Fistful of Dollars proved that Hollywood didn’t have a monopoly on the Western genre in the mid-60s. Very quickly Italian studios got into the business as more and more of their films found success in Europe and even America. This initial success turned into an avalanche of productions as Italian producers brought their international casts to Almería, Spain which had the rugged desert feel of the American West. A few of the Spaghetti Westerns were also shot around Rome probably because ever horse in Spain had been rented out. Nearly 600 Westerns hit the big screens in various countries over the next decade. The movies gave supporting cast Hollywood actors a chance at ride the range as the star. There were also a quite a few European actors who were able to quickdraw their way to international fame. They starred as Django, Trinity, Sabata, Sartana, Ringo and other legendary gunslingers. Savage Guns: Four Classic Westerns Vol. 3 gives us four Spaghetti Westerns that you might not have heard much about, but they’re fully loaded with familiar faces.
I Want Him Dead (1968) is a great film as long as you ignore the geographical issues. Clayton (Craig Hill) is ready to settle down with his sister (The Children of Violent Rome‘s Cristina Businari). He drops her off at the town’s saloon hotel and rides off to make a real estate deal. The deal goes bad when the guy refuses to accept Confederate cash since the Civil War is almost over. That’s all the money that Clayton has since he was a scout for the Rebel army. He has to find a way to get real American money. As if his day isn’t bad enough, he returns to the hotel to discover his sister has been assaulted. The three men who did it have already ridden away. Clayton is bent on revenge and tracks them down to a lavish estate. Turns out that they have been hired by a wealthy arms dealer eager to extended the war by blowing up the peace talks. Will Clayton be able to get revenge for his sister and bring the peace to the country? The film is a bit confusing since it seems like the action takes place near Richmond, Virginia even though the scenery is the desert terrain of Almería. This can be overlooked because the action is next level. Craig Hill is the rugged leading man needed for the role. He even finds a partner in a frustrated servant at the arms dealer’s country estate played by Lea Massari (Murmur of the Heart). Craig Hill was an American actor who found himself a star in Europe especially during the Spaghetti Western era with films such as And the Crows Will Dig Your Grave and My Horse, My Gun, Your Widow. I Want Him Dead lets Hill shine as the unrelenting brother.
El Puro (1969; a.k.a. The Reward’s Yours… The Man’s Mine) features Joe Bishop (My Name Is Pecos‘ Robert Woods) as a sad pathetic drunk who can’t cover his bar tab. Once upon a time, he was a feared gunman nicked El Puro. Those days are long ago. The only thing keeping him famous is a $10,000 bounty on his head. A group of outlaws decide to fund their new lives by tracking him down. Not many people believe the drunk is worth anything. Although Bishop finds a bit of hope in saloon worker Rosie (Arizona Colt‘s Rosalba Neri). How long can a relationship last under such circumstances? Woods delivers on the messed-up gunfighter who has trouble coming his way. There are four ways to watch the film. There’s a 98-Minute cut that’s in both Italian and English. The 108-minute cut can be watched in Italian. The English hybrid version has the cut moments only in Italian.
Wrath of the Wind (1970) had its named changed to Revenge of Trinity and Trinity Sees Red after star Terrence Hill struck gold with the They Call Me Trinity around the same time. He does not play the comical Trinity in this film. He’s a cold-blooded hitman. Depending on the translation your country received, the film actually takes place in Spain, but it feels like a Western. Marco (Terence Hill) and his brother Giacomo (A Reason To Live, A Reason To Die‘s Mario Pardo) are ruthless hitmen. During the opening scene, they show off how efficiently they do their work when the track down their paid target. The duo receives an offer from Don Antonio (The French Connection‘s Fernando Rey). He’s having labor issues on his vast estate. He knows a rabble rouser is arriving shortly to try to get the underpaid peasants to rise up against him. Don Antonio knows it’s cheaper to take the guy out and put a sense of fear in his workers than pass out pay raises. After they knock off the guy, the brothers stick around to do more dirty work for Don Antonio. Marco becomes a bit more human when he gets involved with a local woman (After The Fox‘s Maria Grazia Buccella). Is he going to flip on his employer? While the film was an Italian-Spanish co-production, director Mario Camus is Spanish. Terence Hill proves he can play ruthless on the screen and not just his comical Trinity character. The ending is intense. Wrath of the Wind is not breezy. Along with the 98 minute version in Italian and English, there’s a 106-minute Spanish-language version of the film included.
