TankGuy Two ex-confederate soldiers, Jerry Brewster and Ken Seagull(pronounced Segal), head home at the end of the Civil war with a stash of stolen government money. However they are caught by union troops and Ken is fortunate enough to escape, although Jerry serves five gruelling years in prison. When he is released Jerry heads home to Texas only to find Ken in a corrupt position of power as a rancher who dominates most of the territory. Jerry becomes increasingly enraged when he learns that his wife was driven to an early grave by Ken who evicted her from her land and took Jerry's baby son. Demoralised and angered by his "friend's" betrayal, it isn't long before Jerry's death is ordered by Ken. Consumed by hatred, Jerry sets out to destroy Ken and his empire.Carlo Lizzani's oft filmed tale of greed and revenge in the old west is a highly enjoyable affair. The Hills Run Red has all the traits of a 50s B western, still it's just a little too violent to be made by Hollywood but definitely not as grotesque as other spaghetti westerns. Some of the performances were rather over-the-top. Little known American actor Thomas Hunter makes for an inspiring hero in Jerry Brewster, his athleticism means the role is tailor-made for him and his obsessive rage is exploited to great effect. Rising Hollywood star Henry Silva was quite hammy as bandit leader Mendez to the point of being hilarious. He wasn't as menacing as I would have liked and his death is overly melodramatic. Dan Duryea was a favourite in Universal's B westerns throughout the 1950s(Waco Johnny Dean in Anthony Mann's Winchester 73 anybody?)and here he makes his only spaghetti western appearance as Colonel Winny Getz, a gunman who aids Jerry in his quest for retribution. The gorgeous Nicoletta Machiavelli was also excellent as Ken Seagull's sister Mary-Ann. The action scenes were nothing short of enthralling. The movie commences with a rollicking horseback chase and later on we have a riotous shootout in the saloon. There's even some fantastic dynamite-tossing action near the end as Jeff and Colonel Getz take on Mendez' gang in a sequence featuring amazing stuntwork. The fistfights were also really good and I was surprised to learn that the film was scored by Ennio Morricone, as always the maestro does it again with a roaring soundtrack that can only be defined as superb. The song "Home To My Love" was rather beautiful, although again it's like something you would hear in a mid 60s Hollywood western. The happy ending was extremely Hollywood-esque, however it was refreshing to see such positivity in a spaghetti western.A terrific spaghetti western with a fine soundtrack and rousing action. Highly recommended.8/10

batvette I started watching this and thought oh, lord, another howler with every hokey cliché inherent to bad spaghetti westerns. Midway when we see the stunt men grabbing their bellies from feigned gut shots and doing the railing flip to land on their backs on balsa wood saloon tables, one has to wonder if there could be any other way to do it. However the story does develop to reveal some depth to both characters and plot. The clichés endure so don't expect any surprises by the time it's over, but enjoy this period piece as the simple story it was meant to be with a few standouts in the supporting cast roles, if not the lead. There are some memorable items in the soundtrack and the location work cinematography could be called exemplary. The credits state it's a Dino De Laurentis production with much of the shooting done in Rome, which does contradict some of the IMDb data, FWIW. All in all it's the kind of tale that Hollywood had so tired of by the mid sixties they'd have sent it up as a comedy romp with an all star cast cracking one liners- but with admirable humility the spaghetti western production crew delivered this with straight faced sincerity, as if they still believed in what they were doing. Considering that I give it 7 not 6 stars.

unbrokenmetal At the first glance, this seems to be nothing else but a typical revenge story. Brewster (Thomas Hunter) gets locked up a few years in jail while his buddy Seagall (Nando Gazzolo) runs with the money they stole together. When Brewster is finally released, he is looking for vengeance - and his lost son. Seagall sends killers after his former friend. His right hand man Mendez (Henry Silva) is the real villain, a man in black who enjoys to be bad, every minute of it. But a certain Mr Getz (Dan Duryea) helps Brewster without telling him the real reason why...The surprise of this movie is Thomas Hunter who starred for the first time in a western and creates an interesting character here, not the superior Man With No Name, but an angry young man who isn't always in total control, so he needs Getz to help him out of trouble. "The Hills Run Red" is above average for an Italian western due to good production values (comparatively at least), clever director Lizzani ("Requiescant"), composer Ennio Morricone and a great cast which does not only include the above mentioned Hunter, cult star Silva and Hollywood veteran Duryea, but also the lovely Nicoletta Machiavelli ("Navajo Joe") for which two different endings were shot: one in which she dies, one in which she survives for a happy ending. In most versions, the tragic one was used, though.

David Vanholsbeeck I'm catching up on old westerns lately. And I must admit I haven't seen many good ones. The John Wayne-"classic" THE SEARCHERS was a real disappointment for example. But this movie is by far the worst I have ever seen in the western-genre. The story is set against the background of the Civil War. Two "buddies" return home with a large amount of stolen money, when they are being caught. One of them(Gazzolo) escapes from the "yankees"(with the money). The other one(Hunter) gets locked away for 5 years. When he is released, he finds out that his "friend" is now the richest and most feared/hated man around. He is also to blame for the death of Hunter's wife. Our hero seeks for revenge, but he stands alone...The movie is very very bad: the first half might work as a parody, but this is denied by a boring and predictable second half. The acting is really bad, especially by the leads: Hunter is awful as the hero(look out for the scene in which he screams for revenge)and Gazzolo doesn't get much to do either. The only actor I knew in this "film" was Henry Silva and his role(leader of Gazzolo's men) is, to say the least, dynamic, but pointless at the same time. Silva gives an awkward, but often amusing performance. The other performances range (surprisingly) from mediocre to rather good, with Machiavelli as a Catherine Zeta-Jones-lookalike from years ago. Most of the dialogue is dubbed too which can easily be noticed. The music however has some nice moments, but all in all it's by far not enough to cover up for the rest.If you want a really bad comic(?) western, you might want to see this. Just don't pay any dollari for it. 3/10