Three things are conspicuously absent from one-time only director Oscar Santaniello's ''Bounty Killer for Trinity" that he co-helmed with the notorious Aristide Massaccesi, a.k.a. Joe D'Amato, who served not only as co-writer but also cinematographer. First, we don't see those rugged, sculptured, Spanish mountains. Second, where are those ubiquitous and a Gatling guns/machine guns? Finally, the hero isn't captured and beaten within an inch of his life. Otherwise, this made-in-Italy oater is standard-issue. The hero dresses like Lee Van Cleef's Colonel Mortimer from "For A Few Dollars More," and he rides around with an arsenal that includes a crossbow. The crossbow is nice touch, and he gets around to using it the same way Woody Strode did in "The Professionals," attaching dynamite to the arrows. Another nice touch is that our hero sometimes runs out of bullets during the gunfights and seems surprised by this revelation. Otherwise, this town taming western will keep you entertained if you love double-digit body counts, meatball villains, and over-the-top dubbing. Jeff Cameron, a.k.a. Goffredo Scarciofolo, who made as many as twenty Spaghettis, doesn't pack a whole lot of charisma. Little is known about Scarciofolo who made Spaghetti westerns and sword & sandal epics. According to the Internet Movie Database, Scarcifolo made his cinematic debut in 1962 in director Michele Lupo's "Colossus of the Arena." As long as he keeps knocking down bad guys like ten-pins in a bowling alley, Scarciofolo makes a stalwart, if not greedy hero. He insists that he get paid $2-thousand for each man that he kills along with any bounty on the dastards. He also gets a down payment of $6-thousand dollars from one of the town fathers. Interestingly, no sooner has he cleared out the bad guys in Trinity than he receives a summons to provide the same action in Carson City! The frontier town of Trinity is as beleaguered by a rabid outlaw gang as the poor peasants were by rogue bandits in "The Magnificent Seven." The desperate city fathers don't immediately resort to a high-priced vigilante. Initially, they turn to the government, but the harmless old geezer sent doesn't stand a chance against these trigger-happy hellions. The bandits promptly liquidate him without batting an eyelash. Basically, they have an inside source on the city council. Unfortunately, the identity of this quisling, Pizarro (Antonio Cantafora of "Demons 2"), is revealed almost immediately so we don't have a chance to figure out who he is based on our own ingenuity. The Elios studio sets, Osanna Guardini's wardrobe, and the sounds of the gunshots are distinctly Spaghetti western. One thing that I enjoy the most about European westerns are those gunshot reports. American westerns have nothing to compare with them. Sadly, the formulaic screenplay by Joe D'Amata and "Zombie Holocaust" scripter Romano Scandariato contains no surprises, and characterization is restricted to the costumes wore by each actor or actress. "Django the Bastard" composer Vasili Kojucharov's orchestral score isn't worth searching for on either vinyl or CD, but at least it isn't the bottom of the barrel. Nevertheless, Spaghetti western fans will find this trim, 85-minute horse opera devoid of pretensions. The interesting side note is that the town is named Trinity, presumably because Trinity suggests good memories of Terence Hill as the comic gunslinger. Although production designer Oscar Santaniello received credit as the helmer, I have the feeling that prolific veteran Aristide Massaccesi may have exert more artistry on this western.
6 Reviews
Acceptable Spaghetti Western with B-actor Jeff Cameron as a bounty hunter confronting heinous bandits
ma-cortes19 June 2022
Low-budgeted and so-so Pasta Western shot in Elios Studios, Rome, Lazio and containing contains thrills , shootouts , noisy action and riding pursuits . The townsfolk of Trinity decide to hire a notorious bounty hunter to protect them from a fierce band of Mexican outlaws led by Pizarro (Antonio Cantafora) who are terrorizing the area . As the town lawyer (Attilio Dottesio) meets a famous bounty killer (Jeff Cameron ) to carry out the mission . While a girl has been kidnapped , that's why he must rescue her but that's not very easy .He discovers the true person behind the bandits is within the town . Later on , there happens a relentless and merciless manhunt with unexpected consequences . A bloody gunfight ends the control of the band and he returns control of the town to its legitimate authorities .
