TankGuy Bounty killer Luke Chilson makes it his business to bring in escaped bandit Jose Gomez. Gomez flees to a small settlement on the Mexican border pursued by Chilson, who is treated with contempt by the townsfolk because of how he earns his living. However, the welcome Gomez with open arms and see him as the "victim". The townspeople help Gomez overpower Chilson and the bounty killer is held prisoner in the town. Gomez' gang soon joins him and the townsfolk become increasingly disturbed by the outlaw's violent behaviour. This prompts Gomez' former girlfriend to free Chilson which sets the stage for the inevitable showdown...The Bounty Killer was released in mid 1966 when most spaghetti western directors were still practising their craft and only the likes of Leone or Corbucci could produce a truly amazing film. This movie is rather poor and makes for nothing more than a time passer, it's contents easily forgotten once the credits begin to roll. It does have its moments but failed to hold my attention, looking good on the outside but coming across as extremely tepid. Despite the interesting plot nothing much happens over the film's duration and the narrative is set around a dusty little settlement in the middle of the desert. Apart from the two leads all of the characters are one dimensional and uninteresting. Richard Wyler was pretty good as Chilson as was Tomas Milian as Gomez. Milian(in his first spaghetti western)chews the scenery but is really the film's saving grace. The soundtrack began to get tedious around the film's halfway mark and is one very dour composition, a far cry from a chilling Morricone score. Action is sparse but I will admit that the final showdown was pretty enjoyable. The OTT deaths intercut with the stern close-ups of Chilson's face did make me laugh a little. Jose Gomez gets a humorously melodramatic death which gives literal meaning to the term "...and another one bites the dust".Overall an okay spaghetti western which is still worthy of viewing. 6/10.

Witchfinder General 666 Eugenio Martin's "El Precio De Un Hombre" aka. "The Bounty Killer"/"The Ugly Ones" seems to enjoy a particular appreciation of many of my fellow Spaghetti Western fans, but, personally I do not regard the film as being above average. I have utmost respect for director Eugenio Martin for his fantastic Horror film "Horror Express" (1972, starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Telly Salavas), and leading man Tomas Milian is one of my favorite actors, but, as far as I am concerned, this one is nothing beyond enjoyably entertaining, as the story is rather unoriginal and predictable. "The Ugly Ones" is only the second Western Milian ever did, the first being Sergio Sollima's masterpiece "La Resa Dei Conti" ("The Big Gundown", 1966) which is doubtlessly one of the greatest (Spaghetti) Westerns ever to be made. Milian is doubtlessly one of the greatest actors in Italian genre/cult-cinema. Starting with Westerns (most notably Sollima's trilogy), he would later become the most charismatic villain/hero in the Poliziotteschi of the 70s (most notably in Umberto Lenzi's fantastic "Milano Odia" and "Roma A Mano Armata"), and his oeuvre also includes a variety of other great films, such as Lucio Fulci's brilliant Giallo "Non Si Sevizia Un Paperino" ("Don't Torture A Duckling", 1972). No matter whether he is the hero or the villain, Milian is always fantastic and completely owns the screen with his unique presence. This film is mainly recommendable for Milian, who appears as the cunning, manipulative and somewhat charming villain he would often play in later crime flicks. Otherwise, it profits from a genre-typical nice score and cinematography, cult-regular Mario Brega in a supporting role, and the greatest possible setting for a European Western: the Spanish Almeria desert. Milian plays José Gómez, an outlaw who escapes with the help of the innocent Eden (Halina Zalewska). Eden and a bunch of other good people who have known Gómez since his childhood, help him hide from Luke Chilson (Richard Wyler), a bounty hunter who is very successful in his profession. After a while, however, it becomes more and more obvious that Gómez is nothing like the poor orphan they once liked anymore...The plot has strong resemblances to Anthony Mann's American Western "The Naked Spur" of 1953 (the Spanish Version of which was also called "El Precio De Un Hombre" in some countries), but while the premise fits the morale of the American Western quite well, it does not quite fit the antihero premise of this Italian Western. Even though portrayed as the villain, Milian's Gómez is the only interesting character in the film. The hero played by Richard Wyler (who sadly passed away this month - RIP), is your typical tough guy but good guy. Halina Zalewska's character is the typical innocent and naive but kind-hearted female - no surprises here. Miss Zalewska didn't appear in too many well-known films, but might be familiar to Italian Horror/Cult-Cinema fans for appearing twice aside the wonderful Barbara Steele, in Antonio Margheriti's "I Lunghi Capelli Della Morte" (The Long Hair of Death", 1964) and Camillo Mastrocinque's "Un Angelo Per Satana" ("An Angel For Satan", 1966). Spaghetti Western regular Mario Brega is the most notable member of the supporting cast; Brega, who appeared in masterpieces such as Sergio Leone's Dollar-Trilogy and Sergio Corbucci's "The Great Silence" (1968), is once again good, though his role here doesn't call for particular acting skills. Overall, "El Precio De Un Hombre", is a decent enough but not particularly praiseworthy film, which is mainly recommendable for Tomas Milian.

