Payment in Blood (1967) User Reviews

OK Spaghetti-Western

[cengelm · 5/10 · 7 December 2001]

This is the second film of Enzo G. Castellari I have seen, after KEOMA. It's not as original as the latter but provides good entertainment. The opening starts with a pseudo-documentary narrative which introduces the characters. While in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN the introduced characters are the heroes here they are the baddies. Later the characters aren't much further developed, though. The strong aspect of the film is the uncertainty about the intentions of the Stuart character, well played by Edd Byrnes. He doesn't seem to be a good guy but maybe there is a reason why he kills so many innocent people. Guy Madison plays equally convincing his counterpart Blake.

Overall an OK violent western with a good Francesco De Masi score which supports the pace of the story.

5 / 10.

Cleanest of the "Clints" joins the baddest of the bad

[marc-366 · 7/10 · 10 March 2005]

Hmmm, now this sounds very familiar to me..... clean shaven poncho wearing bounty hunter goes undercover with a gang of "bad guys" in the pursuit of a cash box buried in a graveyard by soldiers during the Civil War.

And, yes, there are more than a few similarities between this film and Leone's "For a Few Dollars More" (in particular) and "Good, the Bad and the Ugly". And, yes, it has obviously a lower budget than both the aforementioned films. But when the "borrowed" stories are so good, there doesn't seem to be a problem in my eyes in recounting extended versions of such tales. So, I really enjoyed this film in its own right.

The leading role does owe more than a nod of the cowboy hat to Eastwood's Man with No Name, and in that respect Byrnes is not an ample substitute. To me, he is far too clean looking (although, like Eastwood's character, he will do whatever he needs to in order to get a job done). The show stealers are Blake (played by Guy Madison) and that rarest of things - a spaghetti western female role (Loiuse Barrett).

Whilst not as outstanding as some other Castellari films (say, Keoma and Jonathan and the Bears), it is still a highly enjoyable Spaghetti Western fare that I would recommend to fans of this genre.

Acceptable Spaghetti Western packed with noisy action , crossfire , thrills and violence

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 19 May 2013]

Macarroni Western starred by two ordinary Spaghetti actors as Guy Madison and Edd Byrnes ; both of whom played several Italian oaters . Simple but effective Western that has all the classic ingredients of a good Spaghetti . It deals with a gunman named Stuart (Edd Byrnes) joins up with a gang of Confederate guerrillas commanded by Col. Thomas Blake (Guy Madison) to find a cache of missing Confederate gold . Set during post Civil War a misfit group carries out a risked travel beyond enemy lines , as Stuart teams up a motley bunch , including a veteran captain and other various colleagues (Ryk Boyd and Ennio Girolami , among others) to help them out by promising a massive reward if it succeeds . As the meanest rebel ever born lives only to make 'em die . They must pull off the dangerous objective , as Stuart and the ambitious drifters join forces to take a lot of money from confederacy that has been buried into an Indian cemetery similarly to ¨The good , the bad and the ugly¨ . The dangerous assignment is set against stark environment , Union soldiers attacks and hazardous trails . As the battle for victory has ended but the war for vengeance goes on.

This enjoyable Ravioli Western packs thrills, action , brawls , crossfire and drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing shootouts , fights or stunts every few minutes . This is an agreeable Western all'Italiana dealing with a continuous confrontation among protagonists and both of them against several opponents . The movie has the typical European Western characters , as the bloody facing off , greedy antiheroes, dusty and spectacular showdowns , extreme baddies ; and being rightly directed . This Italian Western was filmed in 1967 , a notorious year in the development of European western that almost doubled since former year with movies mostly filmed in Spain and Italy . Director Enzo G Castell makes a nice camera work with some zooms and clever choreography on the showdown , fighting , spectacular shootouts and entertaining scenes . The film blends violence , high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining ; there is a very odd implementation of shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as the film approaches its climax , as in the ending gunfights and the customary showdown conclusion . Guy Madison's performance in the movie is a bit wooden for the role of such an interesting character, a rebel confederate Colonel similarly to Quantrill or Anderson , but the fantastic performance by Edd Byrnes as a likable gunslinger saves the show . Edd is very fine , he ravages the screen , he jumps , bounds and leaps , hit and run . Byrnes as a brave and two-fisted gunfighter is terrific , subsequently the would play similar roles in other Spaghettis as "Professionals for a Massacre" by Nando Cicero and ¨Any can gun play¨ by Enzo G Castell . Ennio Girolami , Marino Girolami's son , plays as a cruelly baddie role ,he is pretty good , subsequently he would play similar characters in various oaters and Spaghettis , many of them directed by his brother Enzo G Castellari . The musician Francesco De Massi composes a nice soundtrack , well conducted , this turns out to be one of the most memorable parts of the movie , adding catching songs at the initiation and final .

