Please don't spend money on this.

A Disappointing Continuation

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

The movie centers on a Mexican revolutionary nicknamed Tepepa (a likable Tomas Milian) who joins forces an outlaw band during the Mexican revolutionary war by time of the president Madero (played by a Spaghetti usual secondary , Francisco Sanz) . The Mexican guerrilla leader Tepepa wielding his Mauser gun and his gang fight against colonel Cascorro (special appearance of Orson Welles). When illiterate Tepepa is about to be executed , there appears a serious and smooth-talking British doctor named Henry Price (the blond John Steiner) and saves him from a firing squad . Later on , starring duo , Milian-Steiner , undergo a strange relation of friendship and hatred . But someone prepares a relentless vendetta on a surprising final .It's a magnificent western film with dazzling shootouts between the protagonists and the contenders . This film belongs to the numerous group that are set during the Mexican revolution , called ¨Zapata Western sub-genre¨ , like are the Italian ones : ¨ Duck you sucker¨ ,¨Compañeros¨ , ¨The mercenary ¨ and the Americans : ¨The wild bunch and ¨The professionals¨. ¨Tepepa¨ results to be the swan-song of this sub-genre . The picture blends violence , western action , plot twists and shoot'em up with high body-count . ¨Tepepa¨ is fast movement and that's why it is entertaining ; besides , there is thoughtful dialog with an intelligent writing by Franco Solinas , an author of communist ideology who wrote political screenplays such classics as ¨The battle of Argel¨ and ¨I'm the Revolution¨ , the latter bears remarkable resemblance on some issues to ¨Tepepa¨ . The Cuban Tomas Milian , as usual , puts faces , grimaces , crying and overacting , but he plays splendidly in a similar character to ¨Cuchillo¨ from the trilogy directed by Sergio Sollima . Tomas created his own image and propelled himself to stardom in likewise fashion with such important Spaghetti movies as The Bounty Killer (1966) , The Big Gundown (1967) with Lee Van Cleef , Face to Face (1967) , Django Kill! (1967) and Run, Man, Run (1968). Enjoyable score by the great maestro composer Ennio Morricone who composed lots of Spaghetti Western scores , it contains a sensitive musical leitmotif . There are many fine technicians and nice assistants as the splendid cameraman Francisco Marin who makes an atmospheric photography , including barren outdoors , dirty landscapes under a glimmer sun , being shot , of course , on location in Almeria , Spain . However , being necessary and perfect remastering because of the original copy is worn-out . The motion picture was well directed by Giulio Petroni who filmed another classic Italian western as ¨Death rides a horse¨ , though also shot other inferior but acceptable Spaghettis as ¨Night of serpent¨ and ¨A sky full of stars for a roof¨. Rating : Above average S.W. , worthwhile seeing .

The American version of "Death Rides A Horse" director Guilio Petroni's "Tepepa" qualifies as utterly egregious. Something is missing because everything seems truncated, and the European cut runs about twenty minutes longer. Mind you, this realistic but adventurous Italian Spaghetti western about the Mexican revolution resembles later westerns, such as Sergio Corbucci's "The Mercenary," Sergio Corbucci's "Companeros," Damiano Damiani's "A Bullet for the General," and Sergio Leone's "Duck, You Sucker." Unfortunately, watching the VHS copy is like looking through a keyhole at life because this was filmed in Techniscope at 2.35.1 so each shot looks spectacular. During the letterboxed opening credits sequence, the visual compositions of "The Texican" lenser Francisco Marín are breathtaking, endowing this mangled Spaghetti with great look. Nevertheless, despite its being mutilated, "Tepepa" looks like it might be a good movie. The peasant army ambush of the Mexican Army is nothing short of brilliant. Orson Welles makes a genuinely menacing villain who is proved better off dead than alive. Not surprisingly, Tomas Milian of "The Big Gundown" makes a charismatic as well as introspective revolutionary leader. We watch the bandit change during the trajectory of the action. The English doctor is the ultimate villain because he never wavers from his vow to kill the Milian revolutionary figure. The theme that recurs through the Franco Silanos screenplay is revenge. Interestingly, Silanos wrote both "The Mercenary" and "A Bullet for the General" so this is familiar turf for him. Everybody seems like they are after revenge, from the outsider British doctor who renounces his oath as a doctor to kill an enemy to the messiah but flawed bandit Tepepa who resumes the revolution when he sees how the Army controls the president. Petroni and Solinas dwell on the injustices wrought by the revolution in the on-going clash of the haves and the have-nots. The ending and the unsavory quality of the British doctor and the Mexican revolutionary may alienate some audiences. This is not a cheerful, but rather a serious Spaghetti western about the disillusion that came with the end of the revolution and the realization that hundreds of good men had died to put a good man into the presidency who was later manipulated by the evil men.Although it ostensibly resembles a western, this Spaghetti belongs to the Mexican Revolution subgenre of political Italian westerns. The third act when Tepepa and his revolutionaries ambush the Mexican Army is is model of economy and violence. Petroni develops tension and suspense in this scene and stages the ambush with flair, right down to explosives soaring into our faces. Moreover, however, are the levels of sophisication that flow within the contours of this terrific scene. As the Army approaches the pass, everybody grows tense and suspicious. Suddenly, everything seem tranquil now because the army column has relaxed itself. The Mexican Colonel thinks about this aloud as relief sweeps over the column when several women driving goats approach from the north. The seasoned officer sees danger where his men now see no danger and he orders them to shoot the women tending the flock. The soldiers shoot them women down, but the goats have had time to infiltrate the column and they are wearing sticks of dynamite. BOOM!Ennio Morricone is a musical sensation. Since he worked with Sergio Leone on "Fistful of Dollars," he created the signature musical sound of the Spaghetti western. The soundtracks that he produced often enhanced an inferior western. The distinctive sound of Morricone is something that nobody could or should imitate. Don't get me wrong, other outstanding composers, like Gianni Ferroi, Luis Enríquez Bacalov, Riz Ortolani, Angelo Francesco Lavagnino, Nico Fidenco, Francesco De Masi and Benedetto Ghiglia, thrived during the Spaghetti western years. The Ennio Morricone orchestral soundtrack is above the maestro's towering standards. The piano rift and the marching music is memorable.