This mediocre Western packs a silly but well known plot , as a bounty hunter is hired with the subsequent vendetta and full of violence , shoot'em up and results to be briefly entertaining , though drags at times , balancing ups and downs . Average Spaghetti Western follows the Sergio Leone/Sergio Corbucci wake and it is proceeded in violent style . Short-budgeted Spaghetti Western in which an avenger gunfighter pursues a nasty band of outlaws who have been carrying out assaults , bank heists and murders . It's a thrilling but dumb western with deplorable performances and a ridiculously written storyline paced in fits and starts ; including a breathtaking confrontation between protagonist Jeff Cameron against his ominous enemies . This moving Ravioli Western packs thrills , shootouts , noisy action , chases , but being an inferior and twilight entry in this prolific Spaghetti genre . Italian production filmed in ordinary exteriors fron Lazio , Rome , being full of assaults , exaggerated characters , gun-down , lots of shots , fights and with some looks that say it all , including ending crossfire at a hacienda that is the best part of the movie . Starring Jeff Cameron is very mediocre , though stands out his strong , striking look , featuring as a gunslingerr going after a band of cutthroats . Cameron is so-so as a tough , laconic revenger pursuing an ominous group of Mexican attackers , as he ravages the screen , he stalks , watches , attacks , hits and runs ; besides , using a large arsenal of weaponry , such as Derringer pistol, shotguns, and knives with special mention for a crossbow .Worthwhile watching only for a demonstration of the confrontation between the two-fisted Jeff Cameron against the dangerous and ambitious killer bandits , but there lacks enough emotion for the entire duration of the movie . Stars Jeff Cameron , he was a Z-actor who played as main or secondary role in various Z- Spaghetti Westerns, credited as Nino Scarciofolo , Blond Mendez , Glen Fortel or Giovanni Scarciofolo, such as : También la carroña tiene un precio (1971), Passa Sartana... è l'ombra della tua morte (1969) and ...e vennero in quattro per uccidere Sartana! (1969) , Giù la testa... hombre , Straniero... fatti il segno della croce! (1968), Stranger Say Your Prayers , Today We Kill Tomorrow We Die , Nevada Kid and this Un bounty killer a Trinità(1972) that was his last Western until his early death in 1985 . Support cast is frankly regular , without the familiar secondary actors who usually show up at these oaters , though there some briefly known apperances from Attilio Dottesio , Carla Mancini and Antonio Cantafora who often used pseudonym Michael Coby .
Here stands out the atmospheric musical score by Vasili Kojucharov with full of Spaghetti sounds in Ennio Morricone style .The motion picture was middlingly but professionally directed by Oscar Santaniello and uncredited by Joe D'Amato or Aristide Massaccessi who photographed too . Director Oscar Santaniello was usually a production manager and producer , shooting only this Western titled Un bounty killer a Trinità or A Bounty Killer for Trinity (1972) . Co-directed by Joe D'Amato , this artisan was a prolific cameraman/writer/producer/director who made all kinds of genres . His first directing work was in 1972's low-budget Scansati... a Trinità arriva Eldorado (1972), co-directed by Diego Spataro, under the pseudonym Dick Spitfire, but it was a commercial failure. As he directed hardcore , soft-core, erotic films starring Laura Gemser, such as Emmanuel and francois (1975), Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1977), Emanuelle in América (1977), Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade (1978), Erotic Nights of the Living dead , L'alcova (1985) . Gialli and Terror movies : Gomia or that he directed as "Peter Newton", Hitcher in the dark , Death Smiles on a Murderer , Buio Omega . Scifi and Sword-witchery : Ator , Ator l'invincibile, Ator 3 , 2020 Texas Rangers , Bronx Endgame, and many others . Rating : 5.5/10 . Average flick , only for hardcore Spaghetti Western aficionados .
