Deadly Trackers

"The long cavalcade of vengeance" begins in New Mexico right after the Civil War when Reb vet Jeff Carter (former "Son Of Hercules" Richard Harrison) comes home to find a band of outlaws had robbed, raped, and murdered his sister. It isn't hard for him to figure out whodunit since the girl's body was covered with a distinctive poncho, one Jeff recognizes as belonging to a former ranch employee. Jeff isn't very good at pursuit, however, and he drinks a lot, so he's quickly captured by the gang's leader (peplum alumni Rik Battaglia) who ties him to a hill of ants. The ex-soldier (you can tell by the gold stripe down his gray pants) escapes and learns a thing or two along the way as he tracks the men down one by one, leaving a strip of torn poncho beside their corpses. And he'll stop at nothing to get his man, even if it means becoming sheriff of the terrified town the villains have taken over...

The most that can be said about DEADLY TRACKERS is that it's just another second string spaghetti western by a former "sword & sandal" director and would've been unexceptional in every way if it hadn't been for the unintentional humor and past-their-prime stars. And where is billed-above-the-title Anita Ekberg, anyway? The movie begins at the end just to prove the somnambulistic sex siren (who'd gained a few pounds since her salad days) is in the damn thing before the story unfolds in flashback. The Ek comes in about three-quarters of the way through as a saloon gal whose unattractive co-workers perform a listless can-can as she sashays down the stairs. If this were a Republic western, Vera Ralston would have led the dance and had a song, to boot, but poor Anita wasn't even talented enough to have a ditty dubbed. There would have been more than enough time if they hadn't wasted so much on a horse race alongside a stage coach across a landscape that looked nothing like the American Southwest despite the proliferation of fake cacti. The sexual "good guy/bad girl" (non)chemistry between the hefty Ekberg and a balding blond Harrison (who showed a lot more cleavage than his co-star) adds a bit of Destry to the mix and the camp factor's ramped when a prancing bandito with an exaggerated Southern accent says things like "you're kinda pretty for a girl". Oh, boy.

"Django's Bloody Trail" or Deadly Trackers or El largo camino de la venganza (1972) or La lunga cavalcata della vendetta (original title) . 1865 New Mexico , it deals with Jeff (Richard Harrison) , a Civil War vet who sets out to murder each one of the five outlaws (led by Montana : Rik Battaglia) who robbed, raped and killed his poor sister . He lays a fragment of her poncho on each of his victims' dead bodies as a mark of his revenge in a gripping, exciting tale. Along the way, Jeff participates in a horse race with a contender who is killed and is named Sheriff of Montana, whose name is taken from the famous Montana bandit. Little by little Jeff takes down enemies one by one, leaving a strip of torn poncho beside their corpses . Later on , there happens a relentless and merciless chase against the cutthroats .

