Massacre Time

Massacre Time is a 1966 Spaghetti Western directed by Lucio Fulci, who is better known for his horror films. It stars Franco Nero, who played the lead in the 1966 Django and in Keoma and was a bad guy in Die Hard 2. In this film he is a prospector coming home to find his brother's land, along with the rest of his hometown, taken over by a family of bad guys. I like spaghetti westerns. The music is nice, with a theme song that actually leads nicely into the plot. I'm proud to say I guessed the plot twist fairly early. This is hard to watch in places even considering how used to violence in film I am, but it's interesting to see these people at a crucial point in their careers.

via youtube dubbed in English (I'd much rather have the original voices and subtitles):



The Spinning Image says this

revenge-based scenario unfolds in nebulous fashion but packs a pretty potent, game-changing twist. Though slow in spots, the film remains compelling and erupts in fits of memorably frenzied action in the third act while Fulci proves he could tell a coherent story when the mood took him and does well by the affecting family drama.

Spaghetti-Western.net says, "the film is beautifully shot and Fulci's framings are often remarkable, making Massacre Time one of the best-looking films in the genre" and makes note of some controversy over the violence:

Today the violence of Massacre Time is no longer an issue, but at the time of its release, it certainly was. The Italian censors ordered Fulci to make cuts in both the opening sequence (a man devoured by dogs) and the bullwhip sequence, and to remove a close-up of the two murdered Carradine girls.

Fistful of Pasta concludes, "With crisp directing, considerable star power, and ample amounts of good action, I would recommend it to both Fulci and Spaghetti Western fans alike."