Lucio Fulci's White Fang must have been a hit, because Tonino Ricci made an unofficial sequel to it, casting Franco Nero lookalike (if you squint a bit) Maurizio Merli as the hero. This was Maurizio's break-out role and he would go on to punch 96% of the male population of Italy in the face in various Euro-crime films. Good call, Tonino!Maurizio was just minding his business up in the mountains when his faithful dog/wolf (just a dog really) White Fang alerts him to the fact that his best mate, who has just struck gold, has been murdered and robbed by bandits Donald O'rien and Luciano Rossi (who is dubbed by a Peter Lorre soundalike for good measure). These two head off to the local town where evil businessman Henry Silva learns that there might be a gold seam out there, hooks up with the bad guys, and starts scheming against Maurizio, who has assumed his mate's identity and come to town looking for revenge. On reflection the only reason I can think of him stealing the identity is to set up a couple of sub-plots.You see, a kid who has just lost his mother has wandered into town looking for his dad, and guess who that now is? Maurizio has to pretend to be this kid's father, is hitting on a local woman who was taking care of the kid, and is also trying to keep a low profile from local Mountie Renzo Palmer, who is deeply suspicious of everything that's going on. Tonino Ricci is a bit of an erratic director. For everyone good one like Night of The Sharks we get a never ending snore-fest like his Close Encounters rip-off Encounters in the Deep. He does good here though, and seems to realise that everyone was going to get bored with the stolen identity thing, so he switches to a cross-country trace when Maurizio's son is kidnapped, with the Mounties chasing Maurizio. For those thinking 'wasn't this about a dog/wolf' there's plenty of dog action, mostly (thankfully) not involving other animals. This dog can lead horses around, untie knots, bark an awful lot and turn into a dummy dog when falling off a cliff!

Here's a lower-budgeted sequel to Lucio Fulci's near classic WHITE FANG of 1972, which spawned an official sequel and lots of cheaper imitations made by the likes of trash auteurs Joe D'Amato, Alfonso Brescia, and this film's director and my personal favourite of the bunch, Tonino Ricci. Ricci was a man who dabbled in the genres throughout the late '60s and early '70s before finding his niche as an action director, giving the world such classics as THE SHARK'S CAVE and RUSH THE ASSASSIN in the early '80s. Despised by many, Ricci can always be relied upon to deliver a cheesy, action-packed escapade and WHITE FANG TO THE RESCUE (an obscure item thankfully now seeing the light of day thanks to an el cheapo DVD release in 2001) is no exception, packing lots of chases, shoot-outs, and fist-fights into its predictable but appealing storyline.Most of the appeal comes from the exploitation cast which nearly equals that of Fulci's first shaggy dog story. Any fan of Italian cult movies will see lots of familiar faces popping up but more on that later. First up is the visual appeal of the film which makes great use of supposedly Alaskan locations (actually filmed in Austria I think, like the rest of this unofficial sub-genre), all snowy hillsides, bleak forests, and small mining towns. You can almost smell the atmosphere and the chilly setting is a nice change from the scorching dry locales of the spaghetti western. The script makes some fine attempts at characterisation and the decent dubbing makes it easier to take the on screen activities more seriously than usual. Although there are no special effects aside from a couple of dodgy shots, Ricci creates an impressive movie by focusing on the acting and actors. Sure the action isn't top-notch but it involves people we get to know and love (or indeed hate in the case of the baddies) which makes it interesting and darned entertaining.The one thing I didn't like about this movie is the bear-baiting sequence which is nearly as bad as the animal snuff seen in the Italian cannibal genre which surfaced five years after this movie was released. In it a chained bear is repeatedly attacked and mauled by an Alsatian dog (supposedly White Fang) with both animals trading blows and bites. Very hard stuff to watch and dwelled upon far too long, this is both distasteful and cheap exploitational film-making at its lowest. Ah well, what more can you say? Some people would film anything for a buck and it makes for the film's one true moment of horror. WHITE FANG TO THE RESCUE is worth sitting through to be gobsmacked at the hilarious conclusion, set in the middle of nowhere, which sees bloody battles, men shot dead, and the villain being savaged and brutalised by the dog before his lifeless body - or perhaps that of a dummy - drifts down the river. White Fang goes on to save the life of a boy hanging off the edge of a cliff. Here the funniest moment of the film comes - Fang slips himself and falls in, leading to a quick cut of a what looks like a sack of potatoes, covered in fur, being chucked into a river! A hilariously inept effect and one which had me reaching for the rewind button.Cast-wise the lead is taken by Franco Nero look alike Maurizio Merli playing a character incredibly called Benjamin Dover! Merli appears in his breakthrough performance here and his first hard-edged leading man role although he's noticeably softer and more likable than in his bad-mannered "Inspector Berti" type roles in the Italian polizia genre which made him famous. Saying that he still gets to engage in plenty of fisticuffs so Merli fans are well served. Meanwhile the supporting cast is made up of the attractive Gisela Hahn as the icy love interest and the inimitable Henry Silva as the scary bad guy, one of my favourite screen villains just because of his evil intense ol' face. Finally there are two great turns from Donald O'Brien and Luciano Rossi as a sleazy pair of bandits - the latter has a very amusing dubbed voice that makes him an unforgettable character. The cast is an added bonus and enhances this family adventure tale into being something good and worthwhile.