¨Deadly Trackers¨ comes from a decade in which the Italo Western was already on its farewell tour , although some good Westerns were still produced such as Cut-Throats Nine , I quattro dell'Apocalisse , Keoma and Mannaja . Typical Spaghetti /Paella Western co-produced between Spain and Italy , plenty of thrills , violence , treason , and shootouts . Director Amerigo Anton achieved an ordinary work in a modest career , with some memorable scenes and shaky camera movement as the initial prologue and during the successive confrontations . Routine Spaghetti mayhem at its finest , this meaty Western contains an interesting but twisted plot , violence , shoot'em up and results to be quite entertaining , though drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . It turns out to be a run-of-the-mill spaghetti Western , as you can bone up on the bloodier side of that genre ; including crossfire, grisly killings in cold blood , crosses and double-crosses and anything else . It relies heavily on the usual issue abot a a merciless vendetta in an uneven screenplay , in which a former soldier bent on revenge, while a number of roles appearing and confronting along the picture such as a mysterious stranger, a beautiful saloon girl , a nasty gang leader, a traitor employee , all of them having their hidden agendas. A good example of Latino western genre from Italy ; it is a daring , surreal scenario with an atmospheric God-forsaken ghost town . Being a notoriously exciting Spaghetti , so extreme in every way , it is one of the handful of Italian Westerns in the last rattles of the genre . Starring Richard Harrison who stands out his strong , piercing eyes and striking look , featuring as Civil War veteran become a sheriif who confronts a band of cutthroats . Harrison is so-so as a peaceful man who heals ill people and turns a tough avenger when he is blinded by the ominous group of attackers , as he ravages the screen , he jumps , leaps and bounds , hits and runs ; besides , receiving violent punches , wounds and is tortured , tied to a hill of ants . The ninja of all ninjas, Richard Harrison, as Jeff Carter, is the only one who can put the movie in a slightly better light. The man who, along with Sam Elliott , competes for the title of "most distinctive mustache in the history of cinema", enhances with his good-looking presence almost every vehicle. You watch several ninja movies that would be unbearable without him, and wouldn't interest anyone . Worthwhile watching for a demonstration of the confrontation between the two-fisted Richard Harrison against the dangerous and ambitious killers . Richard Harrison played in Hollywood some minor roles as ¨Kronos¨, ¨South Pacific¨ and ¨Master of world . Then , Harrison jumped at the chance when offered the first character in 1961 ,¨The Invincible Gladiator¨ , which was filming in Europe . He wound up settling in Italy for the next two decades . To avoid being penned in too much as a muscle man , he sought characters in routine spaghetti westerns as ¨Texas the Red¨, ¨Gringo¨, ¨Reverendo Colt¨ , ¨One Hundred Thousand Dollars for Ringo¨, ¨Stagecoach of the Condemned¨ , ¨Gunfight at High Noon¨ and this ¨Joe Dakota¨ , even the main role from ¨For a fistful of dollars¨ was offered to Richard Harrison , but he turned down and explaining : Maybe my greatest contribution to cinema was not doing Fistful of Dollars, and recommending Clint Eastwood for the part . Support cast is frankly good , thanks to the familiar secondary actors .Here appear important secondaries from Spaghetti Western , such as : Attilio Dottesio, Furio Meniconi George Wang , Rik Battaglia from Spaghetti as well as Peplum and the past crowning glory, Anita Ekberg ; however, being completely out of place , who is also 70 pounds overweight.

.Colorful Cinematography in Eastmancolor by Romolo Garroni , being the exterior locations as the stage coach robbery and others filmed in Lacio , Rome, Italy. As well as a thrilling and evocative musical score by Carlo Esposito . The motion picture was middling but professionally directed by Tanio Boccia , whose pseudonym was Amerigo Anton . He directed some Spaghettis : Saguara , Kill or be Killed , Deadly Trackers and this Dio non paga il sabato (1967), but usually made Peplums, adventures and mini-epics , such as : Vendetta of Ivanhoe , La valle dell'eco tonante , Il dominatore del deserto , Maciste alla corte dello zar , I predoni della steppe , Sanson against pirates , Julio César,conqueror Gaul , Il trionfo di Maciste , Il conquistatore d'Orient , among others . Rating : 5.5/10 . Average , but acceptable and pasaable Spaghetti Western.

This film begins with a young woman by the name of "Deborah Carter" (Dada Gallotti) riding a horse from her ranch toward a small town several miles away. Suspecting that she has $150,000 on her from the sale of her ranch, a group of bandits led by an outlaw named "Montana" (Rik Battaglia) intercepts her along the way. However, upon discovering that she has no money on her, they subsequently proceed to gang rape and murder her out of sheer spite. Not long afterward, her brother "Jeff Carter" (Richard Harrison) discovers what has happened and, after recovering a poncho left by one of the members of the gang, decides to track down every single one of them in a quest for vengeance. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that--although it followed a rather familiar plot for the typical spaghetti western of the time--the director (Tanio Boccia) wasn't quite able to establish a smooth transition from one scene to the next resulting in a rather choppy feel to the movie. Neither did he use the talents of actors like Richard Harrison or Anita Ekberg (as the saloon owner "Jane") to their full potential. That being said, while I don't consider this to be a terribly bad picture, considering the issues just mentioned, I have to rate it as slightly below average.