I would watch practically any "Spaghetti Western" with Lee Van Cleef because even though the writing was not always great in all the films (such as his two Sabata films), his menacing screen presence was amazing--making him one of the most frightening characters in Westerns. While I definitely preferred him in his films he did with Clint Eastwood (FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE and THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY), there is enough eye-popping Van Cleef action to make his fans satisfied. Here, he looked and acted much like the characters in these great films with his piercing eyes, black outfit and amazing skills that were super-human.
Unfortunately, at the same time, there were a few major impediments in this film. First, the weird and distracting characters such as 'Banjo' and 'the Alley Cat' did not help improve the movie but detracted from Van Cleef's menacing persona. It's hard to keep focused on the demon-like Van Cleef when these other two are chewing every scene they are in and their on-screen antics are just plain weird. Second, the plot is very convoluted and more complicated than was necessary. Much of this was because of all the weirdos, but much of it was just poor writing relative to the great Italian Westerns made both immediately before and after SABATA. Finally, while it wasn't always bad, the musical score was certainly not up to the standards of an Ennio Morricone score (he did the music for the more famous Italian Westerns). Instead, it ranged from really awful (the opening song in particular) to reminiscent of Morricone--but never his equal.
So what you have left is a slightly better than mediocre film thanks only to the screen presence of Lee Van Cleef. Otherwise, try some other Italian Western--almost all of them are better.
Unfortunately, at the same time, there were a few major impediments in this film. First, the weird and distracting characters such as 'Banjo' and 'the Alley Cat' did not help improve the movie but detracted from Van Cleef's menacing persona. It's hard to keep focused on the demon-like Van Cleef when these other two are chewing every scene they are in and their on-screen antics are just plain weird. Second, the plot is very convoluted and more complicated than was necessary. Much of this was because of all the weirdos, but much of it was just poor writing relative to the great Italian Westerns made both immediately before and after SABATA. Finally, while it wasn't always bad, the musical score was certainly not up to the standards of an Ennio Morricone score (he did the music for the more famous Italian Westerns). Instead, it ranged from really awful (the opening song in particular) to reminiscent of Morricone--but never his equal.
So what you have left is a slightly better than mediocre film thanks only to the screen presence of Lee Van Cleef. Otherwise, try some other Italian Western--almost all of them are better.