So, Rick Dalton gets an offer he can’t refuse and off to Italy he goes to make a series of Spaghetti Westerns. Of course, that’s Quinten Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood, but the fact of the matter is the late 60s and the early 70s were the golden era of the Spaghetti Western … many “Hollywood” names did cash in on the trend.
Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, will be honoring the venerable Spaghetti Western on July 27 with the four-film collection titled Vengeance Trails. While Kill Me Quick, Ringo Said the Gringo, Nebraska Jim and Red Blood, Red Skin are not included in the set (Rick Dalton’s contribution to the genre), Arrow Video has rustled-up a collection that will have fans’ hearts aflutter with excitement.
First up in this four-disc Blu-ray collection is director Lucio Fulci's 1966 release of Massacre Time (domestic dubbed version, 1968), starring Franco Nero and George Hilton as brothers pitted against the murderous Mr. Scott (Giuseppe Addobbati) who has laid claim to their dead mother’s property.
Franco Nero had just hit the big time with Sergio Corbucci’s 1966 release of Django and did in quick succession The Wild, Wild Planet, The War of the Planets and Massacre Time … and then landed the big “Hollywood” gig, Camelot (although filmed in Spain), as Lancelot opposite Richard Harris as King Arthur and Vanessa Redgrave as Guinevere.
As for George Hilton (aka: Jorge Hill Acosta y Lara), Massacre Time was his breakout role and he quickly became a Spaghetti Western star before branching out into other popular genres of the time (sci-fi, horror, giallo, etc.).
Bonus features for the Blu-ray debut of Massacre Time include the domestic English-language dubbed version, commentary by authors and film critics C. Courtney Joyner (“The Westerners: Interviews with Actors, Directors, Writers”) and Henry Parke (Western films editor for True West Magazine), a newly-prepared documentary on the film and a new video session with film historian Fabio Melelli.
Up next in the Vengeance Trails Blu-ray collection from Arrow Video is director Maurizio Lucidi’s 1966 film release of My Name is Pecos.
Starring Robert Woods, who found a calling as a Spaghetti Western star with such films as Five Thousand Dollars on One Ace, Man from Canyon City and Johnny Colt … and then he did back-to-back Pecos Martinez gunfighter films — My Name is Pecos and Pecos Cleans Up — which made him an international sensation.
Bonus goodies here include a newly-minted commentary with Woods (who continues to work at 84 years of age) and C. Courtney Joyner, plus two new video sessions featuring actors George Eastman and Lucia Modugno.
The third film in the collection is director Massimo Dallamano’s 1967 release of Bandidos, starring Enrico Maria Salerno as gunslinger Richard Martin, whose life is spared by his former student — Billy Kane (Venantino Venantini) — during a train robbery, but Kane maims the master by shooting up both his hands. Years later, Martin trains a new student, Ricky Shot (Terry Jenkins), who has a secret that is not revealed until the third act.
Bonus features with Bandidos include commentary with Kat Ellinger and newly prepared video sessions with assistant director Luigi Perelli, actor Gino Barbacane and Fabio Melelli.
Rounding out the Vengeance Trails Blu-ray collection is director Antonio Margheriti’s 1970 film release of And God Said to Cain, starring Klaus Kinski, who was a working actor long before the Spaghetti Western cycle came along, but with his appearance in For a Few Dollars More in 1965 (and, ironically, Dr. Zhivago the same year), he was off to the races with a series of films, including A Bullet for the General, If You Meet Sartana ... Pray for Your Death and I Am Sartana, Your Angel of Death.
Here, Kinski plays Gary Hamilton, who was double-crossed and ended up in prison for ten years … he’s out and looking for revenge!!
Bonus features include commentary from author and critic Howard Hughes, a new documentary and a video session with actor Antonio Cantafora.
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