(412) WRATH OF GOD (1967) Brett Halsey Spaghetti Western
4642DVD
Original
Italian title L'IRA DI DIO [Wrath of God]
director:
Alberto Cardone (as Albert Cardiff)
starring: Brett Halsey (as Montgomery Ford) · Wayde
Preston · Dana Ghia · Fernando Sancho
A familiar
story, punctuated with ruthless machismo. After years of bounty hunting
work, Mike has decided to hang-up his guns, get married and retire on
his homestead. But Mike arrives at his ranch to find fiancee Jane has
been viciously raped and murdered. All his money - except for seven silver
dollars - also has been stolen. He vows vengeance, calling it "a
personal kind of hatred," and embarks on a dark journey. Mike hunts
down the killers, leaving a silver dollar on each dead body as a calling
card.
Brett
Halsey had been an American TV star who went to Italy for work after the
cancellation of his television series Follow the Sun in
1962. He starred in everything from Peplums to Spaghetti Westerns, from
Giallos to Romantic Comedies. Cult fans know him best for the psychedelic
thriller HOT
LOVE OF THE YOUTH, Mario Bava's FOUR
TIMES THAT NIGHT and numerous Lucio Fulci films (DEVIL'S
HONEY, DEMONIA
and CAT
IN THE BRAIN).
This was Mr Halsey's second Spaghetti Western and - convinced
the genre would not find International acceptance - he continued to hide
behind the Montgomery Ford alias [from his previous TODAY
WE KILL... TOMORROW WE DIE]. Some of you may remember Clint Eastwood's
appearance on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show in 1965
where he made fun of FISTFUL
OF DOLLARS
and FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, saying "neither were
worth seeing" and "they'd never get released in the United States
anyway." (He was almost correct. Neither found American distribution
until after the underground success of THE
GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY when they were released as a double
feature to the Grindhouse circuit.)
This
is one of director Cardone's better films, on par with his BLOOD
AT SUNDOWN
[$1000 On The Black]. He
spent 25 years (from the mid 40s through early '60s) working as an assistant
director and production designer for numerous high-profile shot-in-Europe
'Hollywood' blockbusters i.e.,Ben-Hur
[for which he won an Academy Award in 1960], Purple Noon, Blood
and Roses, Barbarella, et al.
Mr Alberto Cardone died from a heart attack at age 57, October 1977.
An
Italian production with English subtitles; widescreen uncut (92 minutes)
NTSC DVD format, encoded for ALL REGION, playable on any American DVD
machine.
Extras include selected Spaghetti Western trailers.
Graphic
Violence/Rape/Sexual Brutality/SemiNudity
Suggested for Mature Audiences
