Hmmm...a spaghetti western that comes on DVD without English dubbing and only captions! Now that's something you just don't see every day! And, after seeing many dubbed films (some of which were terribly done),it was nice to see this captioned film. Could the reason this one not be dubbed be because it wasn't shown in the States or was perhaps seen as not worthy of dubbing? Who knows.

Unfortunately, my excitement at seeing a dubbed film was short-lived. At the four minute mark, there was a shootout that was, I suppose, done for laughs. But, since it was really, really stupid, it didn't make me laugh...just groan in disbelief. I think the Banana Splits or Paul Rubens would have done this scene more subtly! In the next scene, two bounty hunters are killed by our anti-hero, Winchester, and he releases their prisoner--an Indian woman. Sadly, she really doesn't look like an American-Indian--more like some Italian lady with light brown-green eyes--and they didn't do much to pull off this character other give her buckskins to wear! In that case, I'm going wrap myself up in aluminum foil tomorrow in the hopes I get to play an alien in an Italian sci-fi epic!

Soon after this, Winchester meets up with Roy and the fun begins. Well, okay, the fun NEVER begins...but at least the story starts to move...a bit. Aside from some very sloppy slapstick, the film is about Roy and Winchester both looking for treasure--only one of them has apparently gone straight in the meantime. But frankly, considering how bad the film is and how disappointed I was that the famous Mario Bava could make such a rotten film, I totally lost interest. And, unless you have suffered a serious brain trauma, you, too, will find little to entertain you in this film that looks as if no one cared in the least if it resembled the old west in any way at all!

By the way, if you care, the money that the American-Indian prostitute is paid is very clearly the type made from 1928 until very recently--not even close to the sort of money they actually used in the old west. Also, the 'American-Indian' lady clearly is wearing modern band-aids on her nipples--a common practice when the film will NOT show explicit nudity (allowing a tiny measure of modesty for the actress). Apparently, someone forgot to tell the cameraman, as it appears in the film and makes the viewer think "...huh?!?!".

The outlaws Roy Colt (Brett Halsey) and Winchester Jack (Charles Southwood) are frequently fist fighting, disputing who the boss of their gang is. Roy Colt decides to leave the gang and find a honest job; he saves the crippled banker Samuel (Giogio Gargiullo) from a hit man and the old man hires Roy to work with him. Meanwhile Winchester Jack rescues the Indian girl Manila (Marilú Tolo) that is arrested by two bounty hunters; she stays with him, charging to have sex with Winchester. When the bandit Reverend (Teodoro Corrà) finds that Samuel owns a treasure map, he teams up with Winchester Jack and they steal the map from Samuel. But Roy Colt is assigned sheriff by Samuel to chase Reverend and his henchmen and retrieve the treasure. Roy Colt betrays Reverend first and Winchester Jack later, while Manila leaves Winchester Jack to stay with Roy Colt, in a greedy mouse-and cat game of betrayals while hunting the hidden treasure.

The comedy "Roy Colt & Winchester Jack" is a parody of the western movies that is silly most of the times but has at least three hilarious scenes: when Manila asks Winchester Jack to marry her or pay ten dollars to have sex; when the clients sees who is dancing in the cabaret; and when the cuckold Winchester Jack sees Manila with Roy Colt and the cactus forms a pair of horns ("cornuto") in his head. This movie entertains and maybe fans of western genre might like it more than I did. I prefer Mario Bava's works in the horror and thriller genres. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Knowing that Mario Bava spent most of his career directing horror flicks, it may come as a surprise that he also directed a western. Well, not only did he direct one, it came out quite cool. Portraying a pair of outlaws splitting up and meeting again after one of them has gone straight, "Roy Colt & Winchester Jack" plays everything for all that it's worth. As can be expected, there's plenty of gunfights (I suspect that the Old West was like that). But what I notice was different about this movie that wasn't true about any other spaghetti westerns - at least the ones that I've seen - was the whole brothel scene; it was probably fun to film all that! Leave it to the Italians to stick something like that in a western.

Anyway, this is one movie that makes no pretense about being anything other than pure, unadulterated fun. Some of the characters - particularly the Reverend - seemed a little annoying. But the movie's quick pace makes up for any problems. I liked the movie. And not just because Manila was really hot! PS: Brett Halsey, who played Roy Colt, had earlier co-starred with Vincent Price in "Son of the Fly" and "Twice-Told Tales".