The film was well produced/written by Marino Girolami who used pseudonyms as Fred Wilson or Dario Silvestri , he is father of Enzo G. Castellari and Ennio Girolami and brother of Romolo Guerrieri . Marino wrote and directed several Western such as "Badmen of the West" ,"Two Ringos from Texas", "God Was in the West, Too, at One Time" , "God Was in the West, Too, at One Time" . The motion picture was professionally directed by Enzo G Castell . Enzo usually makes experimental editing techniques such as unbroken transitions from one scene to another and a cameo appearance in his films . Castellari often works with Guido and Maurizio De Angelis and uses to do slow motion shootouts and choreographic death scenes . Enzo is a good a craftsman working in all kind of genres , as he made Western especially . His first one was ¨Some dollars for Django¨ co-directed by Leon Klimovsky , but actually, for the most part of its filming by the disagreements arising with Klimovsky was realized by Enzo G. Castellari, which this film was his directorial debut in a sub-genre that became one of its greatest representatives ; in fact if you compare the beginning of "7 Winchester for a massacre" which would direct the next year and the end this one seem to be similar direction . After that , he went on directing ¨ Johnny Hamlet¨ , ¨Kill them everybody and came back alone¨, ¨Tedeum¨ , ¨Cipolla colt¨ and the masterpiece : ¨Keoma¨ and finally its inferior sequel ¨Jonathan of the Bears¨ also with Franco Nero . Some of them are serious , others are goofy and plenty of slapstick and slapdash . This ¨Seven Winchester for a massacre¨ is a bewildering story , enjoyable in lots of parts and it will appeal to Spaghetti Western fans . It's a passable film , and better than a lot of the ulterior spaghetti western to come .

Violent, Above-Average Spaghetti Western!

[zardoz-13 · 7/10 · 7 June 2010]

"Payment in Blood" qualifies as a violent, above-average, Spaghetti western shoot'em up with a high body count. Like director Sergio Leone's bigger budgeted "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," the leaner budgeted "Payment in Blood" concerns the quest for buried treasure. The outlaw villains embark on a search for a fabled fortune, approximately $200-thousand, stashed at an undisclosed location by Confederate General Beauregard. Of course, anybody who knows anything about Civil War history knows Beauregard hid no such loot. Typically, most westerns that appropriate this plot attribute the lost Confederate gold to President Jefferson Davis. Ironically, during the opening credits sequence, which contains a montage of Civil War photographs, you won't see a picture of Beauregard, while you will see pictures of Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and Ulysses S. Grant. The protagonist, Stuart Edd Byrnes of "Any Gun Can Play"), has a grudge to settle with the head villain (Guy Madison of "Massacre River") and his gang of bloodthirsty gunmen. Primarily known overseas as "Seven Winchesters for a Massacre," "Payment in Blood" constituted writer & director Enzo G. Castellari's third western. Castellari's first western at the helm was "Few Dollars for Django" for which he received no credit, and "Any Gun Can Play" was his second oater, with a bigger, better cast. "Payment in Blood" doesn't top either "Any Gun Can Play" or a later Castellari Civil War western "Kill Them All and Come Back Alone" with Chuck Connors. Long-time screen writing collaborator Tito Carpi of "Few Dollars for Django" and "Bullets and the Flesh" scribe Marino Girolami penned the formulaic plot with Castellari for "Payment in Blood." The difference between "Payment in Blood" and "Any Gun Can Play" is the latter is more elaborate than the former.

