¨Night of serpent¨ is an above average a western film with dazzling shootouts between the protagonist his contenders . This is a revenge and justice movie, more Spaghetti Western thrills , and continues in the wake of Sergio Leone . Despicable and manipulative Lieutenant 'The Snake' Hernandez (Luigi Pistilli), commander of a garrison in a small village awares a wealthy inheritance from the orphan Manuel following the accidental death of the kid's daddy . Being the main officer of the location Hernandez ¨The snake¨ joins a group of people , mostly child's relatives , attempting to get their hands on the inheritance with the intention of stealing the valuable legacy of the innocent waif Manuel (Luciano Casamonica) . A serious , smooth-talking , experienced , albeit drunkyard gunman named Luke (Luke Askew) is assigned to execute a grisly mission by revolutionary Pancho (William Bogart) , a villain boss of an oddball bunch of misfit cutthroats . As the troubled Luke having become a drunk following a traumatic event in his troublesome past , is chosen to be the pawn of the conspirators . Later on , duo starring , Luke and Manolo , undergo a strange relation of comradeship and paternal-filial feeling , along with the gorgeous Maria (Magda Konopka) . As Luke prepares a relentless vendetta on a surprising final.
"Night of the Serpent" blends violence , western action , plot twists and shoot'em up with high body-count . This is a first-class Spaghetti Western with interesting plot from Fulvio Gicca Palli &Lorenzo Gicca Palli & director Giulio Petroni himself in which a drunken murderer finds redemption . It is a slow-movement film but enjoyable enough and that's why it is entertaining ; besides , there is thoughtful dialog with an intelligent writing about a disturbing gunfighter with a troubled past which has led him down a path of alcoholism . This charming and clever Western has everything , as it packs noisy action , gunplay , thrills , violent happenings , a variety of foolish roles , a double intriguing storyline and full of style from the classic close-ups of characters eyes . Luke Askew gives a superior acting as Luke, an impaccable killer suffering from a traumatic past and nowadays an alcoholic . Luke Askew steals the show providing attractive performance of getting across his character whilst saying very few words . He is well accompanied by a top-notch cast doing a pretty decent job , with plenty of Spaghetti Western regular as Luigi Pistilli , Guglielmo Spoletini or William Bogart , Benito Stefanelli and other secondaries from B-Italian series as Franco Balducci and Giancarlo Badessi . And it stars two beauties of the Eurotrash genre , such as Magda Konopka as Maria and Chelo Alonso as Dolores.
The motion picture was well directed by Giulio Petroni , though too focused on style over substance , at times . It contains colorful and evocative cinematography by Mario Vulpiani with heavy use of shadow when it comes to interior frames , as well sunny exteriors filmed on location in desert of Tabernas , Almeria , Andalucia , Spain . And sensitive and moving musical score by prolific composer Riz Ortalani in Ennio Morricone style. The yarn being professionally made by Giulio Petroni who filmed another classic Italian western as ¨Death rides a horse¨ , though also shot other inferior but acceptable Spaghettis such as : ¨La vita, a volte, è molto dura, vero Providenza?¨, ¨A sky full of stars for a roof¨and ¨Tepepa¨. Rating : 6.5/10 . Better than average , notable and decently made S.W. Worthwhile seeing .
