This exciting western packs action , shootouts , drama , high body-count , twists and it is fast moving and quite entertaining . America Civil War , the ¨Jehova Witness¨ Jim Slade refuses to kill somebody in battle and being subsequently sentenced for two years in prison . Returning from the civil war where has been condemned to forced labor , Jim (Peter Lee Lawrence) meets his parents dead at their farm . It is said that the band under the lead of Corbett (Piero Lulli) who along with his hoodlums (Raf Baldassarre) have committed the crime . Oulaws are attempting to rob a bank at Galveston , but there is no cash because a transport with 200,000 dollars did not arrive yet . As the cutthroats to return soon and the Mayor (Julio Peña) is eager to find a new marshal and offers a valuable reward : 5,000 dollars , them Jim accepts the job . There also shows up a suspicious priest (John Ireland) who helps him in his risked adventures . Meanwhile , a bunch of insane people (Jaspe , Fajardo , Victor Israel) breaking out from their cage and going bersek . Agreeable Chorizo-Spaghetti Western mostly produced by Italy (Tritone) and Spanish important participation (Copercines) ; it follows the Sergio Leone wake , including close-up , zooms , choreographic duels and no being proceeded in American style . It's a thrilling western with spectacular outdoors and breathtaking confrontation between protagonist Peter Lee Lawrence against heartless Piero Lulli and his henchmen as Raf Baldasarre . Acceptable action sequences with rousing crossfire and spectacularly bloody shootouts including an enjoyable music by Lavagnino who composes a vibrant soundtrack in Spaghetti style , as well as a colorful and evocative cinematography . A ¨Pistol for a hundred coffins¨ is an Italian-Spanish co-production with shootouts , thrills , action , fights , go riding and many other things . Being filmed in Spanish places located on outskirts Madrid and Poblado Hoyo De Manzanares replacing Almeria . It drags at times , balancing ups and downs ; turning out to be entertaining enough . Charismatic performance for the whole casting . Peter Lee is fine as a pacifist due to his religious conscience who becomes into a violent gunfighter , as he goes for vendetta but things result out to be more complicated than he originally thought . Peter ravages the screen , he jumps , bounds and leaps , hits and runs , besides receiving violent punches , kicks , and ultimately takes place a breathtaking showdown . The notorious German actor , Peter Lee Lawrence was the hero in many Spaghetti Westerns where he found his niche , here is good in his usual tough role . Peter may be a name best remembered by some Spaghetti Western aficionados , but in his day , from the mid-'60s to the early '70s , Lee Lawrence was one of the most popular actors of the genre —at the time cheap B movies , now revered cult classics- . The handsome , Bavaria-born , —actually called Karl Hyrenbach- began working in films as his uncredited debut in Sergio Leone "For A Few Dollars More" (1965) . His short cinematographic history can be enclosed in nine years of Italo-Spain co-productions . Particularly Paella/Pasta Western as ¨In Giorno Della Violenza¨, ¨Johnny Kid¨, "More Dollars for the MacGregors" , ¨Sartana¨ ,¨Garringo¨ . But he also made thriller-drama as "Giorni D'amore Sul Filo Di Una Lama" (1973) , where he played with his long time partner , the blond actress Erica Blanc , ¨Killer Calibro 32¨ , adventure as ¨Black beauty¨, ¨Tiger of Kyber¨, and Italian horror as "Bacio Di Una Morta" (1974). Unlike fellow Spaghetti star Clint Eastwood , however , Peter never became a top international box-office attraction . Support cast is frankly decent . Fantastic performance by the always great Eduardo Fajardo in a nutty role , famous for ¨Django¨ he subsequently would play similar characters ; furthermore , the slimy , menacing outlaw played by Ralf Baldassarre , here in his regular role as bandit and in a cruelly baddie character . There appears the habitual secondaries in Spanish/Italian Western such as : Frank Braña , Alfonso Rojas , Jesús Guzmán , Andrea Scotti , Ivan Scratuglia ,Rafael Hernández , José Marco , Miguel del Castillo , Gloria Camera as Saloon girl and Franco Pesce in his ordinary role as undertaker . Very nice cinematography by Alejandro Ulloa , including good sets, filmed on locations Seseña , Toledo , Manzanares , Madrid , La Pedriza, and Lazio, Italy . Composer Angelo Lavagnino composes a nice soundtrack , well conducted , this turns out to be one of the most memorable parts of the movie , as it's plenty of enjoyable sounds and haunting musical background with agreeable leitmotif . The motion picture was well written and produced by Eduardo Manzanos Brochero who ordered to built a Western town in Hoyo De Manzanares called 'Golden City' , it resulted to be the location in which was shot lots of Westerns produced and directed by Spanish and Italian and occasionally American people . This Western town called ¨Golden City¨ in Hoyo De Manzanares (Madrid) was made with sets by two great production designers , Cubero and Jose Luis Galicia , and it is today sadly disappeared . There was filmed several Westerns as ¨Fistful of dollars¨, ¨Welcome Padre Murray¨ , ¨Brandy¨ , ¨Dead man ride¨, various Zorros and this one . Eduardo Manzanos started producing ¨Il Coyote¨ and ¨The Jiusticia De Coyote¨ by Joaquin Romero Marchent . After that , he produced in his company Copercines ¨Vengeance of Zorro¨ and ¨L'Ombra Di Zorro¨ (1962). This picture was professionally directed by Umberto Lenzi , though with no originality , coping the usual theme : ¨Revenge¨ . Lenzi was a nice craftsman who directed another Western titled ¨Tutto per Tutto¨ with Mark Damon and he made all kinds of genres .

