Savage Guns: Four Classic Westerns

When a box set reaches Volume 3 you can assume it has a built-in audience of buyers.  Not to mention the fact that spaghetti western fans have been pretty hard up for new titles lately.  But rest assured, Arrow Video’s four movie set Savage Guns has more to offer than just more of the same.  Each title takes the genre down a different path, blending politics, counter-culture and psychedelia for a unique viewing experience.

Paolo Bianchini’s I Want Him Dead (1968) might be the most straightforward of the bunch, starring Craig Hill as a scruffy-faced stranger out to avenge the murder of his sister, a mission that puts him at odds with an arms dealer looking to extend his profits from the Civil War.  A serious and bloody affair (Hill’s character take a beating in every scene), the performances here are well above the curve, particularly love interest Lea Massari who typically worked in more prestigious projects.  And Bianchini’s wonderful use of landscape ranks right up there with The Big Country in terms of depth and scale.

 

The big surprise of the set is Edoardo Mulargia’s El Puro (1969), a so-called Zen Western that strips the genre to its bare essentials.  Robert Woods plays the titular character, a washed-up bad guy with a price on his head who’s long since gone into hiding.  But he’s forced to get back into shape when an escaped con and his gang track him down.  With a sketchy backstory, existential angst and a solid assist from Alessandro Alessandroni’s music score, El Puro is a fascinating example of less is more.  Ostensibly cast and crew were often stoned during production (beating El Topo to the punch by a few months), but the result is so compelling the lack of any real narrative is almost beside the point.

 

1970’s Wrath of the Wind takes a serious detour into political diatribes and aristocratic agendas with Terence Hill playing a hired assassin reborn as a champion for the working class.  Hill’s previous notoriety as Trinity looms large over the production, which counts on his tight-lipped performance to carry it through long stretches of preachy dialogue.  An Italian/Spanish co-production, it makes sure to include all the necessary ingredients of the period – even a downbeat ending – but takes way too long getting there.

 

The Four of the Apocalypse (1975) is sure to garner more than its fair share of interest thanks to director Lucio Fulci, whose horror output would seem to predict another violent genre outing. But Apocalypse take a surprisingly humanistic approach to its story of four outcasts – Stubby, Bunny, Clem and Bud - bound together in hopes of starting a new life.  Unfortunately, they cross paths with Chaco (Tomas Milian), a masochistic force of nature who threatens their dreams and their lives.  Fulci really finds his stride in the touching finale set in a mining town full of roughnecks who play wise men to Bunny’s virgin Mary.  Co-star Michael J. Pollard lends a bit of counter-culture street cred but it’s Fabio Testi who delivers the most well-rounded performance of his career.

 

Featuring 2K restorations of all four films from the original negatives, the visual presentation is top-notch.  Each disc provides English and Italian options for dialogue, with Wrath of the Wind offering up an extended Spanish version.  Critic Fabio Melelli provides informative introductions to go along with brand-new audio commentaries, interviews, featurettes and an illustrated collector’s booklet.

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