bensonmum2 As far as Euro-Westerns go, The Bounty Killer has about as straight forward a plot as you'll find. Jose Gomez (Tomas Milian) is a prisoner being moved by coach to a new facility to await his death. The citizens of his hometown see him as something of a hero and want to help him out. Gomez's would-be love interest Eden (Halina Zalewska) slips him a gun at one of the stage's stops. But is Gomez the same man the townsfolk remember? Or, as bounty hunter Luke Chilson (Richard Wyler) warns, has Gomez changed and no longer deserving of their admiration? The locals are about to find out as Gomez and his gang with the bounty hunter hot on his heels are headed straight for their sleepy little town.It's not perfect by any means, but for fans of Euro-Westerns, there's a lot in The Bounty Killer to enjoy. First, and most obvious, is Tomas Milian. I don't know how many of these Westerns he made, but this was his first. And quite honestly, it may represent his best acting performance. The multi-dimensions and facets he's able to give his character, Jose Gomez, is nothing short of brilliant. Even though he's an escaped prisoner, Gomez is a character we initially root for. But slowly, he changes. Toward the end of the film, Milian has transformed Gomez into the kind of ruthless killer that a hangman's noose is too good for. And his final moments on screen, all I can say is "Wow!" It's an incredible performance. As for the rest of the cast, they're all more than adequate with the familiar face of Mario Brega, the beautiful face of Halina Zalewska, and the steady, unflinching face Richard Wyler as anti-hero Luke Chilson. It takes a while for Chilson to grow on you, but once he does it's easy to appreciate the character. In fact, it takes a while for all of The Bounty Killer to grow on you. The film starts out slow (very slow in fact), but be patient – the payoff is worth the wait. Looking back at the film, the pacing director Eugenio Martin gives to The Bounty Killer is one of the movie's assets – culminating with a final act that features plenty of fight scenes, shoot outs, and various other killings. Not as graphic as some of the later Euro-Westerns, there's enough violence to keep most everyone happy. The Spanish country side is beautifully filmed and provides just the gorgeous dusty setting I've come to look forward to in these films. Finally, Stelvio Cipriani's score, though often repetitive, is rousing and memorable. Overall, it's a job well done.

sirarthurstreebgreebling Released as "The Ugly Ones" this is a highly overrated italian western. Its slow (not interestingly so), Badly Filmed (although the print I saw was damaged) , Diabolical acting that even bad dubbing does not take away from and a plodding plot that the saturday b serial westerns of the 1940's would have been proud of. From the same time came a group of highly polished or just plain original versions of the theme that america had been churning out for 3 decades. The italians revived the genre , breathed life into it, but this monstrous waste of time seems to be a cyst on the backside of the industry that was chopped off , but not quick enough , it made the screen.