I've seen my fair share of spaghetti westerns from the cheap to the grand and immensely obscure, and Giuliano Carmineo's "Find A Place to Die" is your basic effort that hardly distinguishes itself from the many of its kind. It's ably made, but never strikes up any sort of momentum or much in way of excitement from its well-worn staples. More often it came across as tepid, sluggish and overly drawn-out. The gun-fights became dull in their robotic actions, brawls were nothing but venom-less and the characters didn't make much of an impression (with a very non-threatening villain). Not a good sign. Even the camera-work lacked that adventurous aspect (except for maybe one or two frames) and the spotty music score bellows out the cues. Some passages worked when going for something with a sensually relax tone, but when its trying to arouse it never works. Sound FX literally seems to cop a real pounding. Location choices hold an atmospheric edge, and creates a dusty and gritty visualization that suit's the film's ugly, greedy outlook within the story's progression. Even on that point it does seem to be missing out on the blood-lust, which the untapped premise doesn't seem to break out or even capitalize on. The woodenly blank-ridden script adds little, and keeps things by the book. The film might have had limp characterisations, but the performances aren't bad. Jeffery Hunter basically sweats it out, and grits his teeth in a washed-up lead part. Adolfo Lastretti's gun-slinging priest could've made for an interesting character, but falls in the shadows. However the beautiful women are the highlights. The stunning Pascale Petit does a fine job, and Daniela Giordano gives her role plenty of kick. Not complete dreck, but a very so-so spaghetti western that will hardly leave an imprint.
Review of Find a Place to Die