"Payment in Blood" amounts to a rather contrived western that uses the venerable plot about an individual who goes undercover to infiltrate a gang of homicidal criminals and thwart them. The dialogue is neither as amusing as "Any Gun Can Play," but "Payment in Blood" boasts a surprise ending. Although it seems like scores of men wind up with bullet holes during the numerous shoot-outs, "Payment in Blood" lacks the titular element that became such a fixture in later westerns like "The Wild Bunch." The frontier action takes place in 1867 after the conclusion of the American Civil War. A renegade Confederate officer, Colonel Thomas Blake (Guy Madison of "Five against the House"), refuses to stop fighting Union authorities and leads his troops on raids against the army and civilians alike. During the opening moments of "Payment in Blood," writer & director Enzo G. Castellari introduces us to not only the pugnacious Blake but also the hell-spawn that ride with him. Included in this notorious gang are Chamaco Gonzales (Ennio Girolami of "The Hellbenders"), Rios (Aysanoa Runachagua of "El Cisco"), Fred Calhoun (Federico Boido of "Planet of the Vampires"), Zeb Russel, and Mesa Alvarez (Attilio Severini of "Massacre at Grand Canyon"). Blake and his marauders carry out indiscriminate raids, steal horses, loot houses, and kill men, women and children without a qualm. Most of this information is imparted to us by nameless supporting players standing around wanted posters of Blake men and complaining about his depredations. The reward on Blake's head has risen to $5-thousand. Chamaco rides into a town one day and eavesdrops on a conversation between a crippled, former Confederate soldier and a cowboy. "What can you expect from a rotten war like ours? Brother against brother. When you teach a man it's right to kill, how can you unteach him?" The other man observes about Blake's killers: "They have learned to like being heroes. They've learned to like killing." Chamaco confronts the crippled Southerner, Jeremy, because the latter had ridden with General Beauregard and may know the location of the lost treasure. Before he can learn anything from Jeremy, Chamaco has to kill him. A military tribunal sentences Chamaco to die in front of an army firing squad. Stuart surprises the military and rescues Chamaco just as the soldiers are about to execute him. You see, Stuart is driving a wagon past the firing squad when he delivers his ultimatum to the army. He shoots the officer's sword and several Winchester rifles spring from the wagon, suggesting that several men are aiming those long guns. As it turns out, nobody is aiming those rifles, and Stuart has packed a bag of dynamite in the wagon bed so when one of the soldiers opens fire on the vehicle, the wagon vanishes in an explosion.

Chamaco takes Stuart to Blake's camp after they sneak across the Rio Grande without attracting attention from the border patrols. It seems that Stuart served as one of General Beauregard's chiefs of staff. Stuart's introduction to Blake's gang and his ability to match them at their expertise makes for a good scene. The photography of Zeb snatching the revolver out of Stuart's holster with his bull whip is exciting. After he arrives in Blake's camp, Stuart refuses to divulge the whereabouts of the loot to the cunning colonel. Eventually, Stuart does reveal the location, and they find a strong box buried in an Indian cemetery. Things take a turn for the worst when Blake discovers that the money in the strong box is a pile of worthless Confederate bank notes. Meantime, the survivors of the Durango come after Blake for killing their husbands. Edd Byrnes appears out of place with his clean-shaven features among a cast of characters who sport some form of facial hair. Guy Madison is suitably murderous as the bad guy in a role that he rarely played. The first time that we see Madison as Colonel Blake, Blake rides out of a cloud of gunfire in a town that his men and he are shooting up. Composer Francesco De Masi provides a charismatic orchestral score that perks up this western. Once you've heard De Masi's flavorful score, you won't forget it.

Standard but entertaining spaghetti western

[Red-Barracuda · 7/10 · 11 May 2013]

Enzo G. Castellari was a director who seemed to contribute films in a variety of genres, from sci-fi to giallo. I get the feeling that his best ones are his spaghetti westerns though. In Payment in Blood he delivers a pretty solid entry. Its story features a renegade Confederate colonel who refuses to accept the South's defeat in the American Civil War and so continues the fight with a band of outlaws. A stranger saves one of his gang from execution and is taken into their fold when he reveals that he knows the whereabouts of a casket of buried money.

It would only be fair to say that the plot-line has quite a few similarities with Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy. Its hero, however, looks a little different from the shady leads from other spaghettis. He looks more like a character from an American traditional western, although he still has the same amorality and essentially acts in a similar way. The villains are decent enough and there is a fair amount of violent action to keep us entertained. Things are wrapped up with an interesting enough climax in an Indian burial ground, located in a cave. Overall, this is an entertaining, if unremarkable, western and should definitely find approval with fans of the Italian strand.

PAYMENT IN BLOOD (Enzo G. Castellari, 1967) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 5/10 · 14 August 2008]

This was the fifth(!) Spaghetti Western I've watched from director Castellari (whom I met at the 2004 Venice Film Festival) – it's not too bad an effort actually, though still far away from the admirably elegiac quality he would eventually achieve in KEOMA (1976).