This movie is unusual, even by spaghetti western standards. It's not strange in an obvious, over-the-top sort of way like "El Topo." "Tepepa" is more subtle in the way that it plays with your head.One of the more common traits of Italian westerns in general is the lack of the old-fashioned "good guy" type of character, and "Tepepa" is certainly no exception to the rule, but this movie takes it a step further than most. In most Euro-westerns, even though there is no "good guy" per se, there still exists a hero that is someone the viewer will root for. This hero can range from the likable kind-hearted outlaw like "Blondie" from "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" to the leader of a ruthless murdering gang of thieves like "Black Jack" from the movie "Black Jack." Usually this hero or "anti-hero" ends up getting his revenge on the other scoundrel or scoundrels who have done him wrong, and the viewer of the film ends up very satisfied at the end. This movie turns that whole spaghetti western scenario inside-out in the same way that the "traditional" spaghetti western turns the "traditional" Hollywood western on its head.In the beginning, Tomas Milian as "Tepepa" becomes the "hero" we instinctively root for. He is a killer, but it's in the name of revolution. He is trying to free his people from the tyranny of the greedy land-owners, and we see the English doctor that wants to kill him as being just a misguided man who will eventually do what's "right" and join forces with Tepepa and the revolution. But soon we begin to discover the reason why the Englishman wants to kill Tepepa, and after that, the movie begins to slowly destroy all of our preconceptions about, and attachments to, the characters in the story. The film ends up being very unsettling because we are left with no protagonist, and just feel kind of weird about everyone and everything in the film. To top it all off, the innocent ten-year-old boy (when one appears in a spaghetti western, he almost always ends up being killed) in this movie is the most cold-hearted person in the film, and he is the only main character that survives! Tepepa is a very well-made film. The acting is excellent. Tomas Milian is great, as usual. This is a very serious western, as opposed to some of his others which have funny moments, but he plays this type of character very well, whether being humorous or not. I strongly disagree with some of the other reviewers who are critical of Orson Welles' performance in this movie. He is incredible in this film as Colonel Cascorro, the drunken, swaggering, yet soft-spoken strong-arm of the oppressive Mexican government who is out to destroy Tepepa and the revolution. Yes he mumbles at times, but that adds so much to the personality of the character, and makes him more believable. There are only a few words here and there that are hard to understand, and it doesn't interfere with ones ability to understand what's going on in the film. He plays the part with brilliant subtlety. He's like the antithesis of the usual over-the-top spaghetti western thug. Then there is Luciano Casamonica as Paquito, the aforementioned ten-year-old (approximately) boy. We start to get the hint that he's no ordinary spaghetti western child when he fails to shed a tear when his father is killed, then rides home with Tepepa who has just killed him. Later on we learn that Paquito is capable of killing without much of a reason, and showing absolutely no remorse, yet he still has this aura of innocence about him. Casamonica pulls this off quite convincingly for an actor of his age. The music score is great, as is to be expected since it is by the master, Ennio Morricone. The cinematography is also top-notch. This was definitely meant to be a quality production.Other reviewers have commented that the US video version is drastically cut, which may account for the poor scores this movie has gotten. I don't know because I haven't seen that version. This review is based on a widescreen version that seems to be complete.For those that love spaghetti westerns, this is a must-see film that is well worth seeking out.

If you like action-packed westerns, then you'll be in for a treat when you see the marvelous masterpiece, "Blood and Guns." It has a great cast, fantastic acting, and it takes a common "good guys vs. bad guys" plot and turns it into a memorable viewing experience through humor, tragedy, and most importantly, Orson Welles. There has never been a film like this before or after its release. It's a true original! What other movie uses billy goats strapped with dynamite to attract the enemy? What other movie shows Orson Welles shooting at a man on a horse going around a little red car in cirlces? None. There is an evil doctor with a chin bigger than Jay Leno's. There is a great battle scene between the peasants and the mexican brown-suits. Tomas Milian, who played Tomas F. Dobb in a spanish version of "Revolution", is the man with the big black sombrero who taunts Orson Welles until he learns his lesson from the big man himself. There's the naive mexican boy. The frightened citizens. The violence. And Orson Welles, who actuually trips near the end of the film and the director left it in. A classic! It's very hard to find. Get it if you can.