At the time this film was made there were already dozen's of spaghetti westerns made, what made this one special in its own right was the acting and direction. The acting was top notch with Fabio Testi vs Tomas Milan, two greats from this era, who have gone on to star in many movies of note on there own. The vendetta is not uncommon nor is the revenge factor, its just this is four against the apocalypse. this movie has a great soundtrack, which is very underrated and had great direction by Lucio Fulci, not just the master of terror, but also the master giving instructions to his actors on how to act grief, horror and revenge, I highly recommend this film, I know I give it a ten, but try to watch an episode of the Rifleman or Maverick and then quickly watch this movie. It will change your life.

It's not really saying something, but this features some of Lucio Fulci's best direction. His work here is quite good. It's the story of four disparate criminals driven out of town by a crooked sheriff. They run into some holy rollers, some brutal outlaws and lunatic sharpshooter Tomas Milian. Fabio Testi is a gambler, Lynne Frederick is a whore, Michael J. Pollard is a drunk and Harry Baird is a ghost seeing nut. It's a brutal, uncompromising spaghetti western, with so-so dubbing and some fine acting by Testi, Fredrick and the great Milian. As with many films of this ilk, the action is marred by some silly pop songs played at various intervals. Not bad.

Like Keoma, this is basically an Italian movie director's ego draped across a threadbare story. Also like Keoma, this brings the particular director's idiom to the fore, with great results. What you have here is your basic Fulci principals based in a Western setting (albeit the usual Italian-skewed version of a Western).After an opening (and gory) massacre, four folks (a gambler, a hooker, a loony, and a chronic alcoholic) set off for pastures new, bonding as they travel through the endless Western landscape. Things are thrown off-kilter as the have Tomas Milian's Chacco forced upon them, a sinister bandit with designs on young Bonny, the pregnant hooker...I'll say no more. This is a dark, literally trippy film, like a road movie with no roads. It also cries out Fulci with every shot, what with drug taking, torture, cannibalism and that hazy cinematography that lends a dream like atmosphere to the proceedings. Testi and Milian are top notch actors in any film and here they play things to the full.Also worth noting, despite all the grimness, is the poignant scene set in a town from a broken men, hiding from the world. They are given a shot of redemption and hope in a scene that actually has some emotional resonance and sheds a little light on an otherwise heavy movie.Worth tracking down. If you're a Fulci fan, don't dismiss it, this is one of his greatest films.

Four outcasts are thrown out of town by corrupt sheriff Donal (DR. BUTCHER) O'Brien. There's card-sharp Fabio Testi, pregnant prostitute Lynn Frederick, drunk Michael J. Pollard and Harry Baird, called a "Mexican" by some other characters though his ancestors are definitely from a big continent across the Atlantic. Their struggle to survive in the desert is bad enough but the filth really hits the fan-blades when they encounter sadistic outlaw Tomas Milian, star of a few million spaghetti Westerns.There is a rape scene, a bloody gunfight with shotguns, and Lucio Fulci is one of the few who would throw a live skinning and cannibalism into a western. (Once you find out who gets cannibalized, you'll want to barf right there.) And only Fulci could turn such a western into a colossal snore. He plays the old exploitation trick of throwing all the red stuff into the first half, just to keep the audience from walking out, and then practically nothing happens during the second half. By the time Testi catches up with Milian you won't care who murders who, as long as the film comes to an end.This was supposedly based on a story by Bret Harte. I'm no authority on that writer but based on his reputation, the source material must have been better than the movie.I won't give this flick a "Bomb" rating, only because the gore is well-executed and Lynn Frederick, as always, is easy on the eyeballs. However, judging from this and CONQUEST, Uncle Lucio should have stuck to the horror movies he did so well. I'll be taking my own advice when I rent Fulci films in the future.