The plot is pretty typical of the genre: after the end of the Civil War, a Confederate Colonel (Guy Madison) wants to keep up the fight and recruits a band of outlaws to finance his campaign through random pillaging; given that the original Italian title makes an explicit reference to the fact that the gang totals seven men, I guess the film intended to be a roguish version of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960)! Anyway, as expected, an outsider (Edd Byrnes) soon joins their ranks – after having rescued one of them (Enio Girolami, the director's brother and who, in the role of a peon, irritatingly speaks almost exclusively in Spanish throughout!). However, it transpires (equally unsurprisingly) that he's really a government agent out to ensnare Madison and his men by ostensibly leading them to a buried cache' of Confederate money! Along the way, a female character is also thrown into the fray – which, naturally, causes discord among the Colonel and his 'underlings' since, rather than share her with them as was their habit, he decides to keep her for himself; at the end, she too turns out to have been on the side of the law (and in cahoots with Byrnes all along)!

The film features plenty of action – set to a rousing score by Francesco De Masi – and climaxes agreeably with an atmospheric sequence set inside a cave (where the now worthless money is stashed) that served as burial ground for some Indian tribe or other.

Typical But Okay Italian Western

[FightingWesterner · 7/10 · 23 February 2010]

Crazed Confederate raider Guy Madison can't stop raiding, even after the Civil War is over and done with. Ex-Confederate Edd "Kookie" Byrnes knows where a fortune in confederate treasure is buried and needs the bloodthirsty Madison and his band of cutthroats to get there, leading to an uneasy alliance and a harrowing trip across the frontier.

Another of director Enzo G. Castellari's patented brand of light-hearted adventure films, Payment In Blood is a decent enough, if not very original movie. It does have it's share of good action scenes, locations, and performances by it's lead actors, benefiting greatly from Byrnes charisma and Madison's machismo. The climax at the Indian burial ground is pretty neat too.

Castellari is actually pretty good at setting up and directing action sequences. He made his fair share of good movies, but I feel he really could have knocked it out of the park (and still can) if given the right script.

This Spaghetti Western was kinda messy. It was all over the place.

[ironhorse_iv · 5/10 · 6 July 2016]

