This has one of those great, totally irrelevant exploitation titles. Granted, there is actually a Sheriff in this film, but at no point is there any suggestion that there's anything resembling a coffin for him. In fact, he's rather peripheral to the main of the storyline - so making him the centrepiece of the title is entirely inappropriate. You might as well call it 'A free whisky for the dusty old alcoholic with the annoying voice dubbed by the same guy who dubs all dusty old alcoholics in Spaghetti Westerns'. But anyway, I digress.

Lupe Rojo (Armando Calvo) heads a gang of brigands who make their money from holding up stagecoaches, raiding banks and a variety of other illicit activities. They also seem to spend a large amount of time hanging around in the local bar, where a couple of them observe a stranger arrive. Noticing that he's carrying a substantial wad of money they challenge him to a poker game. They win, but only after he's left do they notice that their winnings are counterfeit. They let this pass as there are more pressing events afoot, namely a daring break-in at the bank. After this is over some witnesses observe the stranger, Shenandoah (Anthony Steffen), helping a wounded man away from the scene of the crime.

It seems as though he wants to join up with Rojo's men. They're doubtful as to whether he can be trusted, but the fact that he was in possession of forged loot works in his favour, as does his claim to have carried out a recent bank job in another town. As an initiation test they force him to play a sadistic game of 'hunt the Indian' in which he, armed with two bullets, is forced to hunt down and kill a member of the gang who is armed with twelve. Just before his opponent dies (and whilst no one else is looking) he forcefully asks about a stagecoach robbery in Omaha from two years previously.

Their next plan is to attack and loot the home of wealthy rancher, Wilson (Jorge Rigaud). Unfortunately, Wilson is an old friend of Shenandoah's, so he is forced to ride ahead and warn him. When Rojo and his men are summarily repelled they become understandably suspicious of their newest recruit and, noting that we're almost three-quarters of the way through the film, decide it's about time to beat shit out of him. Customarily bruised, bleeding and incapacitated, Shenandoah reveals that he's seeking the man who had murdered his wife in the aforementioned stagecoach robbery.

I thoroughly enjoyed this early genre entry from prolific director Mario Caiano, who would go on to collaborate with Steffen on several other occasions (Ringo the Face of Revenge (66), A Train for Durango and The Name that Cried for Revenge (both 68)). It's a gritty effort, with very little humour - well, apart from the sight of the great Eduardo Fajardo running around with a hilarious peroxide job, that is. It doesn't deviate from the standard revenge scenario, but that doesn't really matter as it's all delivered in a fine, frivolity free style that is suitably engaging.

The cast all do their jobs well. Apart from Steffen and Fajardo there's also a good turn from Armando Calvo, as a slightly less bellicose bandito than we are used to. Arturo Dominici also has a good role as a slimy lawyer who's given up his profession to become an outlaw. Future genre star Peter Lee Lawrence apparently crops up uncredited, but I'm darned if I could see him anywhere.

Overall, then, this is a good example of a Spaghetti Western from the time before the gimmicks (both stylistic and plotwise) started to creep in. Thoroughly content with just telling it's rip-roaring story it's hardly groundbreaking, but never less than efficient.