6/10
Passable Pasta Western decently directed by Giorgio Ferroni with two Spaghetti stars : Anthony Steffen and Ken Wood
13 September 2017
The film starts in Montana , 1880 , where occurs cattle war , close range and barbwire have surrounded lands . There happens lots of shootouts , while sheriffs fighting to stifle the conflicts between homesteaders and cattlemen who hire gunfighters and violent hired guns . Maccaroni Western through an American circus tour and meshing exciting happenings with events offstage . A circus and its ringmaster (Nello Pazzafini) performs at the town , the main attraction results to be the fast-draw but upsetting marksman called Roy Kerry or ¨Hurricane West¨ (Anthony Steffen) . Roy , then , has a fatal encounter with a nasty henchman (Ken Wood : Giovanni Cianfriglia) of an unscrupulous as well as powerful saloon owner (Richard Wyler) . Along the way Kerry -who has a childhood trauma- suffers bullying , being detained by the hoodlums , beaten , tortured , and later on , he flees and seeks vendetta . Meanwhile , a kid (Marco Stefanelli, son of regular Spaghetti secondary : Benito Stefanelli , usual master of arms) has been kidnapped by a cattle baron and our hero saves the boy in distress .

This Western is a superior outing because it displays thrills , emotion , shoot'em up , brawls , intrigue , riding pursuits and many other things . It's a medium budget Spaghetti film with acceptable actors , technicians , production values and pleasing results . Agreeable Spaghetti Western follows the American models more than Sergio Leone style . The film blends noisy action , crossfire , violence , blood , and it is fast moving and quite entertaining . The picture is a tale of justice and vengeance , the basic plot is typical spaghetti western fare , but what makes this movie stand out is its style . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shots or stunts every few minutes . The starring called Hurricane West is decently played by Anthony Steffen , here gives better acting than other films , his character is a coward , shy circus performer who is humiliated at every turn and , subsequently , finds redemption . Stars Anthony Steffen who is well remembered by Spaghetti Western aficionados , but in his day , from the mid-'60s to the early '70s , Steffen was one of the most popular actors of the genre — at the time cheap B movies , now revered cult classics . Anthony Steffen -along with Giuliano Gemma , George Hilton and Gianni Garco- , results to be one of the greatest stars of the Spaghetti genre . The handsome , Italian-born — actually at the Brazilian embassy in Rome — Antonio Luiz De Teffè Von Hoonholtz began working in films as a studio messenger for Vittorio De Sica . From there , Steffen began acting in sword-and-sandal epics as Sodoma and Gomorra , later moving onto the Western genre , where he found his niche . Unlike fellow Spaghetti star Clint Eastwood , however , Steffen never became a top international box-office attraction . He played as a Man-With-no-Name a lot of Spaghettis in his ordinary role as a gunfighter who seeks vengeance against his enemy and hoodlums , usually played by Eduardo Fajardo , as he performed : ¨Gentleman Killer¨, Garringo¨, ¨Apocalypse Joe¨, ¨Stranger in Paso Bravo¨ , ¨The last Tomahawk¨. His nemesis is Ken Wood as a two-fisted gunslinger , he is terrific , subsequently the would play similar roles in other Spaghettis . Ken Wood or Giovanni Cianfriglia steals the show as a merciless killer , executing thespian skills shooting badmen single-handedly and throughly enjoys himself . Ken was usual stunt to famous bouncing man , Steve Reeves . Furthermore , here appears Italian Western's usual secondaries as Nello Pazzafini , Tom Felleghy , Andrea Bosic , Massimo Righi , Benito Stefanelli , Romano Puppo , Sal Borghese and Riccardo Pizzuti , usual in Terence Hill/Bud Spencer movies . And two beautiful Eurotrash Starlettes Luisa Baratto and Gia Sandri .

The musician Carlo Rustichelli composes an attractive Spaghetti soundtrack , well conducted and including a splendid leitmotif ; it's full of enjoyable sounds and emotive score . Atmospheric as well as evocative cinematography in Eastmancolor by Sandro Mancori , but an urgent remastering is really necessary ; being shot on exterior location in Lazio Rome , Italy and Elios studios . In addition , filmed in studios : Elios studios . This flick titled ¨El Pistolero Segnato Da Dio¨ or ¨Deux Pistolets Por Un Lache or ¨El Pistolero Que Odiaba La Muerte¨ or ¨The gunman marked by God¨ or ¨Two pistols and a coward¨ was professionally directed by Giorgo Ferroni , under pseudonym , Calvin Jackson Padget , an expert on Peplum . As he directed ¨The war of Troy¨ with Steve Reeves ,¨Hercules against Molock¨ and ¨Il Colosso Di Roma¨ with Gordon Scott . He also directed Western as "Fort Yuma Gold" , ¨Wanted¨ , "Blood for a Silver Dollar" , Wartime as ¨Battle of El Alamein¨ and Terror in acceptable results as ¨ Mill of the stone woman¨ and "Night of the Devils" .
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