Death Rides a Horse (1968)
Bill Meceita, a boy whose family was murdered in front of him by a gang, sets out 15 years later to exact revenge. On his journey, he finds himself continually sparring and occasionally cooperating with Ryan, a gunfighter on his own quest for vengeance, who knows more than he says about Bill's tragedy.
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07/12/2018 I've watched alot of cowboy movies in my 69 years of life. The 1950's Gene Autry's, Lone Ranger movies in black & white, right up to the John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Steve McQueen and into Roddie Yates aka Clint Eastwood movies. Clint being my all time favorite old western actor as he played the hired killer in "The UnForgiven" my #1 favorite movie of all time in my book with at least a dozen Plus views by me and possibly more? This movie "Death Rides A Horse" is easily one of Lee Van Cleef's best movies that he ever made. He's on par with ol' Clint in his old western acting skills. Nothing more needs to be said after that. Watch for yourself and then you can decide??? Of course, I think this novie's great. Bon Appetit
If You are Seeking a "Spaghetti Western" Outside the Directorial Efforts of Sergio Leone, this is one that will No Doubt Satisfy and Solidify that the Sub-Genre might be Worth Exploring.Lee Van Cleef is here along with an Ennio Morricone Score. The Movie Maintains the Template and Style of the "New" Direction that was Forged by the "Man with No Name" Trilogy, but doesn't have the Artistic Depth of "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" (1966), or "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968).However it is a Better than Average Entry. Tarantino Loves it and Borrowed from it Freely and it has some Striking Set Pieces. The Opening is like something out of a Horror Movie and is Probably the Best Scene in the Film. But there are others that are Remarkable.It's Long at almost Two Hours and the Pacing and Editing are Clunky. But there is some Good Dialog and the Revenge Story is Visceral if Not Emotional.Artistic Touches Abound. Van Cleef is Fun to Watch and John Phillip Law makes Charles Bronson's "Act" look Sublime. And while We're at it, Clint Eastwood couldn't Act a Lick either, even in His Later Day.The Dubbing is Atrocious but doesn't keep the Movie from being Entertaining and Delivering what Fans of the SW Expect.
Giulio Petroni's action packed film is a dynamite spaghetti western. A boy witnesses the massacre of his family, grows up to be John Phillip Law and takes revenge on the band of low-lives responsible. He's abetted by mysterious stranger Lee Van Cleef. There's a lot of gunfire, a lot of grungy desperadoes and a lot of great music courtesy of Ennio Morricone. Law is a bit too sun bleached to be truly menacing but Van Cleef is his usual steely self. The supporting cast is first rate and includes Luigi Pistilli as the sleaziest of sleazy bad guys as well as Anthony Dawson as a smoking jacket wearing dandy. The ironic ending does not cop-out. The excellent cinematography is by Carlo Carlini, who previously worked with the likes of Rossellini, Fellini & Sollima.
As with other spaghetti Westerns, the characters here are mean, the landscape is bleak, and the music is haunting. It's a stereotyped image of an Old West that never was. But the genre makes for generally interesting movies.In "Death Rides A Horse" the story is a typical revenge yarn. It's fairly predictable, though there's a nifty plot twist toward the end. The two main characters seesaw back and forth as dual protagonists, each with the same apparent objective, yet each with a different level of maturity and suspicion of the other. The rest of the characters seem mostly like background props, stick figures, lacking uniqueness and personality.People here rarely smile except when they express a jeering, scornful attitude toward someone else. They're all angry and violent. Women exist to be abused. And the bad guys are predictably stupid; when they have the chance to kill the good guys, they make excuses why they need to wait.I might have liked this film more if the DVD had been better. In the copy I watched the colors were washed-out; some images were grainy or blurry. And the sound was bad.Yet even allowing for a poor DVD, the film lacks technical quality. Editing is as bad as the dubbing. Dialogue trends banal. The score, though haunting, repeats too often. And the visuals convey the impression that the producers spent all of twenty dollars on production design.As one of the two leads, Lee Van Cleef gives a respectable performance. But John Phillip Law, the second lead, looks lost throughout the film. He is so wooden and stilted that a blue-eyed mannequin could have animated the character better, and no doubt cheaper.To really appreciate this film, or rather to overlook its faults, the viewer needs to be a hardcore spaghetti Western fan. The genre does offer some really high quality films. "Death Rides A Horse" isn't one of them.