Guns for Dollars

By the 1970s, many spaghetti western filmmakers decided after years of making serious spaghetti westerns to start making some that were more comical in nature. "They Call Me Halleluja" (a.k.a. "Heads I Kill You, Tales You're Dead") is one such western, and overall it's a pretty fun exercise. It's goofy fun almost right from the start, with assorted slapstick and various other comic touches (a machine gun sewing machine.) The peppy score by Stelvio Cipriani is the icing on the cake. The movie is not perfect - there are a few moments when it seems that linking footage is missing, and in the second half of the movie, the characters seem to forget about the treasure they had previously been seeking. And the second half also starts to get a little tiresome with its seeming padding. But overall, if you like spaghetti westerns and you are not in a completely serious mood, this movie will do nicely.

Roberto Camardiel is running the revolution against Emperor Maximillian, but things aren't going so well. In fact, he's facing a firing squad. Fortunately the peasants, led by scalawag gun-runner George Hilton save him. But the Revolution cannot succeed without machine guns, and that calls for money, so the plan is to steal the Emperor's Crown Jewels and have Hilton convert them into Gatlings. What the Emperor Norton will say in Petaluma, no one knows.

When we think of spaghetti westerns, we think of Sergio Leone with Clint Eastwood as the Man With No Name, and this definitely qualifies. In many ways, it looks like THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY, but while that was filled with dark, sardonic humor, this one seems to take all the deaths as good, clean fun, just a boy's adventure, with Hilton outwitting and outrunning everyone else. It's fine on those terms, but lacks any depth whatsoever.

Goofy , entertaining and amusing tongue-in-cheek spaghetti Western . This exciting picture contains Western noisy action , gun-play , fun situations and bits of humor . The film gets the comic remarks from Western parody united the features of typical Spaghetti . Offbeat Western comedy with a hero named ¨Alleluja¨ who looks partially ¨Sartana¨ . It is a bemusing SW with lots of mayhem , crossfire and nutty incidents ; however , being slightly mediocre . This time the new hero is named ¨Alelujah¨ (George Hilton) who carries a ¨surprising machine gun¨ which displays unexpected and magic resources . He is a elegant gunman and his companion is Gen. Emiliano Ramirez (Roberto Camardiel) , both of whom join forces along with a suspicious nun (Agata Fiory) to take a bag full of valuable jewels through gang-infested lands . They face off a powerful banker (Andrea Bosic) and his hoodlums as Fortune (Paolo Gozlino) . It stars ¨Alleluja/George Hilton¨ who unites a mysterious , fake sister and a Cossack Duke (Charles Southwood) . The resourceful hero , freelance gunman , named ¨Alleluja¨ appears to chase nasty gunfighters , as well as to get a gold stash . The confrontation will be inevitable between the mean cutthroats , scoundrels , villainous gunslingers and , of course , ¨Alleluja¨ . As 'Trinity' is the Game...'Hallelujah is his Name!

Silly slapstick euro-western, Terence Hill-Bud Spencer style . Amusingly starred by George Hilton , it is plenty of action , shootouts , tongue-firmly in cheek , double-crosses , fights with lots of punches , kick-ass , bounds , leaps , twists and loads of shots . The movie takes parts from Enzo Barboni movies such as ¨Trinity is my name¨ and ¨Trinity is still my name¨ . The picture is acceptable and amusing which doesn't say a lot because it has some cheap and ridiculous moments , too . This is a regular Faglioli-Spaghetti Western in Trinity and Bambino style and that's why there is a cult to idiocy surrealism , silliness , dirtiness with an appropriately goofy tone , customary issue in this sub-genre . The violence isn't crude but suits the light-weight comedy fun and silly slapstick like the Trinity series . It certainly has an enthusiastic cast , plenty of slapstick , some very impressive gymnastics , especially in the massive fight sequences ,especially set in the Chinese laundry and Monastery . The film is filled with action , twists , fun , brawls , shootouts , surprise-filled entertainment and with a couple of frankly bemusement moments . It does eventually outstay its welcome , and there are a surprising amount of fights and laughter . The movie is running out of ideas a bit ; nevertheless , it is still good enough to be fun . ¨Alelujah¨ is a two-fisted and tough gunfighter with technical weaponry and a lot of tricks similarly to previous Sabata , here he is attempting t to take down European emperor Maximilian by seizing a purse of precious jewels intended to be used for the purchase of weapons . ¨Alelujah¨ is another hero of second class in the S.W. genre as Sabata and Sartana . The Uruguay-born George Hilton was a Spaghetti first-star such as ¨ Sartana no perdone¨ , ¨Go kill and come back¨ , ¨Kitosch¨ , ¨They call me Alleluja¨ , ¨Ruthless four¨ , ¨Alleluja for Django¨ , and also played successful Giallo as ¨The strange vice of Mrs Wardh¨ , ¨The scorpion's tale¨, ¨All colors of the dark¨ , ¨My deal Killer¨ . He teams up , as co-protagonist , with the Spanish Roberto Camardiel , he is one , (along with Tito Garcia , Chris Huerta , Pedro Sánchez, and the great Fernando Sancho) of the ordinary support characters who accompanied to starring in the multiple Spaghetti/Paella Westerns of the 60s and 70s . The movie gets the usual Italian Western issues , such as greedy antiheroes , violent facing off , quick zooms , exaggerated baddies , among them . It appears ordinary secondary actors who are habitual in Italian Western and Peplum genre , such as : Andrea Bosic , Paolo Gozlino , Franco Pesce , Fortunato Arena , Goffredo Unger and Federico Boido or Rick Boyd and Roberto Camardiel as Mexican general fighting for the revolution against European domination.

