Acquasanta Joe

Released in 1971, "Holy Water Joe" (aka "Acquasanta Joe") is an Italio Western about a gang of outlaws who steal a Union cannon and use it to rob a bank that contains the savings of bounty hunter Holy Water Joe (Lincoln Tate). Of course, he aims to set things aright. Ty Hardin plays the leader of the outlaws while Silvia Monelli appears as the lone female member of the gang, a half-breed. Richard Harrison is also on hand.

This combines the tone of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1966) with (sort of) the plot of Elvis' "Charro!" (1969). The cast is good and I like the score with its pieces of anachronistic early 70's rock, which goes to show that "Young Guns" (1988) wasn't the first Western to do this, not by a long shot. Unfortunately, the tone incongruently mixes gravity with goofiness and it prevents the viewer from taking the story serious. The comedy's simply not amusing. Worse, the story is dull, particularly the first half. Thankfully, I started to catch a grip by the second half and somewhat enjoyed the pic. But this is Exhibit A in why Spaghetti Westerns have a bad rep.

The film runs 88 minutes and was presumably shot in Spain. DIRECTORS: Mario Gariazzo & (uncredited) Richard Harrison. WRITERS: Gariazzo & Ferdinando Poggi.

GRADE: C-