Western
1 hour and 32 minutes
Rated: M
Written by: Fernando Di Leo
Directed by: Lucio Fulci
Produced by: Oreste Coltellacci
Cast:
Franco Nero
George Hilton
Nino Castelnuovo
THE MASSACRE MEN - They carry their hate in their holsters and a name on every bullet in their belts...
Before Italian horror maestro Lucio Fulci earned his notoriety as The Godfather of Gore with such brutal flicks as Zombie, City of the Living Dead, The Beyond, and The House by the Cemetery, he made a name for himself like every other filmmaker by directing whatever scripts were to come his way - effectively making him a gun for hire. Massacre Time, the first of Fulci's three spaghetti westerns, came about in this exact fashion. The mid-1960s saw a large demand for these Italian-helmed westerns given the major success of Sergio Leone's films in the United States and abroad, as well as Sergio Corbucci's films in the European and Japanese markets. Fulci, a virtually relatively unknown filmmaker both inside and outside of Italy at this time, decided it best to try his hand at helming one of these iconic genre pictures before the boom completely fizzled out. Thus, Massacre Time.
The film is pretty run-of-the-mill with its storyline regarding a hero who has since moved away from his hometown to make a living for himself only to be called back home again to find the town he once knew and loved in a state of disarray at the hands of a tyrannical, wealthy landlord. In this sense, Massacre Time presents nothing new with its story, but given its budgetary and schedule limitations, one can see why screenwriter Fernando Di Leo chose to play it safe and keep the story in line with most other westerns of this and previous eras. Massacre Time's story does try new and inventive tricks regarding the relationship dynamics between its main characters, connecting them more on a personal level than most other westerns of this or previous eras, which allows for some really engaging depth and some genuinely surprising twists that lighten up its otherwise by-the-books story.
Fulci utilizes the film's simplicity to try new and engaging techniques that would ultimately pay off more brilliantly in his later films. For starters, the effects work within Massacre Time is largely impressive and it's truly surprising to see bodies riddled with bloodied bullet holes in an era where within most westerns men just fell to the ground to symbolize they had been shot, despite the lack of blood being a screaming cry to the contrary. A prolonged fight sequence between the film's protagonist and antagonist involving whips instead of fists or pistols is something new altogether to behold, and seeing the lash marks appear on the hero's face does seem all the more gruesome given the film's age. Fulci would go on to continue his fascination with whippings in his films Don't Torture a Duckling and The Beyond - in both cases, utilizes metal chains to really up the gore-ante. But seeing this violent precursor to The Godfather's later best remembered effects works proves to be all the more enjoyable with all of this in mind.
Overall, the fight sequences in Massacre Time are impressive. We don't get the drawn out standoffs of Leone, but what we do see are genuine massacres. In most cases where characters fire off their weapons, a minimum of three bodies will hit the ground. Fulci may not be presenting creative or mentally stimulating work with his gunfights, but given their ambitious and grand scale they become all the more engaging and entertaining to watch play out.
The film's score by Lallo Gori is outstanding and is quite honestly on par with some of the best musical scores from within this same genre. If you were to play Gori's score along with some of Ennio Morricone's most recognizable scores from Leone's spaghetti westerns, one might even believe the two pieces to be composed by the same man. Does that make Gori's score derivative? No, but it undeniably is trying to align itself with the more successful score in the way that Massacre Time as a whole is attempting to align itself with more profitable films. Cinematographer Riccardo Pallottini captures the rugged landscapes with enough capability for the audience to buy into the atmosphere of the movie, and editor Ornella Micheli paces the film terrifically - although since its original release Massacre Time has been cut, stitched together, recut, and then fixed again dozens of times so that it becomes questionable upon viewing the film now as to how much one is seeing is Micheli actually responsible for.
Having been released on the heels of Sergio Corbucci's enormously successful spaghetti western Django, Fulci took full advantage of casting Franco Nero, Django himself, as his hero for his first spaghetti western. Nero handles the role competently, and it is a wonder why the man's career never really blew up into the international superstardom it deserved. While the character of Tom Corbett is nowhere near as engaging or as memorable as Django, Nero's talent carries the character far enough for us to be engaged with him during the course of the film. The movie's two standout performances, however, belong to George Hilton - as the alcoholic brother of Nero's Corbett - and Nino Castelnuovo as the film's psychotic, and possibly incestuous, antagonist. Hilton provides Massacre Time with enough charm and humor to keep the movie engaging despite moments where its uninspired storyline is handled rather poorly. For example, many of the film's big surprises and twists are spoon fed to the audience within the last fifteen to twenty minutes. Hilton's screen presence also becomes larger - luckily or coincidentally enough - during this same time. It's a credit to Lucio Fulci that he could see that it was Hilton's character and talent, not Nero's, that would be the saving grace of this film and by allowing Hilton to really shine and get into his role, Fulci showed like all great directors he could make the best out of not much at all. With his performance as the evil Junior, Castelnuovo leaves an eerie and unclean feeling under the viewer's skin, despite his prim and proper bourgeois appearance throughout the movie. With the exception of some sweat and of course blood at the film's climax, Castelnuovo never manages to get a shroud of dust on his fancy white suit, thus adding to the weird and bizarre allure of his character.
While it may not be Lucio Fulci's best movie - or even his best spaghetti western for that matter - Massacre Time is a profoundly fun and entertaining movie that overcomes a great number of its shortcomings, particularly its uncreative storyline, through its use of talented actors delivering engaging performances, grand action sequences, competent cinematographer, a truly incredible score, and an overall brilliant sense of direction from a man who was, and sadly still is, one of Italy's most under appreciated talents.
6.5/10
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