Death Rides a Horse (1967)

Directed by Giulio Petroni. Starring John Phillip Law, Lee Van Cleef, Anthony Dawson, Luigi Pistilli, Mario Brega, José Torres, Felicita Fanny, Franco Balducci. [R]

Unexceptional spaghetti Western with Law as The Man With No Charisma, a loner on a quest for vengeance fifteen years after his family was murdered before his eyes. Law’s path toward tracking down the responsible outlaws is crossed several times by hardened Van Cleef, who has business of his own with the culprits. Decent action scenes and music (by Ennio Morricone), but the direction and trappings are routine, and the performances mostly below par (Law’s as dull as a tumbleweed). Violent opening and closing segments work best, but in between, the story is dragged out far too long. Ultimately, it’s just too much of the “same old,” and the overall print quality is poor. Originally titled Duel in the Wind; Italian title (Da Uomo a Uomo) translates to “As man to man.”

45/100