The Unholy Four

Wow! I wasn't expecting much from this little known movie. I think it comparable to any of the spaghetti westerns and I must have watched nearly all of them now. After breaking out from a lunatic asylum 4 inmates band together. Chuck Mool has no recollection of his past prior to the asylum and the rest follow him on his quest to discover his true identity. Things don't go smoothly for the foursome but their friendship is strong. Excellent characters and acting, great story..but I don't want to give away the ending.

The script for this revenge western manages to avoid most pitfalls that threaten most run of the mill productions of the genre. The story of four men, escaped from a lunatic asylum, helping a friend of theirs to revenge himself on the man who almost killed him gives room to the usual nonsensical duels and shootouts. It is here, however, that truly inspired camerawork leaves us breathless. The antics of the four men bring a healthy dose of humor and diversity to the script and director Enzo Carboni knows how to bring out their different characters. As is often the case, an American actor is hired to make the film more attractive for the US market. Gun for hire this time around is Woody Strode, who visibly has a lot of fun playing the simple but loyal brute. A hugely enjoyable spaghetti western, then, from the man who brought us the Trinity films starring Terence Hill.

After a jaunty, upbeat credits sequence, we cut straight to a bunch of bad guys who think it's a good idea to set fire to the local loony bin in order to cause a distraction while they rip off one hundred grand. Four of these lunatics escape: religious maniac Woody Strode, card shark George Eastman, some knife guy, and a guy called Chuck who has no memory of who he is or where he comes from.

These four immediately head for the hills, which is just as well, because the locals are more concerned that they have escaped and less concerned with the missing money. So while the robbers are double crossed and some young upstart takes all the money, a bunch of bounty hunters stalk our four guys through the woods. Eventually some sort of plot starts to form itself, and it isn't centred around Woody Strode's organ playing and holy rolling.

Turns out the town they all end up in has two opposing factions in it (as usual), and Chuck may have belonged to one of them. The bad faction however, once they discover that Chuck ain't got no memory, decide to convince him that they are his family and that it might be a good idea to go kill the head of the other faction – his own father!

This film jumps crazily from subtle humour (usually involving Woody Strode or George Eastman), a wee bit of slapstick, and violent showdowns to the extent that most of the cast are dead by the end. There's also the young bad guy who puts the moves on his own sister that adds to the schizophrenic atmosphere. The showdown at the end is pretty good and you get a sense of the companionship that grows between the four lunatics. George Eastman, as usual, looks like he's having a lot of fun.

That'll do.

E.B. Clucher is the pseudonym of Enzio Carboni. He is the director responsible for the Trinity westerns featuring Terence Hill. This spaghetti western is a notch above most of the Italian run of the mill flicks. It has a decent plot that does away with the pitfalls of most ordinary revenge westerns. The characters that befriend Ciakmull are a bunch of escaped looneys and their antics heighten the entertainment value a lot. The silly duel myth is kept alive here but when the bullets start flying the spectators are treated to spectacular and inspired camerawork. In genre films it is always nice to be treated to a familiar face to give the product some, often much needed, touch of class. In this film that honor lies with John Ford regular Woody Strode. This excellent athlete turned actor plays a simple but loyal and brave buddy to the bewildered hero. One cannot say there is one single original idea in this spaghetti gunfest, but when served up hot and spicy like this it's sheer pleasure to watch.

Amnesiac Leonard Mann escapes from a sanitarium with fellow inmates Woody Strode, George Eastman, and Peter Martell. The four make their way to a town where Mann's father and angry brother are feuding with vicious rivals that try to use him and his state of amnesia for their own benefit.

This re-teaming of Mann and Martell (after The Forgotten Pistolero) has an intriguing premise and a slew of familiar faces, but takes way too much time for things to heat up. Everyone involved has definitely done better.

That being said, this isn't bad. The four leads have great chemistry and keep things fairly interesting. The direction by E.B. Clutcher (best known for They Call Me Trinity and it's sequel) is adequate enough and the final thirty minutes fairly good.

The actress that plays Mann's love interest here, previously played his mother!