WHITE FANG is an exciting adventure set in Alaska during Gold Rush . This adventure movie is set at the end 19th Century , in the Klondike region of Yukon, Canada . It has as starring the wolf-dog named White Fang , as when his master is killed by two nasties (Donald O'Brien ,Luciano Rossi), then warns another prospector named Burt Halloway . After that , the dog teams up the avenger prospector (Maurizio Merli) who changes his identity with the deceased and as he seeks revenge the killer his previous partner . Meanwhile , the murdered prospector's son arrives to the small gold town named Dawson City and befriends the wolf-dog . There the little boy meets a gorgeous girl , the saloon owner( Gisela Hahan who acted in ¨They call me Trinity¨) and Burt falls in love with her . The prospector and his faithful mate , the wolf-dog, attempt to stop the evildoer, an ambitious, snarling businessman (Henry Silva replacing to John Steiner from original film ) and hoodlum( Benito Stefanelli , also master of arms and stuntman ). They're deceiving of faking manner to the prospector by means of stealing the map of the Alaskan gold mine and to profit from him .This following to ¨Lucio Fulci's White Fang ¨(with Franco Nero , Virna Lisi and Fernando Rey ) is a tepid and light-hearted adventure about known and classic novel by Jack London. Lumpy blend of adventures, action , villainy, though needlessly violent and aimed to young people . The film is loosely based on the novel by Jack London , though differs significantly from the book but this is an invented version , however remains the essential elements as the young-dog friendship , the gold rush , spectacular outdoors and locations and several moving scenes . The talent of diverse and wasting casting is redeemed in part for the spectacular outdoors filmed on Austrian landscapes . It's a passable sequel that maintains the charm and adventure style of the previous film but still makes for decent juvenile amusement . Weak screenplay from Giovanni Simonelli and Sandro Continenza who wrote in similar similar style to former movie . Atmospheric and evocative musical score by Carlo Rustichelli who also composed ¨White Fang¨ . The film is rated PG-13 (Parents guide), because contains some violent scenes about killing, a cruel fighting between bear and dog and brutal biting . The motion picture is regularly directed by Tonino Ricci, a below average director who in the 90s also realized other dog-films as ¨Buck¨ with John Savage and ¨Buck and the magic bracelet ¨ with Matt McCoy . Other adaptations about Jack London classic are : ¨Call of the wild ¨ by Ken Annakin with Charlton Heston , White Fang(1991)by Randal Kleiser with Ethan Kawke as young prospector and Klaus Maria Brandauer, and The return of White Fang(1994) by Ken Olin with Scott Bairstow and once again Ethan Hawke. Rating : acceptable and passable.

Tonino Ricci. A name that inspires consternation among Italian genre movies lovers. He's touched all the genres, and yet most of his movies are unknown to the general public and hard to locate, even for patient seekers.This spaghetti western he has shot features Maurizio Merli in the lead, along with an impressive cast that includes Donald O'Brien and Henry Silva. It involves Merli, a gold seeker living in the Canadian woods, trying to avenge his best friend's death by litterally stealing his name and identity and trying to find the killers in town. He will inherit both his best friend's dog (White Fang) and his son (Kim) and will have to deal with all these new relationships while trying to find his thugs.Silva is once again very stone-faced as the town's main gangster, always a coward, just like the character played by Donald O'Brien. The dog "playing" White Fang does neat tricks here, but he constantly barks and that becomes very irritating after a while.Nice locations, but the city seems okay, while as soon as a three is showing, the ground is inevitably covered in snow ! A slight contrast we soon forget as soon as Ricci's camera dives into Gisela Hahn's cleavage.Overall a satisfying spaghetti western, impregnated with routine film making and the usual revenge cliches. Watch out for Renzo Palmer's mountie punch in the face !