Rattler Kid: Se Queres Viver... Atira

A cavalry officer is framed for a killing and then goes on pursuit for the real culprits, in doing so he becomes the feared outlaw known as…the Rattler Kid.

This spaghetti western was directed by the Argentinean Leon Klimovsky who made most of his films in Spain, including the atmospheric horror Vampire's Night Orgy (1973) and the effective giallo A Dragonfly for Each Corpse (1975). He was one of the rare non-Italians to direct a spaghetti western and with Rattler Kid he produced a pretty solid, if unspectacular, effort. Its plot is standard stuff really and the characters are very stock – we have a taciturn hero played by Richard Wyler, a taciturn sheriff played by Brad Harris and the beautiful Femi Benussi in a token woman role. I have to say that despite its routine nature I did actually enjoy this one though and found it involving enough. Klimovsky was a reliable director and he manages to hold things together here well enough. Needless to say, most spaghetti western fans should quite enjoy this one I reckon.

You might want to drop that grade a wee bit as I'm pre-disposed to like just about every Western Al'Italia I get my hands on (except that one Alfonso Breschia made...can't remember the title), so I liked this one too. Same plot, same scenarios, but made well enough and enjoyable enough.

A yankee soldier gets framed for murdering his superior, stealing a safe from him, then knocking himself out. The dumbest court in the world then decides to hang him, but of course he escapes and tracks down the guys who framed him.

I was getting worried as he'd killed about three of these guys in ten minutes and thought things were going to get boring, but instead they got...what's the word that describes loads of Latin actors laughing for ages and stuff? Who cares if one of them is Frank Brana! Maybe think of this one as a generic, but well made Spaghetti Western. So if you like Spaghetti Westerns, you'll like this one.

The tale concerns about an army sergeant named Tony Garret (Richard Wyler), he's wrongly accused for killing and robbing and is condemned to death row . He breaks out and swears vengeance and looking for the actual culprits and retrieve his lost honour . Tom nicknamed Rattle Kid converted an outlaw with a price on his head and a poster captioning : ¨Rattle Kid , wanted, alive or dead¨. Meanwhile he robs a stagecoach and a bank and executes the vendetta . He's hired by a gang (Frank Braña , Luis Induni , among others) for robbing a bank in a little town under authority of sheriff Bill Manners (Brad Harris) . There find a school teacher (Jesus Puente) , a banker (Jose Maria Caffarel) and an impoverished cattleman (Miguel Del Castillo).

This is an average Spaghetti Western with some moments genuinely entertaining if you can avoid thinking too much . Follows the exploits of Rattle Kid in SW usual theme , the revenge , furthermore the starring attempts to save his stained reputation. Mediocre performances seem badly dated today . The picture is starred by Richard Wyler , he acted in Western (Bounty killer , Two guns and a coward , Winchester Bill) and Euro-Spy genre (Dick Smart 2007 ,Coplan) ; y Brad Harris who began doing stunt work , in the late 50s he traveled to Europe and he soon found himself working in musclemen epics (Sansone , Goliath against the giants , Fury of Hercules) and he eventually moved into Spaghetti Western and spy movies . Appropriate and atmospheric musical score by Francesco De Massi and colorful cinematography by Julio Ortas , both of whom are usual of Spaghetti Western . The motion picture is professionally directed by Leon Klimovsky , a craftsman who directed all kind of genres , as Terror for Paul Naschy (Marshall of hell ,Rebellion of dead one , Orgy of vampires , Werewolf shadow , Dr Jekill vs. the werewolf), Warlike(June 44 attack force Normandy , A bullet for Rommel , Bridge over Elba) and Western (Badland drifter , Some dollars for Django , Death knows no time , Two thousand dollars for Coyote) . Rating: regular but entertaining .

I bought this on VHS when these movies first came out. I just watched it and found it very enjoyable with a great cast. Brad Harris is at his usual best. The story falls apart and become routine near the end but ends well. There is now a complete version on Y/T to watch for free.