Passable Spaghetti Western shot in Spain with two usual genre stars : Entertaining Macarroni flick with plenty of action , crossfire , brawls , double-crosses , twists and loads of shots . A half-breed gunfighter named Joko / Rocco Barrett seeks vengeance and justice , as he tracks down the five bandits (Werner Pochath as Kid , Lucio De Santis as Laredo , Goffredo Unger as Yuma , among others) who murdered his robbing colleagues (Albert Dell'Acqua and Claudio Camaso as Professor Mendoza) . Joko arrives in a small town and he put on a sheriff badge. All the while being shadowed by a suspicious Pinkerton detective called Lester (Paolo Gozlino) .
This stirring Ravioli Western packs thrills , shootouts , noisy action and riding pursuits . Italian production filmed in Laccio , Rome , Italy and Almeria , Spain , being full of familiar faces , assaults , exaggerated characters , gun-down , lots of shots , fights and with some looks that say it all , including an exciting ending . Starring Richard Harrison who stands out his strong , piercing eyes and striking look , featuring as a man out for vendetta . Harrison is so-so as a gunslinger who vows revenge to murder the outlaws who killed his colleagues , as he ravages the screen , he jumps , leaps and bounds , hits and runs ; besides , receiving violent punches , wounds and tortures as when he's tied under a shining sun . Worthwhile watching for a demonstration of the confrontation between the tough mestizo Pistolero Richard Harrison against the dangerous killers as Werner Pochath , Lucio Santis and Goffredo Unger . As Harrison/Joko being besieged at a Sheriff's office similarly to ¨Howard Hawks's Rio Bravo¨. Richard Harrison played in Hollywood some minor roles as ¨Kronos¨, ¨South Pacific¨ and ¨Master of world . Then , Harrison jumped at the chance when offered the first character in 1961 ,¨The Invincible Gladiator¨ , which was filming in Europe . He wound up settling in Italy for the next two decades . To avoid being penned in too much as a muscle man , he sought characters in routine spaghetti westerns as ¨Texas the Red¨, ¨Gringo¨, ¨Reverendo Colt¨ , ¨Joe Dakota¨ , even the main role from ¨For a fistful of dollars¨ was offered to Richard Harrison , but he turned down and explaining : Maybe my greatest contribution to cinema was not doing Fistful of Dollars, and recommending Clint Eastwood for the part . Support cast is frankly good , thanks to the strange and upsetting presence of Claudio Camaso who bears remarkable resemblance to his brother Gian Maria Volonte ; a bit later on , Camaso sadly committed suicide himself . Camaso starred various ¨Pipperone¨ Westerns , usually playing a Mexican bandit , such as : ¨10.000 dollars for a massacre¨, ¨Giarrettiera Colt , ¨Per 100.000 Dollari T'ammazzo¨ , "Night of Hate¨, and ¨John Il bastard¨. Here appear important secondaries from Spaghetti Western such as : Paolo Gozlino as a mysterious drifter , Alberto Dell'Acqua , Giovanni Scratulia , Werner Pochath as Kid , Ignacio Spalla or Pedro Sánchez , Lucio De Santis ,Goffredo Unger , and brief acting by the Eurotrash Babe Maria Angela Giordano and Luciano Pigozzi , nicknamed Allan Collins , considered to be the Italian Peter Lorre. Furthermore , Riccardo Pizzutti , a regular in Terence Hill/Bud Spencer movies . There are fine technicians , nice assistant direction and adequate production design , creating a good scenario across the Almerian outdoors , including the stark landscapes , dunes , rocks , and mountains . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Riccardo Palottini , but a perfect remastering being necessary . Very enjoyable musical score by Carlo Savina , including catching songs at the beginning and the end sung by Don Powell .
This oddball motion picture was professionally directed by Antonio Margheriti , though it has flaws and gaps . Antonio M. Dawson was born in 1930 , Rome, and died in 2002 . He was a director and writer , and especially known for his works with miniatures , explosions and flood sequences . Antonio shoots with ordinary aplomb and being famous for Yor (1983), Virus (1980) and Horror castle (1963) . Italian writer-director of horror and exploitation films, a former university engineering student who began in films in 1956 . He was also an expert in special optical effects , FX , and model-making . Often used the pseudonym 'Anthony M. Dawson'. He directed all kind of genres such as Wartime : The last hunter , Tornado , Code Name : Wild Geese , Commando Leopard , Der Commander ; Sci-Fi : War of planets , Planet on the prowl , Criminali Della Galassia ; Action : Operazione Goldman , Indio , The Squeeze ; and Spaghetti : Dynamite Joe , The stranger and the gunfighter , Take a hard ride , God said to Cain and this one : Joko .