For the 1968 poll on ICM,I decided that I would watch a number of Italian films from the year. A fan of his since Spasmo introduced me to the Giallo genre,I was thrilled to find one of the two Spaghetti Westerns auteur Umberto Lenzi had made was in 1968,which led to me opening the 100 coffins.The plot:Prepared not to take sides during the Civil War, Jim Slade is sent to jail for two years. Just before he is freed,Slade learns that outlaws have killed his family. Picking up a pistol once out,Slade gets a list of the outlaws who killed his family. Tracking the first ones down easily,Slade discovers that the final outlaw wants to take a town he rules down with him.View on the film:Made just before his Giallo era,director Umberto Lenzi & cinematographer Alejandro Ulloa load up on elements which would dominate Lenzi's unique style,as ultra-stylised whip-pans are shot with a scatter-gun energy by Lenzi,with the camera riding on Slade's bullets of revenge. Toning down his usual liking of violence,Lenzi displays a sharp eye for "space",where the lone sound of Angelo Francesco Lavagnino's light Jazzy score builds anticipating to Slade's shootout with an outlaw.Initially looking like an episodic revenge tale, Marco Leto/Eduardo Manzanos Brochero and Vittorio Salerno get Slade to put his revenge Western pistol down by getting him involved in the gritty local politics of the town,which along with giving the flick a neat line in gallows humour,also sets the town up to give Slade and the viewer an excellent twist of the gun. Joined by a stern John Ireland as town leader Douglas, Peter Lee Lawrence (who died of cancer just 30 years old in 1974) gives a wonderful performance as Slade,who masks Slade with an eerie look of false calm,which cracks as Slade opens the hundred coffins.

Jailed for his religious objection to violence, Peter Lee Lawrence is released from prison at war's end, to find his parents murdered by a gang of thieves. Reversing his stance on killing (though not drinking!), he seeks vengeance, eventually taking a job in Galveston, protecting a cash shipment from the last and hardest of the bunch.From horror director Umberto Lenzi, this is a typically colorful, though somewhat routine Italian western, with some good double and triple-crosses, as well as a few oddball touches, like a jail full of giggling loonies from a burned-out asylum, escaping and wreaking havoc on the town!Though not terribly memorable, A Gun For A Hundred Graves (another great title) is decent enough entertainment for spaghetti western aficionados who want to see all the genre has to offer. John Ireland, who plays a quick-draw preacher, is always worth watching. There's also some pretty good Morricone-like musical themes.

This western is the type of movie you might see from Something Weird Video or on MST3K. That's not meant to be a put-down (if it was I'd be putting down 2/3 of my movie collection). I really enjoyed this film.The movie is directed by Umberto Lenzi, who is better known for his Euro-horror movies. The horror influence is clearly evident here when an escaped band of drooling lunatics runs around grunting and killing everyone in sight. It's a real hoot to see spaghetti western regular Eduardo Fajardo playing the part of a giggling homicidal idiot. This alone makes it worthwhile to seek out this film.John Ireland is great as the gunslinging preacher, and Piero Lulli makes a great villain as usual. The acting from the rest of the cast is not exactly top-notch, but that just adds to the flavor of this film. It's quite funny in parts (perhaps unintentionally but one can never be sure).There are also some really funny lines in the movie, which I will not spoil by mentioning here. The way everyone overreacts to the fact that the hero likes to drink water is especially hilarious.I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys both spaghetti westerns and strange, funny cult movies.