This bewildering picture was middlingly directed by Giuliano Carmineo or Anthony Scott , who directed Westerns with Spaghetti-hero named Sartana , usually played by Gianni Garco and George Hilton . Giuliano Carmineo , alias Anthony Ascott, directed various Sartana with George Hilton who replaces Gianni Garco , as Hilton played more natural and roguish than Garco who was cold and peculiar . Giuliano Carmineo realized several Spaghettis , most of them featuring mainly the same cast again , such as "Di Tresette Ce N'è Uno, Tutti Gli Altri son Nessuno" ,Uomo Avvisato Mezzo Ammazzato... Parola Di Spirito Santo¨ (original title) or "His Name Was Holy Ghost", this is probably the best among the bunch of spaghetti western comedies that George Hilton was starring in and "Lo Chiamavano Tresette... Giocava Sempre Col Morto" that actually was the last time George Hilton/Chris Huerta and Carnimeo worked on such a western comedy together , ¨The moment to kill¨, ¨Find a place to die¨ , ¨They call him Cemetery¨ , ¨They call me Hallaluya¨ , and the Sartana movies : "Have a Good Funeral, My Friend, Sartana Will Pay" , ¨Sartana the gravedigger'(69) ,"Sartana's Coming, Get Your Coffins Ready" , ¨Light the fuse Sartana is coming¨(1971) , among others . Giuliano also directed other kinds of genres , as Sci-Fi : ¨Exterminators of the year 3000¨, ¨Computron¨, Giallo : ¨The case of the bloody iris¨ , Crime thriller : ¨Secrets of a Call Girl¨ , Buddy movie films : ¨Convoy Buddies" or "Kid Stuff" , "The Diamond Peddlers" . This one is clearly inferior to his entries in Sartana series . Rating : 5.5/10 . Average but amusing .

This is a splendid comic adventure; it is also a 1971 spaghetti western that coming at the tail end of an era was not much seen.

While the cast is uniformly good, it is the script that excels. Tino Carpi's writing provides good lines for almost everybody, whether it is the lead HALLELUJAH, his aristocratic rival in arms ALEXEI, or the two parties, trying to cheat them, the Mexican bandit revolutionary RAMIREZ or the American spy disguised as a nun (AGATA FLORI); even the ruthless arms dealer KRANTZ who engineer the theft of the jewels that everyone chases after a motley crew that becomes recognizable, because they are given not only names but personalities (eg. Cookie and his comments about outlaws, going back to Utah; Fortune, and so forth).

Uruguay born GEORGE HILTON comes across as a blend of TERENCE HILL; JAMES COBURN, especially when he wears motorcycle goggles in an early sequence, and even HUMPHREY BOGART! The actor credited as CHARLES SOUTHWOOD is an engaging fellow, especially when he does his Cossack schtik.

The music by STELVIO CIPRIANI is almost non-stop and adds to the atmosphere.

This is a film that will remind you of many other spaghetti westerns, even if those were made later than this: I was reminded of the SABATA films; the TRINITY films especially the second that deals with rogue monks and their monastery; other Mexican revolutionary films all the way back to VIVA ZAPATA; VERA CRUZ (Emperor Maximilian again) and COMPANEROS/MERCENARY, plus the two Leone westerns DUCK YOU SUCKER and then MY NAME IS NOBODY with the shaving sequence. And those are some that come off the top of my head.

I watched the video distributed by ACADEMY and could almost believe it was STEREO HIFI as cited on their box, but for the fact that no one was doing that back in 1971. In fact I watched this full frame video on a widescreen TV, in the widescreen mode, and was quite satisfied with the picture quality, confirming the original photography was excellent to begin with.

It remains a western that should be seen, therefore be made more available; how nice it would be to see the film on DVD letter boxed, even if it were only in mono!

Any film with a title as memorable and eye-catching as "Heads You Die, Tails I Kill You" has a lot to live up to. Luckily this one does.... well, for the first half at least.

The story centres around George Hilton's character named "Halleluyah" (thus the films alternative title "They Call Me Hallelujah"). He has been hired by Mexican general Ramirez (Roberto Camardiel) to steal jewels from the army, allegedly to help fund the revolution.

The beginning of the movie is very strong, as Ramirez is led to the firing line by the army, to Ciprani's fantastic score. Some onlookers are already grieving, but proceedings are intervened when Halleluyah appears with his very novel machine gun. Great stuff.

The plot has more twists and turns than, ummmmm, a very twisty turney thing! It is not just Halleluyah searching for the jewels, but a secret agent disguised as a Nun (Agata Flori), the Russian Alexei (Charles Southwood) and a gang of arms dealers led by Fortune (Paulo Gozlino).

Whilst the movie is a real roller-coaster of a ride, it does reach new levels of stupidity with the introduction of Alexei. As I said at the beginning of this write up, the film doesn't disappoint - it just (in my opinion) has one eccentric character too many. This makes the second half just a bit too farcical to me at times.

Most of the best scenes are based around Halleluyah's interaction with the gang - particularly near the beginning where disguised as monks they successfully steal the jewels (and soon face a confrontation with "Brother" Hallelujah). There is also a hilarious scene in which our hero poisons the gang's food, resulting in much belly ache and diarrhoea enforced swift exists! As far as the cast are concerned, Hilton makes a good leading man for the less serious westerns. Regular spaghetti stalwart Federico Boido is also well cast as the weasel like gang member Slocum.

I would definitely recommend this film (despite my reservations about the Russian!). It is a well plotted, good fun view, with enough double crosses and twists to keep you interested and entertained throughout.