Death Rides a Horse (1967)

This is without question one of the best Spaghetti westerns. Where is a decent print of this movie? The print quality form the ones for sale on DVD are atrocious! I had to borrow a decent vhs taped off AMC to see how it should really look. Lee van Cleef is superb, one of his best jobs after "For a few dollars more" Also fantastic score by Morricone, almost avant garde in some spots. Great one liners abound and special kudos to veteran bad guy Anthony Dawson for the most histrionic death scene ever, which is preceeded by three overly dramatized notes on the piano. And the ending manages to be quite touching. Brilliant!!

Fmovies: This is one of the most legendary Spaghetti Western titles (also because, until recently, it was so difficult to watch in decent form having fallen into the Public Domain), a fine revenge drama well handled by former documentarist Petroni (this was his first genre effort) - though it's somewhat overlong and slowly-paced to boot!

Once again, we have the tension-filled relationship between two unlikely characters - one the experienced and betrayed ex-con Lee Van Cleef and the other the brash and hate-filled youth John Philip Law - both gunning after the same gang seeking revenge. They're not exactly allies but when one hasn't preceded the other and their paths cross, they tend to help each other out (though it's more often Van Cleef who has to watch over the still-green Law); in one memorable and oft re-used scene, the latter is interred up to his neck and left to the mercy of insects, vultures and the scorching desert sun! The villains include Euro-Cult favorite Luigi Pistilli (his role here was basically replicated for Sergio Corbucci's THE GREAT SILENCE [1968]) and veteran British actor Anthony Dawson.

The twist at the end - also one which has seen much service, particularly in recent thrillers - is very effective, threatening to dissolve the growing friendship between the two men (Van Cleef has actually come to consider Law as the son he never had!) and which compels them to a face-off (with surprising results). Ennio Morricone's odd and mostly vocal score was actually utilized by Quentin Tarantino for his KILL BILL (2003/4) saga.

I had first watched this via a PD-release and this re-acquaintance came by way of a VHS recording off Cable TV, still in an English-dubbed (though, at least, featuring the leads' own voices) pan-and-scan version; I was aware that the film had been issued on R2 DVD by MGM, though I wasn't sure if the Italian track was included. Still, in spite of the lowly price, the utter lack of extras has dissuaded me from a purchase - given that it's yet to receive an official release on R1 and it may very well turn up in a SE from Italy (the director's subsequent film, TEPEPA [1968; reviewed below], received the deluxe 2-Disc treatment, with Petroni himself contributing an intermittent Audio Commentary!)...

This is probably one of the better "spaghetti" westerns to come along ... far better than the putrid "Django" series with Italian actor, Franco Nero...

The scenery chewing Lee van Cleef is perfect as the avenging angel to beautiful blue eyed hunky ingenue, John Phillip Law, who must have captured the hearts of the director of photography with that sweet face of his because there are so many intense closeups of his pretty blue eyes that it dominates half the movie ...

Nonetheless, the movie is about John's character, Bill, who as a child, witnesses the robbery, rape & murder of his family by Van Cleef and his less than band of merry men .. who subsequently leave Cleef's character to take the blame and force him to 15 years of hard slave labour in a chain gang ... but, after his release he goes on a revenge bend and tracks down his former mates ..

He manages to meet up with Bill and at first the two spare off at each other like a snake & mongoose, but, they come to trust each other from a distance, in as much, as busting each other out of jail, to ultimately team up to take down the motley gang ....

Along the way, there are a lot of stringy musical interludes teamed up with intense facial closeup shots to show either grief or fear or anger .. which closely resemble as the same expression, but this movie is still one of the best tried and true and the surprise ending left me jumping out of my seat wanting to fast forward to the end just to see how Law & Cleef finally gel..

I would highly recommend this film as pure cinematic genius counseled with fine acting and great supporting characters .. Pedro and Paco are so bad they're good ..

