Professionals for a Massacre (1967)

During the American Civil War, a trio of criminals are given a reprieve from execution and instead are given a dangerous mission to find a corrupt army general and retrieve the gold he has stolen. A gang of Mexican bandits enter the scene and complicate matters further.I would have to consider this one as a better than average spaghetti western. There's nothing precisely very original about it or anything but it manages to do a thing which is quite rare in these kinds of movies in that is successfully integrates a comic tone into its narrative without being annoying in doing so. Most westerns that attempt to use comedy aren't very successful at it and the spaghetti ones in particular are usually pretty dire, so it was a pleasant surprise to see a movie pull it off well. It's not all japery here though as the story includes a healthy amount of action and even a massacre, so it never forgets to cover its bread and butter elements too. Its well-paced as well with some decent performances, especially from Italian genre film regular George Hilton who appears as an ex-priest who has turned to crime. Nobody would claim that this flick breaks the mould as such but it does what it does with energy and some fun.

Average Chorizo/ S.W. about a relentless and exciting dangerous mission that a motley trio pulls off in Mexican territory and set against spectacular and ordinary scenery of Almeria . The risked assignment is set against strong environment , violent attacks by Mexican bands , double-crosses and hazardous trails . It will be a long and dangerous pursuit with continuous risks , killings , shootouts and silly fights . This typical Western displays stirring adventures , shootouts , humor with tongue-in-cheek , riding pursuits and is pretty amusing . It deals with a misfit group in search of millions of dollars in gold that have been stolen during American Civil War . A group of conscripted convicts formed by three condemned , already destined for death row, are drafted to go on a risked mission and attempt to recapture a rebel Major called Lloyd (Gerard Herter of The Big Gundown) . They must carry out the objective to take a wagon-load of gold and with the understanding that if the Confederate don't murder them, the Union Army won't, either . A two-fisted Confederate Lieutenant named Logan (Milo Quesada of Django kill) and the ambitious drifters , join forces to retrieve an impressive lot of dollars in gold bars taken from Union banks and destined to buy weapons to Mexican Army for Confederation . In the hands of hardboiled director Nando Cicero and a tough-as-leather cast , that's all the plot that's needed to make one rip-roaring Spaghetti Western flick . The story is displayed in ¨Dirty dozen ¨ style with usual crime-minded characters including a rustler named Fidel Ramirez (Jorge Martin) , a troublesome ex-priest with penchant dynamite named Steele Downey (George Hilton) and a Bank-robber named Chattanooga Jim (Edd Byrnes) . The first half of the film allows the colorful cast of character actors to have their fun as they get their tails whipped into shape and develop shaky relationship . The final part is all action , as the trio wreck havoc and then run for their lives and pursued by the band of Alacran (Jose Bodalo of Django) who robs the gold for his strange Mexican family . The message here isn't that war is hell , rather, it seems to be : war can be a hell of a good time if you've got nothing to lose . It's an exciting SW with breathtaking showdown between the protagonists and their enemies full of explosions , machine gun , deaths and fights in Terence Hill-Bud Spencer style . The picture blends violence , humor , struggles , high body-count and is quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing a shootout or stunt every few minutes . The film is starred by a Spaghetti all-star-cast as the Spanish George (Jorge) Martin who worked much for Alfonso Balcazar's factory such as ¨Clint the strange¨, ¨The return the Clint¨, ¨Oeste Nevada Joe¨, Thompson 1880¨ , ¨Taste of killing¨, ¨A pistol for Ringo and ¨¨The return of Ringo¨ ; the Uruguay-born George Hilton who was a Spaghetti first-star such as ¨ Sartana no perdone¨ , ¨Go kill and come back¨ , ¨Kitosch¨ , ¨They call me Alleluja¨ , ¨Ruthless four¨ , ¨Alleluja for Django¨ , and also played successful Giallio as ¨The strange vice of Mrs Wardh¨ , ¨The scorpion's tale¨, ¨All colors of the dark¨ , ¨My deal Killer¨ ; and Edd Byrnes , Kookie , who starred two Spaghetti for Enzo G Castell as ¨Seven Winchester for a massacre¨ and ¨Go kill and come back¨ with George Hilton . Gerard Herter as a cruelly baddie role as confederate officer is terrific , subsequently the would play similar roles in other Spaghettis . There are many good technicians and nice assistant direction and acceptable production design with an atmospheric scenario plenty of barren outdoors , dirty and rocky landscapes and a fine set on the final scenes . The musician Carlos Pes composes a nice Spaghetti soundtrack and well conducted ; it's full of enjoyable sounds and emotive score with perdurable leitmotif . The film is well shot in 'Splugas city' (Splugas De Llobregat , Barcelona) , a location built by Alfonso Balcazar where were filmed a lot of ¨Butifarra Western¨ and of course , Almeria, Spain and Roman studios called Elios . Mediocre cinematography by habitual Francisco Marin who photographed loads of 'Gazpacho' Westerns , it's urgent and necessary a correct remastering because of the film-copy is washed-up . Fernando Cicero's so-so direction is regularly crafted , here he's cynical and humorous and inclined toward violence as well as too much action especially on its ending part .

Dynamite-loving ex-priest George Hilton, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, and Mexican horse thief/whisperer George Martin both fight for and steal from the Confederacy. About to be executed for their thieving ways, they're given a reprieve in order to track down a renegade officer who killed some of his fellow soldiers and made off with a wagon full of gold and a Gattling gun.A fast-paced, rowdy adventure, this above average Italian western is a load of fun, especially George Hilton's character, who gleefully mixes piousness with his passion for blowing things (and people!) up. Hilton is truly a spaghetti western treasure!Things stay pretty light-hearted throughout, with a good mixture of tongue-in-cheek comedy, plot-twists, and great action sequences. I don't know about everyone else, but I thought it was pretty cool!It is claimed that one of the producers on this was a young Sylvester Stallone, a claim that seems a bit fishy. You never can tell though. If he did, he should have acted in it too. It sure would have been neat to see him before he was a star, shooting a six-gun in the Spanish desert!

George Hilton, Edd Byrnes and George Martin play 3 thieves who chase a much more successful thief: Major Lloyd (Gerard Herter) who stole a wagon-load of gold from the confederate army. As soon as he moves into the borderland, Mexican bandits are also attracted by the yellow metal. So much black powder was spent during the making of this movie, apparently, that you could make three westerns with it, but in between all the shooting and countless explosions, "Professionisti per un massacro" displays a certain sense of humor. It is a spaghetti western of the kind that likes to play with the rituals typical for the genre, using coffins and machine guns, and if you like this sort of thing, you'll find the movie easy to sit through... even if it is nothing surprisingly new.