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Massacre Time (1966) Directed by Lucio Fulci

Genre: Western

The first spaghetti western directed by horror maestro Lucio Fulci, and the second of three from 1966 starring Franco Nero. Very nearly, Massacre Time (full title: Le colt cantarono la morte et fu ... tempo di massacro, meaning: The colts celebrated death and it was ... massacre time) wasn't even made. It was meant to be an Italian-Spanish co-production, and Spanish actor George Martin (who played the sheriff in A Pistol for Ringo and Fernando Sancho's brother in Return of Ringo), was cast as the film's protagonist, but the Spaniards withdrew, leaving Fulci without his main actor, without Almeria, and without a large part of his budget. Fulci decided to co-produce the film and work for a possible share in the profits. But he still had to find a actor for the main part. His friend and assistant-director Giovanni Fago showed him a photo of a young actor who had just finished a film called Django. And like they say: the rest is history. Even on the day of its release, Massacre Time scored some 60 million Italian lire at the box-office, and the counter would only stop at 849 million, making it one of the most successful spaghetti westerns of the very fruitful year 1966, and saving Fulci's career.

The script, by Ferdinando di Leo, is reminiscent of Return of Ringo, even if the film is not specifically set in a post-war society. It also has strong Freudian overtones (Fulci confessed that Raoul Walsh's Pursued, that also influenced Death rides a Horse, was a source of inspiration), and a melodramatic plot-twist similar to Texas, Addio, Nero's third spaghetti western of '66. Tom Corbett (Nero) is a prospector who is contacted by an old friend of the family, who asks him to come home immediately. The Corbett ranch is now property of the Scott family, and Tom's brother Jeffrey (Hilton) has become the town's idiot, who only lives for his bottle. While Tom is investigating the case, several of the people around him are murdered, but remarkably, the hired killers never try to kill him. According to his brother, they don't want to. Puzzled by all this, Tom decides to visit the Scott ranch, and talk to the family's old patriarch. But he is challenged by Scott junior (Castelnuovo), a bullwhip-wielding psychopath, who nearly beats him to death, but again his life is saved for some inexplicable reason. Jeffrey still seems more or less amused by all this, but then the old Indian servant of the Corbetts, who raised the two brothers, is killed, and Jeffrey decides to tell the full truth to his brother.

The film was a very important film for the career of at least three people. Fulci was still a second-rate director, only asked for minor productions, and if Massacre Time had failed, his career might have been over. For Nero its success was a confirmation of his bankability as a western actor, and the three movies he made this particular year, would catapult him to the position of most popular Italian star of action movies, previously taken by Giuliano Gemma. To Uruguayan actor George Hilton it was the beginning of a very successful career in the Italian film industry. In several interviews, Hilton has confirmed that he owes nearly everything to the part of the drunk in Massacre Time. He was a personal choice of Fulci, who probably selected him because Hilton had some experience as a stage actor and he wanted an expressive actor for the part. It certainly is Hilton's film. Nero, who wears No Name's outfit for Fistful of Dollars (minus the poncho), is not at his very best, mainly because the script keeps him passive for most part of the film. Ironically, Hilton was a bit of the odd man out on the set, not only because of his nationality, but also because he was the only one who had trouble with Lucio Fulci's behaviour, who used to shout at the actors and fling objects through the air when he was discontent.

Massacre Time is beautifully shot (albeit on locations that do not really recall the supposed American settings of Texas and New Mexico) and Fulci's framings are often remarkable, making Massacre Time one of the best-looking films in the genre (at least when presented in its original aspect ratio). Lallo Gori's score is lovely, with a infectious theme song called A Man Alone (Back Home Some Day) and several variations on it throughout the movie. The film's main flaw seems to be a certain lack of rhythm. The action scenes often feel thrown in, feeding some of the rumours that the script has been tampered with (by Fulci and others) against Di Leo's wishes. But it has at least two sequences that rank among the most memorable of the genre: the infamous bullwhip scene, with Castelnuoveo, dressed in virginal white, beating the living daylights out of Nero, and the hyper-violent, almost hypnotic final shootout at the Cross ranch, with a lot of original shooting angles, and Nero hovering over his opponents, making summersaults in mid-air and picking up a gun while landing on his feet. It's often said that John Woo was inspired by it. The sequence is of course highly improbable, but Fulci clearly favours spectacle over credibility (even when he can't walk straight, Hilton shoots with utmost precision and knocks several opponents out!), so we'd better not complain about that.

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