Four of the Apocalypse (1975) was directed by the legendary Lucio Fulci between his Giallo films and before he embraced horror. This is not a conventional Western and has gruesome touches that will become more elaborate in Fulci’s future work. Stubby Preston (What Have You Done To Solange’s Fabio Testi) arrives in Salt Lake, Utah ready to score big in the town’s notorious casino. Before he can start taking the local’s money in card games, the sheriff (Keoma‘s Donald O’Brien) drags him into jail. He’s pissed off at this injustice. He’s stuck in a cell with the boozy Clem (Bonnie and Clyde’s Michael J. Pollard), the slightly off Buck (The Italian Job‘s Harry Baird) and Bunny, a pregnant hooker (Vampire Circus‘ Lynne Fredrick). He’s furious at being locked up, but that turns out to be a good thing. A group of masked citizens have decided that night to put an end to the casino. It’s a violent night with bodies piling up. It the morning, the Sheriff sells them a wagon and horses so the foursome can make a 200-mile trip to the much safer Sun City. Their journey goes completely wrong when they meet up with Chaco (The Big Gundown‘s Tomas Milian). He’s a wildman with an excellent shot. Things go bad fast when he shares Peyote with the foursome. Four of the Apocalypse is the perfect final feature in this boxset. Fulci takes this journey to the extreme. There’s a beauty to a lot of the shots as the four cross desolate lands. There’s a scene towards the end when they discover an abandoned town in the middle of a rain forest that shows that makes this look like an art film. But this is a western and eventually Stubby must seek out revenge on Chaco. This is another impressive outing for Fulci. He could do more than gross you out with undead creatures.
Savage Guns: Four Classic Westerns Vol. 3 contains four films that you don’t automatically hear mentioned during discussions of the Spaghetti Western genre. All four are first rate for the genre with lead characters fixated on dishing out vengeance.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic for El Puro. Four of the Apocalypse, I Want Him Dead and Wrath of the Wind is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The transfers are 2K restorations from the original 35mm camera negatives for all the films. You’ll enjoy the details. The Audio LPCM Mono for both the Italian and English tracks. You have to choose your soundtrack on the menu because they have both English and Italian credits included on the films. The English Subtitles are included for all the movies.
Illustrated collector’s booklet with author and critic Howard Hughes discussing all four films.
Fold-out double-sided poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx.
I WANT HIM DEAD
Audio Commentary by critics Adrian J. Smith and David Flint gets deep into the filmmakers and the cast.
Dead or Alive (12:42) is an introduction by Fabio Melelli. He goes into the career of Craig Hill and other actors. We see co-star Cristina Businari as Miss Italia. He delves into how Lea Massari was from the Italian art house world. We learn how one of the producers went on to buy the Naples soccer team and brought Diego Maradona to the squad.
The Man Who Hated Violence (30:17) interviews director Paolo Bianchini. He discusses how he is not a fan of violent cinema. He doesn’t like blood although he knows it keeps the public’s attention. He started in films with Sergio Leone. He mentions that Craig Hill had hearing issues which made things interesting during the shoot. He also redid the opening scene to add deaths to the film at the insistence of the producer. After watching I Want Him Dead with a paying audience, he was uncomfortable about how the violence excited the viewers. He swore he wouldn’t make another violence movie. After three years of not getting work and having his power cut off, he reconsidered this declaration.
Cut and Shot (17:32) has editor Eugenio Alabiso happy to share his memories of cutting movies. He edited For A Few Dollars More and The Good The Bad and The Ugly for Sergio Leone. He talks about watching I Want Him Dead on TV recently and realizing that he cut the film. His only misgiving is the choice in soundtrack composer. He gets into what’s needed to properly edit a Western. He is grateful Paolo Bianchini shot so much great action footage for him to cut together.
Nico Unchained (21:00) is archival interview with composer Nico Fidenco. He had started his career in music as a singer. He gets into how he made his way into scoring movies. He started in Westerns with In A Colt’s Shadow. The soundtrack album sold well, and he found himself in demand. He scored over 60 movies in his career.
English theatrical trailer (2:59) has the creeps showing up in the sister’s hotel room. There’s a lot of still images and clips that are tinted with the Clayton theme song.
Image gallery has about two dozen lobby cards and the press kit.
