Alicia
I love this movie so much
Erica Derrick
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Deanna
There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
batvette
I started watching this and thought oh, lord, another howler with every hokey cliché inherent to bad spaghetti westerns. Midway when we see the stunt men grabbing their bellies from feigned gut shots and doing the railing flip to land on their backs on balsa wood saloon tables, one has to wonder if there could be any other way to do it. However the story does develop to reveal some depth to both characters and plot. The clichés endure so don't expect any surprises by the time it's over, but enjoy this period piece as the simple story it was meant to be with a few standouts in the supporting cast roles, if not the lead. There are some memorable items in the soundtrack and the location work cinematography could be called exemplary. The credits state it's a Dino De Laurentis production with much of the shooting done in Rome, which does contradict some of the IMDb data, FWIW. All in all it's the kind of tale that Hollywood had so tired of by the mid sixties they'd have sent it up as a comedy romp with an all star cast cracking one liners- but with admirable humility the spaghetti western production crew delivered this with straight faced sincerity, as if they still believed in what they were doing. Considering that I give it 7 not 6 stars.
FightingWesterner
In The Hills Run Red, two Confederate thieves fleeing on a stagecoach draw cards to see which one will stay on the coach to lead their pursuers away and which one will jump off and hide with their fortune in stolen loot.Five years later the unlucky loser of that card draw (Thomas Hunter) is released from prison to find his destitute wife deceased and his son sent away by his former partner, breaking the promise the promise to take care of them that the now wealthy rancher made to his friend.Overall, this is worth viewing despite being saddled with a wooden lead performance by Hunter (cast for his passing resemblance to Clint Eastwood?) and a less than spectacular script.It's made enjoyable by some gorgeous photography (the canyon bushwhack/stampede scene a standout), an excellent score by an uncredited Ennio Morricone, and good support by Dan Duryea and black-leather clad villain Henry Silva.I wonder if this was an inspiration for John Woo's A Better Tomorrow.
ovindpugh
First of all,I'd have to say:That this is one of the most under rated Spaghetti Westerns of all times.It is a revenge story with incredible performances from Actors,Screenplay,and Stunt performances.Even the dubbing is superb.Thomas Hunter is great,and of course Henry Silva.It has all the good ingredients a good Western should have,yet it does not have the typical violence,and what we got from Leone and Corbucci,in general.Lizzani shows us a typical revenge story,with wonderful dialog and great music from Morricone.It's a real paradox that the Italians made better Westerns than the Americans did,after The Wild Bunch etc.(just an example).Just take a look at the Horror Master Mario Bava and what he did for the Horror genre! Long live Carlo Lizzani,and for being a fan of a genre that sadly died out during the 70's.Long live Italian Cinema!
spider89119
This movie is a very good revenge tale told in great spaghetti western fashion. There's plenty of action, violence, over-the-top emotion, and some great music from Ennio Morricone.The best performance in the movie comes from Henry Silva as uber-creep Mendez. You can almost see the slime oozing out of him. As an added bonus Thomas Hunter has a few funny lines thanks to some strange bad dubbing, and his facial expressions go along with it very well, adding to the unintentional humor. Nicoletta Machiavelli is hauntingly beautiful as Mary Ann.The ending is a great action packed "against all odds" showdown with lots of suspense, bullets, and dynamite.Overall, this is a very engaging and entertaining film which I wholeheartedly recommend to all hardcore fans of Italian westerns.