This mediocre Western packs a silly but well known plot , as a bounty hunter is hired with the subsequent vendetta and full of violence , shoot'em up and results to be briefly entertaining , though drags at times , balancing ups and downs . Average Spaghetti Western follows the Sergio Leone/Sergio Corbucci wake and it is proceeded in violent style . Short-budgeted Spaghetti Western in which an avenger gunfighter pursues a nasty band of outlaws who have been carrying out assaults , bank heists and murders . It's a thrilling but dumb western with deplorable performances and a ridiculously written storyline paced in fits and starts ; including a breathtaking confrontation between protagonist Jeff Cameron against his ominous enemies . This moving Ravioli Western packs thrills , shootouts , noisy action , chases , but being an inferior and twilight entry in this prolific Spaghetti genre . Italian production filmed in ordinary exteriors fron Lazio , Rome , being full of assaults , exaggerated characters , gun-down , lots of shots , fights and with some looks that say it all , including ending crossfire at a hacienda that is the best part of the movie . Starring Jeff Cameron is very mediocre , though stands out his strong , striking look , featuring as a gunslingerr going after a band of cutthroats . Cameron is so-so as a tough , laconic revenger pursuing an ominous group of Mexican attackers , as he ravages the screen , he stalks , watches , attacks , hits and runs ; besides , using a large arsenal of weaponry , such as Derringer pistol, shotguns, and knives with special mention for a crossbow .Worthwhile watching only for a demonstration of the confrontation between the two-fisted Jeff Cameron against the dangerous and ambitious killer bandits , but there lacks enough emotion for the entire duration of the movie . Stars Jeff Cameron , he was a Z-actor who played as main or secondary role in various Z- Spaghetti Westerns, credited as Nino Scarciofolo , Blond Mendez , Glen Fortel or Giovanni Scarciofolo, such as : También la carroña tiene un precio (1971), Passa Sartana... è l'ombra della tua morte (1969) and ...e vennero in quattro per uccidere Sartana! (1969) , Giù la testa... hombre , Straniero... fatti il segno della croce! (1968), Stranger Say Your Prayers , Today We Kill Tomorrow We Die , Nevada Kid and this Un bounty killer a Trinità(1972) that was his last Western until his early death in 1985 . Support cast is frankly regular , without the familiar secondary actors who usually show up at these oaters , though there some briefly known apperances from Attilio Dottesio , Carla Mancini and Antonio Cantafora who often used pseudonym Michael Coby .
Here stands out the atmospheric musical score by Vasili Kojucharov with full of Spaghetti sounds in Ennio Morricone style .The motion picture was middlingly but professionally directed by Oscar Santaniello and uncredited by Joe D'Amato or Aristide Massaccessi who photographed too . Director Oscar Santaniello was usually a production manager and producer , shooting only this Western titled Un bounty killer a Trinità or A Bounty Killer for Trinity (1972) . Co-directed by Joe D'Amato , this artisan was a prolific cameraman/writer/producer/director who made all kinds of genres . His first directing work was in 1972's low-budget Scansati... a Trinità arriva Eldorado (1972), co-directed by Diego Spataro, under the pseudonym Dick Spitfire, but it was a commercial failure. As he directed hardcore , soft-core, erotic films starring Laura Gemser, such as Emmanuel and francois (1975), Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1977), Emanuelle in América (1977), Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade (1978), Erotic Nights of the Living dead , L'alcova (1985) . Gialli and Terror movies : Gomia or that he directed as "Peter Newton", Hitcher in the dark , Death Smiles on a Murderer , Buio Omega . Scifi and Sword-witchery : Ator , Ator l'invincibile, Ator 3 , 2020 Texas Rangers , Bronx Endgame, and many others . Rating : 5.5/10 . Average flick , only for hardcore Spaghetti Western aficionados .