The first thing, you'll probably notice about this movie is the fact that the filmmakers couldn't figure out, what to call, this film. 'Seven Winchesters for a Massacre,', 'Renegade Riders', 'Blake's Marauders', 'Payment in Blood', "Last Resort' 'The Final Defeat' and 'Winchester for Hire' has all been used to describe this movie. Since, the movie has multiply titles, it has really confuse, most of the viewers. Directed by E.G Rowland AKA Enzo G. Castellari, the movie tells the story of a mysterious gunman, Stuart (Ed Byrnes) who joins up with a gang of ex-Confederate led by renegade Colonel, Thomas Blake (Guy Madison) in an attempt to find buried treasure, from the American Civil War. Without spoiling the movie, too much, I have to say, the movie really tries too hard to be, the next 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'. There are way too many similarities to that Sergio Leone's 1966 film. While, many people believe that, Ed Byrnes kinda looks, and acts like Clint Eastwood's 'Man of No Name' in certain scenes, in my opinion, he looks and acts more like Casey Affleck in 2007's 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'. Without telling too much about him, all I can say, is that, the twist and turns with his character, somewhat doesn't make sense. If he's supposed to be the good guy, then why does, he kills a lot of innocent people!? It doesn't make sense. It really get more befuddling, toward the end, when it turn out, he was indeed, a good guy, and had a 'partner', who a few scenes earlier, left him to die and was working with the bad guys. They really tossed out, the logic of the film, out of the window, by this point of the film. Because of that, it's by far, one of the weakest parts of the film. You know, the movie has a problem, when most people find themselves, rooting for the group of rapist and murders over the large amount of faceless, not establish good guys. You know, then, that the film, has, went the wrong direction. Guy Madison as the villain, Thomas Blake was meh for the most part. I like how he does have a commanding voice. Yet, his role was nothing new and comes across as somewhat dull. Reportedly Madison had drinking problems while making this film. So, it was no surprise, that he often look like, he hasn't slept in days. He just look tired & bored of acting the same type of roles. He was indeed, typecast as a Civil War officer, way too many times. Despite that, I did like the group of sadistic cutthroats that made up Blake's Raiders. First off, you got the Tuco rip-off Chamaco Gonzales played by Thomas Moore AKA Ennio Girolami, who pretty much, set up the plot. Then, you got the quiet, Indian, Rios played by Alfred Aysanoa AKA Aysanoa Runachagua, whom looks like, he set out of the wrong movie. My favorite in the gang, has to be the sadist, Mesa Alvarez (Attilio Severini) who uses his spurs to kill or torture people & the cowardly Frenchman cook/sommelier, Levasseur (Piero Vida). Both were very memorable. I like how much, the gang reminds, a bit of Director Sergio Corbucci's 1967's 'Hellbenders' mixed with Director John Sturges's 1960's hit, 'The Magnificent Seven'. Anyways, I like how each one of them, having their own set of weapons, and gimmick for a campaign of violence. I love, how the movie kinda introduce them. It's by far, one of the best opening sequences, I had seen in a Spaghetti Western. Yet, I can't say the same, toward the later-half, when Louise Barrett AKA Lousie Baratto's character, Manuela was introduced. That scene comes out of nowhere, and seem very awkward. Her character really wasn't needed. Another thing, I wish the movie could had done, better, is in the video language transfer department. Not everything in the film was converted, back into the English language for the US and UK release, as the original Italian dubbing was still there. It was so badly done. Because of that, it really took me out of the film. It's just too weird to see characters jump, from one language to the other. Still, the soundtrack by Francesco De Masi was very exciting to listen to. The opening credits with the Civil War photos background was kinda cool, because of that. Another thing, that wrong, about this film, is its tone. It's all over the place. What a weird hodgepodge of odd comedy mixed with gritty extreme violence. While, the action was amazing; the problem is, so parts is a bit too unrealistic. I don't particularly like those obnoxious gimmick gun tricks, this movie has. Candles are shot from a candlestick, a water-jug is shot from a person's mouth, playing cards are shot from another person's hands, and last, a gun being whipped out of a holster, are a bit over the top. The editing is also not very inspired, at times the movie appears rather uninspired and loosely put together. Some scenes just ended, mid-sentences, and begin with no establishing shots. It was very jarring. The movie's visuals is sub-standard, but it kinda works, enough to reach the end of the climax. So I can't complain about that. Overall: Whatever, this movie wants to calls itself. I have to say, I was somewhat disappointed in how the film turn out. Great opening, but pretty crappy delivery toward the end. I really can't recommended, watching.

Competent spaghetti western, no more or less

[Wizard-8 · 3 December 2011]

When his career started to wane stateside, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes went to Europe and starred in several spaghetti westerns, including this one. I've seen several of Byrnes' spaghetti westerns, including this one, and in all of them he seems to be out of place. He looks too clean-cut to be stuck in the grittiness of the spaghetti western world. Still, he does give it his all, rolling around in the dirt and giving it his all.

As for the rest of the movie, it has its ups and downs. It has a great musical score by Francesco DeMasi, very memorable despite a lot of it being repeated as the movie runs. There are also some serviceable action sequences, which is fortunate because the parts of the movie between these action sequences is kind of slow and lacking plot and character development.

If you like spaghetti westerns, give this movie a go. If not, look for another movie.

Renegade Riders

[re-en-actor · 6/10 · 5 October 2021]

The title "Payment in Blood" appears to be a marketing title as another title of the movie was "Renegade Riders" as seen in the opening credits in the 1993 VHS released by MNTEX Entertainment. The transfer was low quality as the beginning credits were cut off since it was in "pan and scan" mode and not the "letterbox" mode usually used in the beginning to capture the full screen credits with the saloon style border.

The movie has all the classic Spaghetti-Western style and sound effects and out-of-sync voice dubbing that people love. It would be nice to see a new DVD transfer from the original film stock but there are no DVDs available although there are wide screen versions on the internet floating around.

Entertaining, violent Spaghetti Western

[RatedVforVinny · 6/10 · 19 April 2021]

Ticks all the right boxes with some whacky characters and several exciting action sequences. The musical score is half decent to. The story concerns a Confederate Major, who is caring on his own private campaign and after the official surrender. Sort of plays like an inferior 'Hellbenders' by the great Sergio Corbucci. The lower score of six, is just a comparison to the many other, better examples of this particular genre but the fans will still enjoy.