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aka Perche Uccidi Ancora? (I), ¿Por qué seguir matando? (Es)
1965
Italy/Spain
Vincenzo Musolino for Atoma Film (Italy) and Balcázar Producciones Cinematográficas S.A (Spain)
Director: Jose Antonio De La Loma, Eduardo Mulargia
Script: : Vicenzo Musolino, Jose Antonio De La Loma
Music: Felice di Stefano
Photography: Vitaliano Natalucci
Editor: Enzo Alabiso
Art director: Alfredo Montori
Original running time: 88 mins
Spanish takings: 63.536,58 €
Cast : Anthony Steffen [Antonio De Teffe] (Stephen MacDougall), Evelyn Stewart [Ida Galli] (Judy MacDougall), Pepe Calvo (Lopez), Aldo Berti, Hugo Blanco, Jose Torres, Franco Pesce, Jennifer Crowe [Gemma Cuervo] (Pilar Lopez), Luis Induni, Stanley Kent [Stelio Candelli], Ivan Giovanni Scratuglia, Willy Colombini, Lino Desmond, Armando Guarnieri, Ignazio Leone
This 1965 spaghetti western benefits from a personable cast and a memorable pre-credit sequence but, excepting this, has little to raise it from the norm. That said, it runs along easily enough and features some captivating photography.
After his father is murdered, Stephen (Anthony Steffen) deserts from the army to return home and seek revenge. It turns out that the killer is Lopez (Pepe/Jose Calvo), a wealthy land baron and gun smuggler who had instructed each of his men to shoot one bullet into the unfortunate victim. Soon enough, Stephen is blasting his way through the villain's men and a few further background details are being furnished; Lopez's daughter (Jennifer Crowe) and Stephen had been lovers, a relationship which had caused an escalating feud between the two families.
The proverbial shit really hits the fan, however, when Lopez's son is killed in a showdown. The devastated patriarch enlists the help of a hired gun, the gringo (Aldo Berti), a bad move in that the guy is pretty obviously a complete psycho. Lots of people proceed to chase each other around with guns, a couple of military policemen turn up and virtually everybody dies. Finito.
Everything is handled with the requisite skill necessary, with a nice soundtrack by Di Stefano, and it all looks gorgeous. De La Loma is generally better known for his 80's action films, such as Killing Machine (La Máquina de matar, 84) and Counterforce (Escuadrón, 87), often starring static beefcake Jorge Rivero. Here he keeps things yoghurt smooth and manages to convey a fine sense of the isolating spaciousness of the wild, wild west. A criticism that is inescapable is that there is a gross tendency towards repetitiveness, with too many gunfights and "climaxes" running too close together. It should be remembered that the peaks seem higher if viewed from the valleys.
Ida Galli seemed to have an awful time in these movies, with her characters being continually raped, beaten and abused. Fortunately, during the giallo trend that followed she managed to play an assortment of cold bitches (for instance in The Sweet Body of Deborah (Il dolce corpo di Deborah, 67) working her way through most of the actors who had previously played her tormentors.
Matt B
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