American actor Craig Hill made a name for himself in Europe in a variety of B-movies. He embarked on his acting career in Hollywood 1950, and in his first western "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" in 1952, he was billed fifth. Later, he played a cavalry officer in the 1954 Van Johnson oater "Siege at Red River." In "God Made Them... I Kill Them" director Paolo Bianchini's above-average but low-budget Spaghetti shoot'em up "I Want Him Dead," Hill plays a hard-luck wrangler named Clayton who finds himself in the middle of a secret plot to blow up a Union general and a Confederate general at a peace negotiation summit in the west. Initially, our hero rides into the action with a saddle bag filled with worthless Confederate States of America bank notes. Clayton wants to buy some valuable property so he can settle down, but the owner refuses to accept the CSA currency. If this weren't bad enough, a gang of ruffians kills his sister. If this were not enough, he inquires at a saloon about the men who killed his sister, and a drunken gunman tries to kill. Clayton guns him down with no problem. Afterward, he learns to his chagrin that the drunken was the brother of the local sheriff and he has to slug his way out of jail. Meantime, a local businessman hires one of the killers, Jack Blood (José Manuel Martín) to kill the generals because peace will be bad for his business. Blood and his cutthroat dastards ambush a Confederate wagon train, masquerade as rebels to attend the summit, and lay out the explosives. Clayton thwarts them, but he suffers repeatedly at their grimy hands. During one rough and tumble fistfight, they try to shove him headfirst into a fireplace. They wind up leaving him trussed up in a chair while the building burns, but he escapes with the help of a girl. The businessman meets an ill fate when he shows up at a rendezvous with Blood's men and threatens them with a fate worse than death if they don't make good on their commitment to kill the generals. What the villains don't know is that Clayton has eliminated Blood. In a surprise about-face, Blood's men man-handle the business, take the loot that he intend to pay them with, and skedaddle with it. During their escape, these dastards double-cross each other to obtain larger shares of the money. "I Want Him Dead" was lensed in scenic Almeria, Spain, and the settings are spectacular looking. As usual, Craig Hill makes a stalwart hero and he gets himself in lots of trouble throughout this sagebrusher. This is definitely a Spaghetti western to watch!

Handsome Craig Hill stars as Clayton, a horse trader who sets out to avenge the rape and murder of his sister by tracking the pair responsible to the lair of Charles Malleck, a wealthy Southern arms dealer who doesn't want the Civil War to end until he can squeeze every last drop of profit from it. With help from one of Malleck's women, Clayton infiltrates the gang and finds that their plans to hijack a Confederate gold shipment pales in comparison to a daring double assassination plot set to occur at a summit meeting between generals from both sides... Released in Germany as a "Django" movie, this spaghetti/paella (Italo- Spanish) co-production has a fairly ambitious storyline that moves along at a fast clip and contains enough shootouts, fist fights, and other assorted brutality to satisfy most genre fans. The cinematography and sweeping vistas aren't bad, either, and there's an appropriately fitting end. Craig Hill does a credible job trying to channel Clint Eastwood and lissome Lea Massari (L'AVVENTURA) is always a welcome presence, especially here as a feisty gal out to better her lot.

There's a typical scene in LO VOGLIO MORTO (I WANT HIM DEAD) where Clayton (Craig Hill) who is stalking the men who raped and killed his sister stands on a hill and watches five horsemen riding in the distance. The shot is low to the ground, all we see are his legs and boots and the riders in the distance as they approach a villa. Cut to the five bandits riding one by one; I was reminded of the samurai running to the village in Kurosawa's SEVEN SAMURAI. Any spaghetti western which evokes this masterpiece is okay with me! Director Paolo Bianchini does a good job throughout; here and there may be a hole in the plot, but the style, music (by the great Nico Fidenco), and gritty performances by the actors carry this fine Eurowestern to another level. Any fan of the genre will be in ecstasy watching this one!

"Who cares about the death of your sister, I want my drink!". This is what the brother of the sheriff tells Clayton in a bar. Clayton doesn't really like to hear this, starts a brawl and when the other draws the gun he shoots and kills. Then he goes to the sheriff to complain about the murder of his sister and the sheriff who doesn't care starts the next brawl. Clayton escapes and hunts the murderers by himself. Not much killing but many fistfights. Everything (and everyone) is simple and somewhat solid but neither the story nor the film ever excel. The three actresses in this sometimes misogynistic story are handsome and particularly Lea Massari does a good job.