If there is one Spaghetti Western that I could pick that I am aching to see out of all the known titles it would be Amando de Ossorio’s TOMB OF THE PISTOLERO from 1964 with George Martin, Jack Taylor, Luis Vilar, Silvia Solar, Luis Induni, Frank Braña, José Canalejas, Aldo Sambrell, Ángel Ortiz, Todd Martens, Tito García, and Mercedes Alonso.
First, just LOOK at the names in that cast. Second, Ossorio is of course most famous for his Spanish Gothic Horror “Blind Dead” thrillers, all of which are densely atmospheric, arty, visually oriented, and unique movies. Ossorio also executed the “Medusa” creation and “Hydra” monsters from the Richard Harrison Peplum MEDUSA AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES from the same year, and one can’t help but wonder what kind of horror oriented elements he wove into PISTOLERO’s tapestry.
But strangely, his 1966 followup Western, THREE FROM COLORADO (which is fairly easy to find in it’s German language form, called GNADENLOSE KILLER) is almost frustratingly “ordinary”, lacking much of the visual stylistics that make Spaghettis so special when compared to their Hollywood oriented counterparts.
Has anyone ever actually seen it? I have a beautiful lobby card from Belgium but have never even heard of the movie having been transferred for home video, would love to learn more about it and would be willing to go deep into the well to trade for a copy.
I have read that this film was shot back-to-back with Three From Colorado aka Canadian Wilderness (which is very entertaining IMO) so I suppose they are quite alike. The strage thing is that Tomb of the Pistolero was shot in black & white while Canadian Wilderness was shot in colour. I wonder why they chose to make it in b&w. It was 1964 already.
I recently purchased the Blind dead coffin box without knowing anything about the films. I basically bought it because it looked cool. But after viewing I really liked the films. The movies also featured alot of familiar SW faces.
Any film that features the likes of Jack Taylor, George Martin and Frank Brana, directed by De ossorio, and a western I would definitely take interest in.
And all four movies are particularly overrated by fans.
The first, with its slow pace and atmospeheric sets, is the best.
The sequel amps up the thrills (sometimes it resembles an action movie) with a faster pacing.
The third is a change of pace (the Templer Knights are on a spooky boat) but it is horribly put together and is very boring. Even the director was unhappy with the finished product.
Then there is the fourth which, although, it is an improvement over the previous installment, really isn’t very good either.
All these films have got going for it are the zombified Templer knights on horseback but once that novelty rubs off you’re left with average horror fare.
Approach all four with caution.
P.S. not sure if it’s my dvds but the lighting on all f these movies approaches amateur. I can’t see anything most of the time.
This type of stuff is NOT was De Ossorio is known for.
Thanks please let us know how the movie is Paullbearer. ANd yeah I agree the the BLlind dead series are not exactly oscar winners, but they are guilty pleasures. Good little fun. But not great movies. I liked the third one the best because of the Lovecraftian story line and the fact that it was the only one in the series not marred by pointless rape scenes and lesbian innuendos. I thought the 2nd one was ovverated. Like you said, it was more of an action movie.
I’d rather watch something trashy than watch something that is considered Oscar worthy by today’s standards (Slumdog Millionaire anyone?).
What I mean is, regardless of how much money was put into the film, the movies don’t really live up to their full potential. Movies like this should be entertaining throughout.
But there is a rape scene in the third movie. You are thinking of the fourth film where the Templars worship a fish god and sacrifice women by the sea. I’m sorry, but I disagree terribly about these films. At least the first one.
The first film is considered one of the best examples of Spanish horror cinema and helped usher in more horror from Spain into the States. A fine horror movie with little logic, but lots of atmosphere. The second film comes very close to matching the first picture and that score from Anton Garcia Abril is a moody, intensely spooky soundtrack that really needs to be on CD.
I don’t understand Pallbearer on this, he praises the first two movies elsewhere and then more or less condemns them here. ???
[quote=“Angel Face, post:16, topic:842”]But there is a rape scene in the third movie. You are thinking of the fourth film where the Templars worship a fish god and sacrifice women by the sea. I’m sorry, but I disagree terribly about these films. At least the first one.
The first film is considered one of the best examples of Spanish horror cinema and helped usher in more horror from Spain into the States. A fine horror movie with little logic, but lots of atmosphere. The second film comes very close to matching the first picture and that score from Anton Garcia Abril is a moody, intensely spooky soundtrack that really needs to be on CD.
I don’t understand Pallbearer on this, he praises the first two movies elsewhere and then more or less condemns them here. ???[/quote]
Yeah sorry I goofed up. I was talking about Night of the Seagulls. The fourth one.
Btw, I don’t think we disagree terribly on these films. We both like the series, just have a different order on which ones we like the best.
I agree, the soundtrack for all four movies needs to be released in the worst possible way.
I like the first two movies but I don’t think they reached their full potential.
It usually just falls back on the usual formula for zombie films (I.E. the living finding refuge in a building and keeping the walking dead out of it).
The crab torture scenes were the only thing I liked in the fourth movie.
[quote=“YourPallbearer, post:18, topic:842”]I like the first two movies but I don’t think they reached their full potential.
It usually just falls back on the usual formula for zombie films (I.E. the living finding refuge in a building and keeping the walking dead out of it).[/quote]
There’s no potential to fully reach. How many horror movies don’t feature the protagonists trying to keep an evil of some sort out of a house/building/basement/ad infinitum…
This movie was so far removed from the zombie mythos up to this time. They rode dead horses in haunting slow motion, they didn’t eat anybody (at least in the first film), they drank blood, killed with swords and had a unique look unlike anything that had been seen before or since.
There is no ‘usual formula’ here, as again, the trapped people in a house has been used in nearly every horror film since as far back as I can remember. The first time I recall this ‘formula’ being used was in was in THE KILLER SHREWS (1959). No doubt it’s been in some other earlier movies that escape me at the moment.
Ossorio was basically a ‘one-hit director’. Outside of his Blind Dead series, his other movies like NIGHT OF THE SORCERERS and THE LORELEI’S GRASP are obscure footnotes compared with his Knights Templar tales.
Apologies for derailing this thread from its original title.
