the darker, more serious spaghetti westerns over the comedic ones that became popular in the early seventies, and I wasn't expecting this one to be a comedy, but it is. What's even more surprising is that it's an excellent one that succeeds as both a comedy and a very cool spaghetti western. The funny parts are genuinely funny and, in a way, remind me of the classic comedy of the Three Stooges. This movie is ten times funnier and more interesting than any of the Terence Hill/ Bud Spencer movies that I have seen.

Another surprise about this movie is that the Holy Ghost character is not really "supernatural" as he is described in every single description of this movie I have ever seen. There is one short scene close to the beginning of the film in which he seems to be able to appear out of nowhere, but that's it! For the next 85 minutes of this 90 minute movie, the Holy Ghost is a mere mortal named Harold who is very resourceful and quick with a gun, but definitely no ghost.

I was curious about this movie mainly because I can't resist a supernatural western, especially if it's an Italian one! It isn't exactly what I thought it was going to be, but I'm pleasantly surprised that it's an excellent spaghetti western anyway, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the genre.