Lanky, l'homme à la carabine

I'm glad that there is a DVD company (Wild East) in North America that is releasing a number of spaghetti westerns that never before got the attention in North America, probably due to the fact that they generally don't have the star power as other spaghetti westerns. I just watched one of their releases -"Taste Of Killing", and as a spaghetti western fan I was satisfied by the end for several reasons.

One reason is that the hero of this spaghetti western is not a superhero. Yes, he's smart and quick with a gun, but he doesn't seem to have mystical powers like other spaghetti western heroes. He can't read, for one thing, and in a few instances he relies on teaming up with townspeople so that his plans can succeed. Craig Hill does well playing this hero.

The script has a few other surprises as well. It's a more leisurely-paced movie, with not as much action as some other spaghetti westerns. (Though the action scenes are pretty good, especially the final shootout with the evil gang on the city streets.) But the script keeps up plenty of plot turns so viewers won't get bored. There's also plenty of focus on some of the supporting characters.

And as a bonus, there's a tuneful and lively score by Nico Fidenco. In short, there's a lot to like here. Maybe this isn't a spaghetti western to start with if you are unfamiliar with the genre, but for fans of the genre it will satisfy.