Fans of John Phillip Law will not be disappointed, well, maybe by his monotone panned John Wayne vocal impression, but his pretty face and great body in those pants of his, paired with the gun belt, will make you wish that time crept slowly ... so you could stare at him a little while longer..

Lee Van Cleef shirtless or stripped to his waist is twice the bonus ..

This film is a gem .. highly recommended .. 8/10 all the way :-)

Death Rides a Horse fmovies. Can you beat a title like that? 'Death Rides a Horse...' Only the Italians could come up with something like that.

Western vengeance tale with John Phillip Law going after those who murdered his family, 15 years after the fact. Van Cleef has a connection to these murders which will become apparent towards the end of the film. I won't give away the spoiler, here.

What must have been shocking and brutal for 1967 was the fact that white men were shown to gun down women and children, something a Hollywood western would never touch unless they were depicting the Indians doing it. That was OK since they were bloodthirsty, heathen savages who had no morals and could be portrayed as such.

But for 'civilized' white men to do so, that was a no-no. No wonder John Wayne hated these kinds of westerns. They threw the 'code of the west' right out the window.

Putting aside Van Cleef's appearance in Leone's westerns, I would rate this one as high as 'The Big Gundown' (1967) and 'Sabata' (1970) as my all-time favorites.

And yes, the Morricone score goes well with the film. Especially the scenes where Ryan (Van Cleef) has just walked out the door of a prison and is buying the horse, and later when he meets Bill (Law) for the first time (as an adult) on his farm. Man, that score is unnerving. If you can track it down on old vinyl or CD, buy it. Nothing beats those soaring choruses or Spanish guitars, jangling tensely in the background.

Get's an 8 out of 10 for sheer entertainment value...

"Death Rides a Horse" AKA "As Man to Man" (1967), directed by Giulio Petroni, is among the best Spaghetti Westerns. Leen, mean and with with plenty of action, it never slows down from the brilliantly executed murder and rape during a thunder-storm that sets in motion Bill Meceita

(John Phillip Law)trail of bloody vengeance. Of course the real star of this film is Lee Van Cleef. Tougth and savage, this master thespian can easily hold his own against scowling villains One-Eye (Mario Brega) or Walcott (Luigi Pistilli). The photography is fine and the screenplay by Luciano Vincenzoni is a mini-masterpiece of revenge-drama.

But now, the vices. Quite a few shots of "canyons" seem to have been filmed in quarry's, some of the supporting cast are weak, notably Carlo Pisacane and José Torres. Also, the one real weakness that detracts from this otherwise great movie is when, each time Bill sees someone who was involved in killing his father, there is a quick, red tinted flash-back showing what evil crime they had committed against his family. As there are five people to kill, this soon becomes rather monotonous.

Apart from the few flaws mentioned, this is a almost perfect example of a normal Spaghetti Western. A sheer joy to watch.

It's hard not to think of Sergio Leone when watching 'Death Rides A Horse', and not just because Leone is the king of spaghetti westerns. The connections are even closer than that. Lee Van Cleef ("Angel Eyes" in 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly') co-stars, and the supporting cast includes Mario Brega and Luigi Pistilli, both familiar faces from Leone's Dollars trilogy. Plus it was written by Luciano Vincenzoni and scored by Morricone. Giulio Petroni however is the director instead of Leone. Maybe that's why it isn't as impressive as one might expect. Even so it's an underrated revenge thriller, and Van Cleef gives an excellent performance. He plays Ryan, an ex-con wanting some payback from a group of outlaws who double crossed him. John Phillip Law ('Diabolik') is Bill, a young guy obsessed with avenging the rape and murder of his mother and the slaying of his father and sister. Pretty soon Bill crosses paths with Ryan and comes to realize that they after the same men. The two form an uneasy relationship which in many ways is that of a surrogate father and son. 'Death Rides A Horse' may not be quite as great as Leone but it's still very good, and one of the better spaghetti westerns. It's particularly recommended to fans of Lee Van Cleef, who is just wonderful to watch.