This is a really riveting film. I found it to be somewhat hit and miss, but it's good points definitely outweigh the bad points.
The best part of the movie is the story itself. The plot is quite original. Although it involves both gold and revenge, it is not your typical quest for gold or revenge tale, and things don't happen the way you think they are going to. The movie really draws you in as the motivations, interactions and relationships between nine very violent individuals unfold as they make their perilous trek across the wintery landscape.
I think the splatter aspect of this movie has been over-emphasized in descriptions of the film. It is quite violent, and it has some gore, but it's not The Texas Chainsaw Massacre by any means. Don't watch it expecting a horror movie, because it's really just a western with a gory violent streak. There is a really cool scene where one of the criminals thinks he sees a ghost. It would have been even better if they had made the ghost real instead of just a figment of his imagination.
There is some really good camera work and interesting use of flashback scenes that add a touch of surrealism to the movie, although a couple of the flashback scenes involve the gambler murdering a woman from his past and have absolutely nothing to do with the story. Those particular scenes should have been left out because they only serve to confuse.
The biggest disappointment here is the music score. I know this is a Spanish western, but I would have liked it to have a more spaghetti sounding score. Instead it sounds like a very good Hollywood style score, which puts it several notches below the average spaghetti western score in my book.
This is still a great movie overall. It doesn't have as many stylistic touches as a lot of other Eurowesterns, but this incredible story will keep you glued to the edge of your seat.
The best part of the movie is the story itself. The plot is quite original. Although it involves both gold and revenge, it is not your typical quest for gold or revenge tale, and things don't happen the way you think they are going to. The movie really draws you in as the motivations, interactions and relationships between nine very violent individuals unfold as they make their perilous trek across the wintery landscape.
I think the splatter aspect of this movie has been over-emphasized in descriptions of the film. It is quite violent, and it has some gore, but it's not The Texas Chainsaw Massacre by any means. Don't watch it expecting a horror movie, because it's really just a western with a gory violent streak. There is a really cool scene where one of the criminals thinks he sees a ghost. It would have been even better if they had made the ghost real instead of just a figment of his imagination.
There is some really good camera work and interesting use of flashback scenes that add a touch of surrealism to the movie, although a couple of the flashback scenes involve the gambler murdering a woman from his past and have absolutely nothing to do with the story. Those particular scenes should have been left out because they only serve to confuse.
The biggest disappointment here is the music score. I know this is a Spanish western, but I would have liked it to have a more spaghetti sounding score. Instead it sounds like a very good Hollywood style score, which puts it several notches below the average spaghetti western score in my book.
This is still a great movie overall. It doesn't have as many stylistic touches as a lot of other Eurowesterns, but this incredible story will keep you glued to the edge of your seat.