Acquasanta Joe

A gang of ex-civil war soldiers led by Colonel Donovan uses their prized weapon of a stolen cannon to rob a bank. Bounty hunter Acquasanta Joe happened to keep his life-savings there, and so when a reward pops up for one of their double-crossing men Charlie Bennett who took off with some of the money. Joe finds him and brings him to Donovan, only to hopefully cash-in on the reward the army has for Donovan and his men.

For most part Mario Gariazzo's "Acquasanta Joe" is a second rate, cut and dry spaghetti western with few unusual marks creeping in. The problem I had was that it felt extremely uneventful (very flabby midsection) and despite few effective sequences, the highly obscene comedic developments (which always tried to be goofy) had myself cringing. More often everything just seemed to sit there, lacking strong characters, action and script. Gariazzo's direction is very low scale, brutish and tight, but there's no flair or distinctive style brimming from it. Which was needed to make sure the energy levels stood up, and keep certain bizarre moments from falling down flat. There are some decent set pieces, when the cannon is in use, but the uneven blend has too much filler and bland air. The film looks cheap and low end. Like something made for TV. It can't seem to hide it or use it to its advantage. The material doesn't surprise and stays traditional in all aspects, but it holds a confident structure to it. Marcello Giombini's nippy music score is an uncanny assortment (some funky modern guitar riffs) that actually worked. Franco Villa's cinematography threw many swift, fast and odd camera angles amongst the grit. The performances are pretty forgettable, but tolerable. The hazy Lincoln Tate in the central turn as the protagonist Joe is kinda lacking, especially with his presence. Ty Hardin's turn as Donovan is mainly feeble, however he has some minor sparks. Richard Harrison was enjoyable enough, as the deserter Charlie. Silvia Monelli doesn't do nothing much but look all steely. Only spaghetti fans should bother, but nonetheless rather disappointing.

It was around this time during the spaghetti western craze that many spaghetti westerns started to add some comic elements, some being outright comedies. "Holy Water Joe" (a.k.a. "Acquasanta Joe") plays it straight for the most part, but there are several scenes that are clearly there to generate laughs. When this comic side of the movie is placed against the serious side, it is sometimes jarring, because the movie has several sequences where people are viciously gunned down or threatened with hanging or being blasted by a cannon. Apart from that flaw, I didn't find the movie as terrible as some of the other IMDb users did. I'm not saying it's a great or even good western, but I found it lively enough to pass the time (though not much more.) If you are a fan of the spaghetti western genre, it's probably safe enough to give it a try.

A bounty hunter who goes by the name of "Holy Water Joe" or "Acquasanta Joe" decides to put all of his savings into a bank. However, when gangster Donovan and his gang rob the bank, he sets out to get his money back. But, rivalry in the gang makes things complicated, as the union army also is interested in finally putting the gang to rest. "Holy Water Joe" gets four stars. Two for the performance from Ty Hardin of "Bronco" fame who absolutely steals the show with his nutty performance, and two more stars for the grand gun-cannon-bow and arrow battle at the end, other then that its a strange mixture of spaghetti western violence and zany comedy, with a rather bland forgetful lead in Lincoln Tate.

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-

To me you have to really be a fan of this genre to enjoy this Spaghetti western. The biggest problem to me is the script. There are way too many plot holes that are just never explained, and questions as to why they are doing this or that. There are some good action scenes and moments. I loved the last 15 or 20 minutes of the movie just for the action alone. I will say another problem with the movie at times was the music score, which seemed way too lighthearted or comical at times for what was happening on screen turning moments that should have been played for more dramatic effect into comedy. My last problem with the movie was with the English dubbing -- at least on the version I watched. The voices seemed too alike at times as if a person not very talented was doing both parts at the same time, and didn't know how to disguise their voice well. In conclusion, I say if you are a fan of the genre, don't pass this one up. It is worth it for the action at times alone.