ironhorse_iv Review of Massacre Time

Massacre Time (1966)

Excuse me, Gentlemen! I just massacre time with watching this movie. Was it worth it? Yes!

[6/10 · 7 June 2013]

If you are a fan of Spaghetti Western films, the 92 minutes will go pretty fast. The movie is pretty entertaining. This film also known by the titles of tempo di massacro, The Brute and the Beast, Colt Concert is the first spaghetti western directed by Horror legend Lucio Fulci. It was meant to be an Italian-Spanish co-production, and Spanish actor George Martin was originally cast as the film's protagonist. But the Spaniards withdrew, Franco Nero was given the role of Tom Corbett. The movie story by Ferdinando Di Leo is similar to the 1965's film Return of Ringo. The director was inspired by Raoul Walsh's 1947 film 'Pursued' to make a western with very some very strong Freudian overtones. Tom Corbett (Nero) is a prospector who is contacted by an old friend of the family, who asks him to come home immediately. Nero was really trying to be a Clint Eastwood 'Man with no name' character with this, even to the point of wearing No Name's outfit for Fistful of Dollars minus the poncho. Rather than trying to establish the character as an original character, the film producers are trying to ride on the high of the much more popular 'Dollar Trilogy" by Sergio Leone. When that didn't work, the film producers try to say that this was a Django (1966) movie, to try to ride off the fame of that movie. Franco Nero is not at his very best here, but he works as a mediocre character. He return home to find that the Corbett ranch is now property of the Scott family. Not only that, Mr. Scott (Giuseppe Addobbati) also took control of the town where a bullwhip-wielding maniacal killer, Jason Scott Junior (Nino Castelnuovo), shielded by his father's wealth control it with terror. Nino Castelnuovo is truly a character, unlike the underdeveloped Tom Corbett. In my opinion, he has two of the greatest scenes in the movie. One is the bullwhip fight with Tom at the party which is amazing to watch. The other is the opening of the film, where he forced a man to run away from killer dogs. Too bad, the dogs don't look like killers. They look more confused than vicious. Nino Castelnuovo looks like a Colonel Sanders mixed with Jerry Lewis lookalike psychopath. While Jason controls the town, Tom's brother Jeffrey Corbett (George Hilton) has become the town's drunk, 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 pay a visit to the Scott ranch, and talk to the family's old patriarch. This is where the melodramatic plot-twist similar to Texas, Addio, Nero's third spaghetti western of '66 come into play. It is here, where Tom learns the truth, and seek the final showdown between him and Jason Scott. The film was a very important film for the career of at least three people. If Massacre Time was a failure, Director Fulci career might have been over. For actor Franco Nero, if the movie is success. It would catapult him to the position of most popular Italian action star at the time. To Uruguayan actor, George Hilton it was the beginning of a very successful career in the Italian film industry. George Hilton makes the film watchable. Hilton shows off some trick riding and rather acrobatic stunt shooting that isn't being performed by a double. Hilton also gets big laughs with his character's habit of repeatedly proclaiming 'Excuse me, Gentleman' in a friendly salutation before shooting his enemies. The movie has some pretty cool stunts and shooting sequences. I just didn't like the one shot kills, it makes the movie look cheap and humorous. The death scenes are laughable. Today the violence of Massacre Time is no longer an issue, but at the time of its release, it certainly was. The Italian censors ordered Fulci to make cuts in both the opening sequence where a man devoured by dogs and the bullwhip sequence, and to remove a close-up of the two murdered Carradine girls. This cut version, with a length of 86 minutes, is called the Prima edizione. So if you got this version, you might be missing these scenes. In 1970 the cut scenes were restored, but not completely: some originally cut fragments are still missing, but there's a lot of debate about their content. The restored version, with a length of little over 88 minutes, is called the Seconda versione, and actually the longest available. In 1977 a special 83 minutes version was presented, probably for television showings. It has no name, not even a number, and people are usually advised to avoid it. So don't watch that one. The movie was billed as ultra-violent bloodbath, but it's far from it. There was barely any blood. No gore, and for a movie call Massacre Time. The death toll was 46. Tom kill 20, while Jeff kill 22. I believe Jason's gang killed 4. The action scenes probably inspired John Woo with some trademarks clichés such as flipping while firing, the emptying of guns into a single person at close range, birds flying through the air, etc. It's silly, but fun to watch. The dialogue, at least in Italian, sounds a bit theatrical. The English dubbing is just awful. It doesn't even match their mouths. The film is beautifully shot, but there isn't anything to look at in the background. Last, the soundtrack by Lallo Gori is lovely, with a infectious theme song called A Man Alone (Back Home some Day) performed by Sergio Endrigo that has several variations on it throughout the movie. This song is pure gold. Overall: The movie is a must watch for any Spaghetti Western fan. So leave some time for Massacre Time.