EL PURO
Audio Commentary by critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
A Zen Western Movie (15:07) is the introduction from Fabio Melelli. He views it as bizarre offering since it’s a departure from the director Edoardo Mulargia’s other Westerns. The film is a touch psychedelic. He gets into the fact that the child actor in the film turned out to be a terrorist.
A Real Italian (28:11) catches up with actor Robert Woods. He gets into his career in films in Italy. He was in one of the first Spaghetti Westerns before Clint Eastwood flew over for Fist Full of Dollars. Woods did a lot of work overseas. He was happy to be working so much during this time. He contributed to the film with the idea of the character having a Death, Rebirth and a final Death. He didn’t quite achieve a Buddhist Western, but they gave it a try. He liked working with Edoardo Mulargia and is still friends with the director’s family. They shot the film outside Rome.
More Than A Western (35:37) is an appreciation of the soundtrack and its composer, Alessandro Alessandroni, by musician and disc collector Lovely Jon. He breaks out the groovy covers from Alessandroni’s albums from over the years.
WRATH OF THE WIND
Brand new audio commentary by author and critic Howard Hughes
Campesinos: Al Poder! (16:58) is an introduction by Fabio Melelli. He considers the film a hybrid Western and an important film. The film does seem to be an attack on Franco who had turned Spain into his Fascist state. There are cowboys on horses, but nobody talks about America.
The Days of Wrath (19:07) has camera operator Roberto D’Ettorre Piazzoli talk about having to pause his film career to fulfill his military service. He was oene of the few Italians working on the film including the cast. His uncle was the Director of Photography. He gets into the direct lighting and defused lighting debate that swirled at the time.
They Call It… Red Cemetery! (9:28) is filmmaker Francisco Lacerda recent love letter to the spaghetti western genre. This was made in 2022.
Alternate “Revenge of Trinity” opening titles (3:41) from when the distributor wanted people to think Hill was once more his Trinity character. But we know better.
Image Gallery is 8 images of the poster and lobby cards when it was called Halleluja. They were selling it as a comedy.
FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE
Audio commentary by author and producer Kat Ellinger has her discuss how this western was different from Fulci’s other two. She points out that Fulci’s title of the Godfather of modern gore, but he’s done more in cinema than horror during his career. A majority of his horror films were imported during the ’80s video age while his comedies remained back in Italy. Kat is a major fan of Fabio Testi.
Apocalypse Now (15:16) is the introduction by Fabio Melelli. He points out that Spaghetti Westerns from the late part of the run were filled with melancholy and nostalgia. He relates the film back to the two Brett Harte novels that were the basis for the film. He gets into the texture of Director of Photography Sergio Salvati‘s cinematography to give the film a dream-like feel. Salvati had just shot My Name Is Nobody and would continue with Fulci on Zombie, City of the Living Dead and more. He gets into the short and trouble life of Lynne Frederick. There is talk that she and Fabio Testi were involved during this time.
It Takes Four (35:02) previously unreleased interview with production manager Roberto Sbarigia. He says it was an enjoyable shoot. By the time they shot, there were plenty of Wild West Villages in Almería. He says the shoot went well. He does talk about Fulci’s interaction with the actors during the shoot.
Do You See How Lucio Shoots? (42:35) is an appreciation of the film by author, critic and Lucio Fulci scholar Stephen Thrower. He gets into how Fulci had done his Giallo movies and White Fang movies before starting Four For The Apocalypse. Fulci was such riding high at this point in his career. He gets into how there’s horror elements in the film including a Last House On the Left attitude in one scene. Was this Fulci getting ready for his horror films?
Appreciation of the Soundtrack (37:11) has Lovely Jon give us plenty of details about composers, Franco Bixio, Fabio Frizzi and Vince Tempera. He gives us the details on how prog rock musicians got involved in the Italian cinema. The trio started in 1968 working on movies and become known as Triage.
Theatrical trailer (3:45) gets into how these four characters ended up on a wagon in the desert.
Image gallery has over 36 lobby cards, posters, press photos, press kit and newspaper ads.
Audio note: For some scenes and dialogue lines in the long version, the Italian audio is either lost or was never produced. These are presented in Spanish with English subtitles.
Arrow Video presents Savage Guns: Four Classic Westerns Vol. 3. Starring Craig Hill, Robert Woods, Terence Hill, Fabio Testi, Tomas Milian, Michael J. Pollard and Lynne Frederick. Boxset Contents: 4 movies on 4 Blu-ray discs. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: December 12, 2023.
