ironhorse_iv Review of Black Killer

Black Killer (1971)

Klaus Kinski is a book nut and that's why I had to book myself to see this movie! This dark movie was surprising, pretty interesting.

[6/10 · 4 March 2015]

There are so many spaghetti westerns that have some weird film concepts. Some of them, don't really stand out, when it should had. This movie is one of those films; that deserve one more glance. After all, there isn't a lot of western movies that has a character, James Webb, (Klaus Kinski) a lawyer that disguise his guns with books! It's a little silly, but a pretty cool idea. It was a bit surprising to find out that Klaus Kinski isn't the main lead of this movie, but more like a supporting character. The trailer and marketing posters for the film were very misleading. I was hoping, he was, as it would make the movie, a little more memorable. Since, the movie doesn't really focus much on him, the movie directed by Carlo Croccolo AKA Lucky Moore goes another route with the normal often cliché concept of a mysterious drifter rescuing a fearful lawless town from bandits or gangs. In this movie, that drifter is named Burt Collins (Fred Robsahm) who become the new sheriff of the town call Tombstone when the previous one was killed by a Mexican gang known as the O'Hara Brothers: Ramon (Antonio Cantafora), Pedro (Enzo Pulcrano), Miguel (Calogero Caruana), Ryan (Antonio Danesi) & Slide (Mimmo Maggio). I really can't buy them, being Mexican. They don't even look anything near Hispanic. Who know, that the English sounding O'Hara was indeed Spanish or Latin American. While, the bandit's costumes look ridiculousness, they were very striking sinister in their actions. The movie was surprising very grim & violent, compare to other Spaghetti Westerns at the time. While, yes there are some one shot unrealistic kills, some of the kills, were pretty intense. There were some really hard to watch, brutal moments like the rape scene that might turn off, some people. The movie also has a lot more gratuitous nudity than I thought, coming in. Both Tiziana Dini as Consuelo and Marina Malfatti as Sarah Collins are beautiful ladies, and seeing them in the buff is a guilty pleasure, even if it didn't make any sense and seem very unnecessary. Still, only one of them, was treated like a real person than eye candy. Marina Malfatti's character had lot of character development. She had a very good back story, and purpose to take revenge on the O'Hara brothers. It was nice to see a female character have more to do, than a love-interested. She was badass, most of the film, shooting arrows and stabbing bad guys in the neck. Still, like the villains, her Indian get-up is a bit laughable, and bit short. Her ass was nearly out, the whole movie. The lead, Fred Robsahm wasn't that bad, but his character was a bit confusing and dry. He's nearly forgettable. I still don't really understand; what was the relationship with him and the lawyer, James Webb. There's a very pointless and totally implausible plot-twist near the end, which perfectly summarizes the overall clumsiness of this unconventional Spaghetti Western. It was bit odd. To be honest, the storytelling is a little confused and messy. It appears a lot more convoluted than it really should do. About the James Webb character, I was really hoping that he turned out to be a villain, because Klaus Kinski play it off, like he was. There were a lot of things that he did that made you question, who side, he was really playing on. I really didn't see him as a hero type. The English dubbing was alright for the most part. It's wasn't jarring or distracting like other critics, say it was. Some of the film editing was bit awkward. It was cuts so badly, that it make it seem like two characters were in the same room when they were in two different locations. There were some serious plot hole due to the editing like the missing redhead that was to go warn the main character, but she just basically disappears and there's no mention of her anymore. Maybe the print I had, had her scenes cut or something. It was a bit peculiar. It was really hard to tell, what's going on, at times. The music by Daniele Patucchi sounds more like Australia outback than American western, it's still very impressive. The cinematography is alright, but there wasn't much to look at. Kinda wish for a little more use in beautiful locations. Black Killer hasn't aged well, since it's released. The movie was often use as stock footage for later films such as 1972's Bounty Hunter in Trinity. This ultra-low budget gem is often badly copy in DVDs with discoloring and dirty grain film footage. The version, I had, had this static sound that rang, throughout the film. It felt like it was watching a movie in the nonstop pouring rain. Nevertheless, it's still was a tremendously fun and action-packed gunslinger movie. Overall: A must watch for any Spaghetti Western fan.