While Italian movie director Lucio Fulci is best known for his bloody horror movies, he actually did dabble in other genres in his career. He even made a few spaghetti westerns, "Silver Saddle" being one of them. Made when the spaghetti western genre was breathing its last breath, it's been all but forgotten today. To a degree I can understand this. It does have more than its share of dull spots, and Giuliano Gemma is only adequate in the lead role. But the movie all the same has enough interest to satisfy spaghetti western fans. Fulci throws in some interesting direction at times, such as with some particular camera movements as well as how he composes what's in front of the camera. Though there isn't enough action, what action there is in the movie does catch your attention, particularly with some very bloody squibs thrown in. Gemma's somewhat underwhelming performance is made up for by the presence of American actor Geoffrey Lewis, who is amusing without being overbearing. And the music is great; you'll be humming the title song for days after watching the movie. It's no classic, but it's a respectable final effort for a genre that was breathing its last.

I must confess, dear Gemma (presumably) fans, that I have never seen a bad or uninteresting Italian western; never. Many of them have certain noticeable deficiencies in the content's sector—yet, despite this poor content, they are well—made and likable. The one I have chosen here looks very low-budget; it has some qualities that make it very enjoyable, and a must for all Gemma fans. It shares with other similarly themed films the same desolate, barren landscape and notions of a dehumanized society.To describe it in one word, Silver Saddle is a somewhat _cartoonish non—stop adventure western. Very compact and concise , while the content itself is quite average (the kidnapping and ransoming of a boy). (Allow me here a parenthesis, to mention that the western as a genre meant to me:--at first comics, in Romanian and French magazines;--then books, novels—Frânculescu, Reid,May and Cooper …;--in the third place, movies …. So I guess I especially enjoy this comic book look of the westerns.)In a certain sense, I like Gemma more than Nero. He has, if I may say so, a more interesting presence . Sella d'Argento (1978) came one year after California (1977) (another good Gemma western),and two years after The Desert of the Tartars. It marks the end of Gemma's career as a western mythical actor—as well as that of the European westerns as such. These movies are still considered like something of a guilty pleasure—and still don't receive the esteem they deserve.Sella … is a quite straightforward western, no-nonsense and violent; there is a scene of cruelty, when a kid is whipped by Garrincha. The tone is fortunately deprived of melodrama. Some of the characters are comic, or funny, or do comic things—Serpent (who is comic, but in a grim way) and the kid.The silver saddle in this film is an item belonging to Roy Blood,a gunman played by the cult—actor Gemma.The score that accompanies the suspense moments is very good; the song with English lyrics a la Keoma is less happily chosen.At least six of the characters are noticeable—Roy Blood himself; his partner Serpent; Turner; Sheba; Margaret; and the kid."Creatures bizarre and grotesque, yet somehow always familiar"—as Nathan M. Powers once happily wrote about Lem's world of Ijon Tichy.Like in many other Italian westerns, there is a strange, uncanny atmosphere.It is Lucio Fulci's film.

Like the same director's "Four of the Apocalypse," whether or not this film ultimately succeeds for you probably depends on your willingness to tolerate its flaws for its strengths.Its flaws include bad acting on the parts of Giulliano Gemma and Sven Valsecchi, who are the two leads, a frustrating tendency to establish promising themes, only to allow them to dissipate after the first thirty minutes, and another frustrating tendency to put all the best action scenes in the first act.Its strengths include the presence of Geoffrey Lewis, Aldo Sambrell, and Donald O'Brien, some excellent classic western action that's filmed with a modern sense of realism (read: BLOOD SQUIBS), and great photography, locations, costumes and sets that give an overall feeling similar to that of Fulci's other 70's western, mentioned above. The musical score, overall, is great and befits the feel and tone, although the hippy-dippy theme song may mar it for some.For fans of Fulci and/or Italian westerns from the 70's, this is more than worth checking out...between this and "Four..." it's obvious the guy was up to something interesting and cool with his westerns during this time period, it's just too bad he didn't have a better sense of pacing and focus and evidently wasn't aware that you save your best tricks for the end of the movie, not the beginning.

I bought this movie in the early 1990's, saw it once, and then it had been lying on the shelf more than 10 years (approximately). When I finally brushed off the dust and decided to see it again (remembering absolutely nothing about it), I wasn't as disappointed as I first thought I would be after just looking at the video-cover and reading the words: "This is a real Gun-man Western!" and thinking it would be filled with cliches and stupid dialogue. The beginning was actually the best part in the movie, and I thought that it should have ended just when the little boy rode off into the sunset after the shootout.But no, they had to carry on for a whole hour after that!... in that hour, a romantic (meaningless of course) relationship occurs with Roy Blood and some woman (who actually looks quite pretty, I must say). Some bad guys suddenly appear from nowhere and of course feels like shooting it out with our hero Roy Blood (played by Giuliano Gemma). Geoffrey Lewis (who's the father of Juliette Lewis, and who has been in a whole bunch of Clint Eastwood-movies and other minor or major films) appears in a role as a sleazy guy called 'Snake' (I didn't even notice his name on the cast, because they had like 7 or 8 Italian no-names listed ahead of him!!), I thought he should have been at least the third-highest placed person on the cast overview list.The movie made me laugh a couple of times, even though I don't think it was intentionally by the director, except the hilarious ending which blew my mind completely!.. It was a truly amazing scene, one that saved the entire movie in my opinion...I give the first part of the movie 1/3 points (because I thought the daddy-killer looked like Johnny Cash, and he's cool), the middle section 2/4 points (because I was glad to see at least ONE familiar face in the movie [G. Lewis]), and the ending I give 2/3 (Well, you'll have to see it to believe it... even though some might think it is very ridiculous!)..All in all, a pretty average western, with a hokey plot, but okay if you don't have anything better to do with your time.5/10