After killing the final two members of the gang that murdered his father death, Wes Evans (James Mitchum) returns home but finds that home isn’t what it used to be. His girlfriend is now married to a local rancher’s son and there’s a land war going on between her in-laws and another land owner. It’s not long before Evans is drawn into the conflict.
James Mitchum looks a lot like his dad but it soon becomes clear that charisma isn’t a genetic trait. In a supporting role he’d be fine but he lacks the presence of a leading man, this makes Wes Evans a rather dull character and, as the film is centred round him, it makes for a rather dull film.
Dull it may be but it is of some historical significance as the first western from director Sergio Corbucci who would go on to make one of the landmark spaghetti westerns, Django, within a couple of years. Here he shares directing duties with Alfredo Antonini aka Albert Band who would become known for producing schlock horror films as well as “producing” Charles Band who would carry on the family tradition of low budget horror.
There’s none of the flair that Corbucci would bring to his later westerns and none of the graphic violence either, instead we get a pedestrian tale that feels more like a second rate American B western with only the bad dubbing showing its true origin. Even the music, something which would become such an integral part of the spaghetti western phenomenon, is here distinctly lacking. Gianni Ferrio’s score is often inappropriately upbeat, ruining the mood of key scenes.
