The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I appreciate the DVD for this film very much. It seems that the original American version was not the same as the Italian release. So, in this restoration, the missing bits have been added. But, since it was so many years later that it was reassembled, the new portions have captions--not dubbed like the rest of the film. Some may dislike this, but I like that you can note what was and wasn't in the original release.The film begins with four small-time misfits sharing a jail cell--a gambler (Fabio Testi), a pregnant prostitute (Lynne Frederick), a drunk (Michael J. Pollard) and a crazy man (Harry Baird). They are eventually thrown out of town and find themselves in the inhospitable countryside. Considering how hot and dry it is, it seems that their troubles MAY be over when they meet up with a hippie-esque guy named Chaco (Tomas Milian). Chaco is amazing with the gun and soon they have plenty to eat and they have every reason to be happy. But the gambler seems to reserve his judgment here--and soon you learn it's for good reason. Chaco is a maniac--and he soon begins terrorizing them and quickly kills a posse looking for him. Now, all trussed up, the three friends can only sit back when Chaco rapes the lady. He then leaves them to die--without horses and in the middle of nowhere. What's next? Well, watch the film--as there's a lot more to follow in this odd little Italian western.Although I enjoyed this film, it had a very sloppy quality about the film. Continuity was often a problem. In one case, it's warm and they're in a desert when a woman goes into labor--suddenly they're in a snow-filled town! Also, the women appears through most of the film to be, at most, 4-5 months pregnant--then gives birth to a healthy baby. It's also NOT a film for kid--with lots of blood, rape, unintentional cannibalism and more! The thing that bothered me most, however, was the awful hippie-style music with the dreadful singing--very sappy and very 1970s.But there also was quite a bit to like. The film, at times, had some real heart. I liked the portion set in the mining town--the miners were great characters and offered a nice contrast to all the violence early in the film. Also, the character development of several in the film (such as the gambler and the drunk) was nice--very nice. An oddly moving film that, with a bit of editing and cleanup, could have been a classic.By the way, I did think it was odd that the western began in a lawless town in Utah. I am sure there were some, but considering Utah was mostly filled with Mormons at that time, this did seem a bit unlikely. Also, the prostitute (Lynne Frederick) was once married to Peter Sellers as well as David Frost. This beautiful lady died very, very young--apparently from the effects of drugs and alcohol.

A weird, ambitious western opus from Lucio Fulci, a veteran of the horror genre best known to western fans as the director of Franco Nero's MASSACRE TIME. (His signature horror pic is probably 1979's ZOMBIE.) Fulci here delivers an episodic, dreamy, somewhat languorous picture, marked by bursts of emotion and drama.We find gambler Stubby (Fabio Testi) tossed in a jail cell with a hopeless drunk; a loopy, hallucination-prone black man; and a winsome prostitute. During a raid on the town, the four prisoners are set free to escape, and wander the desert to ponder their next move.(Spoilers follow:) In a series of vignettes, the group discovers the prostitute's pregnancy, meets up with a pack of religious settlers, is set upon by cruel bandit Tomas Milian, holes up in an abandoned town during a rainstorm, aid in the delivery of the baby, and eventually have a showdown with Milian. This might seem like a pretty straightforward checklist of events, but the presentation and mood of the picture make it all feel like a fevered, surreal dream.The cast features some familiar faces in fine performances: Testi (A/K/A Stet Carson) is handsome and charismatic. We expect Stubby to be a cocky wisecracker, he turns out to be pensive and brooding: Testi's wide-eyed good looks are perfect for the character. Michael Pollard (of BONNIE AND CLYDE) is appropriately pathetic as the town drunk; Harry Baird, who I know from TRINITY AND SARTANA, THOSE SONS OF... does a great job of being earnest and bright-eyed at the start and escalating into full-on freak-out. As the mysterious and evil bandit Chaco, Tomas Milian is mesmerizing as always, and brings a rock-star swagger to the part of a merciless thug.The direction by Fulci is such that scenes shift from one setting to the next rather jarringly; we may go from a dusty, sun-drenched vista to a fog-heavy valley just like that. It helps to paint the story as a weird, disorienting dream. You can almost imagine that the four leads are being depicted making their way through the afterlife, or purgatory, or judgment of some kind. Not a straightforward narrative, but really engrossing.There is not much action or western-style stunt-work in the picture; however, several scenes of violence are conveyed with the aid of very gory, bloody makeup effects, which are shocking but effective. The unusual song score also aids in the film's impact. Several soft-rock-style narrative songs, whose lyrics mimic the action on screen, are initially unexpected and off-putting but seem to fit well the more you hear them. The songs are done in English by what sounds like a typical mid-70s acoustic rock ensemble, led by composers Vince Tempera and Massimo DeLuca.I would suggest this to Fulci fans first and foremost. But definitely not for newcomers to the Spaghetti West, you folks should see MASSACRE TIME by Fulci instead. Also, if you are a fan of dream-like, trippy western epics like KEOMA or of David Lynch-style weirdness, you might want to take a look.B-/C+, 6.5 out of 10 stars.

Four strangers meet in the Salt Flat jail, and are bonded out by one, a gambler named Stubby (Fabio Testi). The other members of the group in Lucio Fulci's western are Bunny (Lynne Frederick), a pregnant prostitute, Clem (Michael J. Pollard), a drunk, and Bud (Harry Baird), who is apparently a few beers short of a six pack.They escape town and head 200 miles away to start over when they are met by Chaco (Tomas Milian), who is pretty handy with a gun, but appears to be more handy with a knife when he is skinning the Sheriff.Chaco feeds them an hallucinogen and ties them up. He proceeds to rape Bunny and leave them for dead.The journey continues and the party dies one by one until there is only one left - one bent on revenge.Good acting by Testi and Milian. The only drawback was the fact that I watched the American version, which had almost 20 minutes cut from the original.

I'm a fan of Fulci's work but until now had only ever seen the splatter movies from his mid- to-late career. On the basis of this, I will dig deeper and check out more of his earlier films.This is a very strange Western, beautifully shot with a bizarre psychedelic score. Performances are good, theatrical and a little overblown (the dubbing never helps), but they fit well within this unusual morality play.The film is loaded with symbolism, concerned with themes of birth, death and redemption. Fulci was an artful director when he wanted to be, but never concerned himself with linear plots. The story here is easier to follow, but takes an interesting turn towards the end when Stubby and Bunny find the town populated by men. Pacing up to this point was sharp, but here things did drag a little.There are some well-handled action sequences, a little hard-boiled violence (but leagues away from the incredible sadism of something like 'New York Ripper') and some humorous touches, mainly provided by the character of Clem, the town drunk. The whole thing has an acid-fried feel that's a bit redolent of Jodorowsky.Worthy of repeated viewings and further study. The conventions of the Western have provided a great canvas for many auteurs - Fulci makes the most of stock characters and visual cues, imbuing them with all the sub-text he wanted to get across.I'll definitely check out 'Massacre Time' after this. Anyone who's been bored or insulted by the director's later stuff like 'Voices From Beyond' should watch this and see the full breadth of the grumpy old feller's ability.