Early Joe
BandSAboutMovies17 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
The Carlo Croccol-directed Black Killer provided the majority of the footage for this movie, supplemented by pickups from Oscar Santaniello, who was there in name only, as the real director was Aristide Massaccesi, the man we know as Joe D'Amato. He also wrote this story, which is all about Jeff Cameron's* bounty hunter being hired by the town of Trinity to protect them from a gang of bad hombres.
Here's to the Bounty Killer, who says things like "the man who makes my coffin hasn't been born yet" and makes $10,000 for the job plus $2,000 per dead body and any bounty he earns, which is why he carries a stack of wanted posters everywhere he goes. The Bounty Hunter also has a crossbow that fires explosive arrows, but that's just movie magic to match up with the end of Black Killer, as a Native American girl has a similar weapon.
That movie had Klaus Kinski going for it. This does not.
This was shot at Cave Film Studios, which was a Western set built by actor Gordon Mitchell in the early 70s in the sadly dying days of the Italian Western. Gordon lost the title to the land, which he had earned in place of a salary for a movie he filmed, because the Italian courts said that foreigners couldn't own land. The property was seized by the government and the town set was destroyed.
*His real name is Goffredo Scarciofolo.
Here's to the Bounty Killer, who says things like "the man who makes my coffin hasn't been born yet" and makes $10,000 for the job plus $2,000 per dead body and any bounty he earns, which is why he carries a stack of wanted posters everywhere he goes. The Bounty Hunter also has a crossbow that fires explosive arrows, but that's just movie magic to match up with the end of Black Killer, as a Native American girl has a similar weapon.
That movie had Klaus Kinski going for it. This does not.
This was shot at Cave Film Studios, which was a Western set built by actor Gordon Mitchell in the early 70s in the sadly dying days of the Italian Western. Gordon lost the title to the land, which he had earned in place of a salary for a movie he filmed, because the Italian courts said that foreigners couldn't own land. The property was seized by the government and the town set was destroyed.
*His real name is Goffredo Scarciofolo.
Mexican bandits vs. an antihero with an arsenal of weaponry
Leofwine_draca21 February 2017
Warning: Spoilers
BOUNTY KILLER FOR TRINITY is a cheap spaghetti western notably written and co-directed by none other than exploitation king Joe D'Amato. Every effort has been made to shoot this film as cheaply as possible yet at the same time it proves one of the better additions to the genre and at least it certainly isn't slow. I couldn't exactly call it a great movie but the revenge-style plot is interesting as is the anti-hero lead.
Jeff Cameron plays the titular character who rides into town and is employed by the townsfolk to protect them from Mexican bandits. Mayhem and bloodshed ensue, albeit in a low rent kind of way. The most interesting thing about Cameron's character is his arsenal of weapons which would make THE WALKING DEAD'S Darryl proud. His weapon of choice is the crossbow but he also brings various pistols, shotguns, and knives into play. The plot is very repetitive and simply features Cameron working his way through the gang members by taking them out a few at a time, but there's no great problem or issue with the simplicity.
Jeff Cameron plays the titular character who rides into town and is employed by the townsfolk to protect them from Mexican bandits. Mayhem and bloodshed ensue, albeit in a low rent kind of way. The most interesting thing about Cameron's character is his arsenal of weapons which would make THE WALKING DEAD'S Darryl proud. His weapon of choice is the crossbow but he also brings various pistols, shotguns, and knives into play. The plot is very repetitive and simply features Cameron working his way through the gang members by taking them out a few at a time, but there's no great problem or issue with the simplicity.
