Red-Barracuda During the American Civil War, a trio of criminals are given a reprieve from execution and instead are given a dangerous mission to find a corrupt army general and retrieve the gold he has stolen. A gang of Mexican bandits enter the scene and complicate matters further.I would have to consider this one as a better than average spaghetti western. There's nothing precisely very original about it or anything but it manages to do a thing which is quite rare in these kinds of movies in that is successfully integrates a comic tone into its narrative without being annoying in doing so. Most westerns that attempt to use comedy aren't very successful at it and the spaghetti ones in particular are usually pretty dire, so it was a pleasant surprise to see a movie pull it off well. It's not all japery here though as the story includes a healthy amount of action and even a massacre, so it never forgets to cover its bread and butter elements too. Its well-paced as well with some decent performances, especially from Italian genre film regular George Hilton who appears as an ex-priest who has turned to crime. Nobody would claim that this flick breaks the mould as such but it does what it does with energy and some fun.

Uriah43 After being captured for robbing a bank in Arizona and trying to desert from the Confederate army, 3 outlaws named "Chattanooga Jim" (Edd Byrnes), "Fidel Ramirez" (George Martin) and "Steel Downey" (George Hilton) are given a choice of either facing a firing squad or helping to recover a wagon full of gold that was stolen by a fellow Confederate officer named "Major Lloyd" (Gerard Herter) and his men. Naturally, they decide to cooperate and along with another Confederate officer named ""Lieutenant Logan" (Milo Quesada) they ride out to catch the gold thieves before they can cross into Mexico. Along the way, however, they encounter other obstacles which they must overcome—or die trying. Now, rather than reveal any more of the story I will just say that as far as "Spaghetti Westerns" are concerned this particular movie didn't quite measure up with some of the great ones out there. For starters, the characters lacked depth and some of the scenes seemed a bit outlandish even for the sub-genre mentioned. In essence then, I think most Spaghetti Western fans will probably like it but general audiences may or may not. Slightly below average.

FightingWesterner Dynamite-loving ex-priest George Hilton, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, and Mexican horse thief/whisperer George Martin both fight for and steal from the Confederacy. About to be executed for their thieving ways, they're given a reprieve in order to track down a renegade officer who killed some of his fellow soldiers and made off with a wagon full of gold and a Gattling gun.A fast-paced, rowdy adventure, this above average Italian western is a load of fun, especially George Hilton's character, who gleefully mixes piousness with his passion for blowing things (and people!) up. Hilton is truly a spaghetti western treasure!Things stay pretty light-hearted throughout, with a good mixture of tongue-in-cheek comedy, plot-twists, and great action sequences. I don't know about everyone else, but I thought it was pretty cool!It is claimed that one of the producers on this was a young Sylvester Stallone, a claim that seems a bit fishy. You never can tell though. If he did, he should have acted in it too. It sure would have been neat to see him before he was a star, shooting a six-gun in the Spanish desert!

MARIO GAUCI Despite the title, this is an easy-going Spaghetti Western with tongue firmly in cheek; plot-wise, it’s basically THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967) out West and with the Civil War for backdrop – as a trio of adventurers (George Hilton, George Martin and Edd Byrnes) are saved from the gallows, so that they can retrieve gold stolen from the Confederates by a renegade band of soldiers led by Gerard Herter (from Sergio Sollima’s marvelous THE BIG GUNDOWN [1966]). Along the way, they also have to deal with a band of Mexican outlaws (who, naturally, covet the gold): interestingly, this is presented as a family unit (albeit a loutish and ugly-looking bunch) controlled by an old woman who all she seems to do is stuff herself with food! The heroes, then, all have their characteristics: Martin is himself a Mexican horse-thief, Hilton a defrocked priest with a penchant for explosives(!) – this combination of sardonic piety and ecstatic outbursts results in an occasionally hammy performance, while Byrnes is the requisite renegade American (amusingly called “Chattanooga Jim”); for the record, Hilton and Byrnes would re-unite soon after for the similarly lightweight ANY GUN CAN PLAY (1967). Given that they’re technically prisoners till the accomplishment of the mission, their movements are overseen by an officer; however, half-way through, the latter leaves with a girl they come across at an isolated house (whose other inhabitants had all been murdered by Herter & Co.) in order to drum up support for the inevitable confrontation between prisoners, soldiers and outlaws…except that the Cavalry that charges to the ‘rescue’ is from the opposite side, the Unionists, since the officer turns out to have been a spy all along! Anyway, being a generally light-hearted entertainment, the heroes still end up in possession of the gold – amid brawling, double-crosses and shoot-outs galore! Incidentally, director Cicero would spend most of his later career helming low-brow sex comedies featuring Edwige Fenech and the like. The film under review does provide a typically pleasant score courtesy of one Carlo Pes.