Amatuer hour (and a half)
pmtelefon16 March 2024
I don't want to pick on "Bounty Hunter in Trinity". It would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Spaghetti Westerns are a hit or miss kind of thing. Some are really good/great. Some are campy fun. Others are just bad. "Bounty Hunter in Trinity" is a bad one. The copy Grjngo Western Movies posted on YouTube looks great. But the sets, costumes and makeup don't. The cast is okay, I guess, but there aren't any stand outs. Despite a pretty high body count, the final twenty minutes are dull, almost boring. I'm glad I watched this movie because I really enjoy spaghetti westerns but I can't see myself watching this one again.
Excellent!!
Steve_Nyland13 July 2005
Warning: Spoilers
A BOUNTY KILLER FOR TRINITY is a grim, dark, violent little movie which turned out better than it probably had to be. This is another one of those ultra low budget Italian Westerns filmed on the ramshackle sets & familiar gravel pit owned and made by genre star Gordon Mitchell with his own resources and bare hands that served as the backdrop for about three dozen similar efforts made between 1970 and 1973 or so, a story that is actually more inspiring than the interchangeable threadbare plots of the films themselves.
Building facades and interiors served as sets for multiple projects, which when filmed from one angle became a general store or bank, from another a frontier ranch or hideout for ruthless Pistoleros garbed in Levis jeans, department store boots, movie prop gunbelts & six shooters borrowed for a weekend from a sympathetic studio prop department. Directors like Joe D'amato, Miles Deem, Frank Kramer and Anthony Ascott used the sets and outdoor locations like a Holodeck, creating worlds & places out of nothing. Costs were kept at a minimum with friends or co-workers pitching in with production crew work or bit parts, with a "stock" cast of actors brought in to fill the speaking roles. This week someone would play the gunslinger, next week they would be the Padre or maybe a crooked sheriff.
A BOUNTY KILLER FOR TRINITY is actually one of the better efforts, with "Jeff Cameron" cast as a laconic, remorseless and highly efficient bounty killer hired by the scheming bigwigs of a tumbleweed nowhere to rid their budding community of some local Banditos who have the run of the place and are making their lives miserable -- see also Corbucci's NAVAJO JOE and TOM HORN with Steve McQueen for other examples of this premise. As with most Euro Westerns the lead anti-hero is armed with a clever killing contraption (ala Sabata's shotgun pistol) and this time it is a crossbow, with throwing knives, Derringer pistols, a sawed off shotgun, as well good old six shooters & Winchester repeaters also coming into play depending upon what would make a better shot. Here is an equal opportunity minded hired assassin.
The plot is appropriately disposable: Banditos go on rampage, town leaders have edgy discussion about how to rid them of the menace, Cameron trots through the gravel pit and into town just in time to witness some form of outrage or atrocity to warrant his disgust (usually involving an attempted sexual assault on the pretty name brand Senorita that fit within the casting budget), leading to a series of scenes where the Banditos line up for showdowns with the scruffy, amoral drifter. They mutter insults and he kills them, repeat and rinse until the entire gang has assumed room temperature.
Any sense of storytelling is junked in favor of mood, style and as much brutality as may be needed to keep the attention of a paying audience, and A BOUNTY KILLER FOR TRINITY does not disappoint, providing a hefty body count, some nicely choreographed showdown scenes (why someone doesn't just plug the hero in the back from a window is never addressed, but so what), a clever ability by Cameron to know exactly what the bad guys are going to do before even they drum up their plans, keep it under 85 minutes so it can go on a double bill with another one just like it and you've got yourself advanced Spaghetti Western viewing where even the music sounds deceptively just like every other example of the genre, which is kind of the point.
Jeff Cameron is very good in the lead, bringing a sense of quiet disappointment and weariness about having to kill another bunch of sadistic brutes, with an ending that is actually rather evocative of DIRTY HARRY -- He takes no pride in his actions (unlike a wisecracking Sartana or ultra-cool Clint Eastwood), carries a sheaf of wanted posters for reference to make sure he is killing the right people and what the going rate is for their heads, and mastered the ability to roll a cigarette using tobacco tucked into a vest pocket for his performance. The film still has the comic book mentality of a good Anthony Ascott Spaghetti, but the affair is tinged with an air of regret for the loss of life, which is a refreshing change of pace for a genre that usually has a gleeful, sadistic attitude about violence and death.
Seek this one out: for about $25,000 in back-then money they came up with a nice, grim, violent little movie that is worth sitting through more than once. Which is more than I can say about REVENGE OF THE SITH, whatever a Sith may happen to be.
Building facades and interiors served as sets for multiple projects, which when filmed from one angle became a general store or bank, from another a frontier ranch or hideout for ruthless Pistoleros garbed in Levis jeans, department store boots, movie prop gunbelts & six shooters borrowed for a weekend from a sympathetic studio prop department. Directors like Joe D'amato, Miles Deem, Frank Kramer and Anthony Ascott used the sets and outdoor locations like a Holodeck, creating worlds & places out of nothing. Costs were kept at a minimum with friends or co-workers pitching in with production crew work or bit parts, with a "stock" cast of actors brought in to fill the speaking roles. This week someone would play the gunslinger, next week they would be the Padre or maybe a crooked sheriff.
A BOUNTY KILLER FOR TRINITY is actually one of the better efforts, with "Jeff Cameron" cast as a laconic, remorseless and highly efficient bounty killer hired by the scheming bigwigs of a tumbleweed nowhere to rid their budding community of some local Banditos who have the run of the place and are making their lives miserable -- see also Corbucci's NAVAJO JOE and TOM HORN with Steve McQueen for other examples of this premise. As with most Euro Westerns the lead anti-hero is armed with a clever killing contraption (ala Sabata's shotgun pistol) and this time it is a crossbow, with throwing knives, Derringer pistols, a sawed off shotgun, as well good old six shooters & Winchester repeaters also coming into play depending upon what would make a better shot. Here is an equal opportunity minded hired assassin.
The plot is appropriately disposable: Banditos go on rampage, town leaders have edgy discussion about how to rid them of the menace, Cameron trots through the gravel pit and into town just in time to witness some form of outrage or atrocity to warrant his disgust (usually involving an attempted sexual assault on the pretty name brand Senorita that fit within the casting budget), leading to a series of scenes where the Banditos line up for showdowns with the scruffy, amoral drifter. They mutter insults and he kills them, repeat and rinse until the entire gang has assumed room temperature.
Any sense of storytelling is junked in favor of mood, style and as much brutality as may be needed to keep the attention of a paying audience, and A BOUNTY KILLER FOR TRINITY does not disappoint, providing a hefty body count, some nicely choreographed showdown scenes (why someone doesn't just plug the hero in the back from a window is never addressed, but so what), a clever ability by Cameron to know exactly what the bad guys are going to do before even they drum up their plans, keep it under 85 minutes so it can go on a double bill with another one just like it and you've got yourself advanced Spaghetti Western viewing where even the music sounds deceptively just like every other example of the genre, which is kind of the point.
Jeff Cameron is very good in the lead, bringing a sense of quiet disappointment and weariness about having to kill another bunch of sadistic brutes, with an ending that is actually rather evocative of DIRTY HARRY -- He takes no pride in his actions (unlike a wisecracking Sartana or ultra-cool Clint Eastwood), carries a sheaf of wanted posters for reference to make sure he is killing the right people and what the going rate is for their heads, and mastered the ability to roll a cigarette using tobacco tucked into a vest pocket for his performance. The film still has the comic book mentality of a good Anthony Ascott Spaghetti, but the affair is tinged with an air of regret for the loss of life, which is a refreshing change of pace for a genre that usually has a gleeful, sadistic attitude about violence and death.
Seek this one out: for about $25,000 in back-then money they came up with a nice, grim, violent little movie that is worth sitting through more than once. Which is more than I can say about REVENGE OF THE SITH, whatever a Sith may happen to be.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
