A Long Ride from Hell (1970)

Let's be realistic.

How sad is this?

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

In his last film, Steve Reeves played his usual hero number (though a bit too sombre, with no glimpse of humor, as in the adventure films he starred in), doing not too different grimaces and acrobatics as the ones he performed for his incarnations of Romulus, Sir Henry Morgan, Hercules and Sandokan. It was adapted from a novel, and probably the scriptwriters (including Reeves) were too respectful of the original (written, as told by other reviewer, by a specialist in western novels) and took little advantage of the European western film craze of the 1960s. Even in the more serious western dramas (as Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West"), there were always bizarre elements and even a bit of Brechtian estrangement, making it obvious that it was a foreign concoction turning a classic genre upside down, every now and then revealing something that had not been told in the classic American westerns (although I believe the real revisionist westerns were made by American filmmakers, as Penn, Peckinpah, Altman and Gries). This one plays it straight, and maybe Reeves wanted to do a real western, but it just comes out as an average European western without zest.

Peplum bodybuilding sensation Steve Reeves of "Hercules" fame concluded his cinematic career with "Suicide Commandos" director Camilla Bazzoni's "A Long Ride From Hell," a thoroughly conventional but wholly cynical Spaghetti western penned by Reeves and co-scenarist Roberto Natale of "Kill, Baby... Kill!" from veteran American western novelist Gordon D. Shirreffs' book "The Judas Gun." Lensed on location in Spain by future "Trinity" helmer Enzo Barboni, "A Long Ride from Hell" is a visual treat, especially the nocturnal scenes. Unfortunately, Bazzoni lacks an eye for pictorial detail and composition. This low-budget oater looks like it was shot very quickly and the writers eliminated certain scenes, like a courthouse scene, to accelerate the pace. Bazzoni doesn't stage the shoot-outs with any sense of verve like either Sergio Leone or Gianfranco Parolini. Carlo Savina's music sounds like a left-over score from his sword and sandal features, but the theme song is rather catchy. Mind you, Steve Reeves looks like he was born to wear a six-gun and Stetson, but clean-shaven as he remains throughout the film, he never looks like a traditional Spaghetti western protagonist. Meanwhile, mustached Wade Preston makes an evil adversary, with Spaghetti western stalwart Aldo Sambrell of "Navajo Joe" fleshing out the cast of this 85 minute horse opera.Cast as rancher Mike Sturges, Steve Reeves learns that his herd of horses have been stolen and most of his riders killed. Tracy survives the ambush and makes it back to alert Mike about the theft of horseflesh. Mike rides out with his kid brother Roy (Franco Fantasia of "Hercules, Samson & Ulysses," and their ranch hand Bobcat Bates (Mario Maranzana of "The Nephews of Zorro") to recover the stolen horses because they have their fortune tied up in them. They ride to the farthest water hole at Dragoon Springs and camp. During the night, a stranger enters their camp. Mike recognizes Marlin Mayner (Wade Preston of "A Man Called Sledge") and Marlin warns them that they are sleeping on the right of way of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Marlin lies that he serves as a Southern Pacific investigator. He explains to Mike that the railroad is uneasy with drifters encroaching on it land since several robberies have occurred. Moreover, he points out to Mike that the ex-convict turn ranch hand Bobcat Bates would arose the suspicions of any lawman. As it turns out, Marlin was the dastard that arranged the ambush of Mike's horse herd, but Mike doesn't know this at this point. After Marlin leaves, Mike rides out to investigate. An unknown assailants floats a lariat over Mike's head, pulls him off his horse, and shoots him in the leg.Meanwhile, the Southern Pacific train pulls up the water tower at night to replenish the boiler of the locomotive. Marlin's outlaws open fire and pour a barrage of lead into the train. They wipe out all the guards and then dynamite the boxcar containing the loot. They make off with $80-thousand in gold coin. The authorities, Sheriff Max Freeman (Mimmo Palmara of "Bullets Don't Argue") arrive not long afterward and question Mike about the robbery. Savagely, he tries to beat any information out of Mike. As it turns out, the evidence is incriminating because Bobcat's dead body has been found near the railroad tracks. Later, despite a courtroom scene that was never shot, Mike and his brother Roy wind up in the infamous Yuma Prison. The scenes showing Mike smashing rocks in a quarry is the first time that Reeves bares his Mr. Universe chest. An evil Prison supervisor tortures Roy and kills him. Mike takes advantage of a prison riot to break out of Yuma. Eventually, he tracks down the villains, wipes them out and returns the $80-thousand that Marlin had buried in a safe place."A Long Ride from Hell" is nothing special and only the combined star power of Reeves and Preston make it worth watching.

Steve Reeves only made one spaghetti western, but it's a good one. VIVO PER LA TUA MORTE was made in 1968, a golden year for the Italian Western, and many of the genre's favorite sons appear in this tale of revenge and redemption, among them Aldo Sambrell, Nello Pazzafini, Spartaco Conversi, and Silvana Bacci. Reeves makes a good western hero, losing his shirt at times to give us a glimpse of his splendid physique; at age 42 he was still in great shape and spends lots of his screen time running, jumping, engaging in fist fights and carrying on like a much younger man. The film's depiction of Yuma Territorial Prison is good also, replicating the feel of the prison remarkably well. A very minor knock is that the pistols are of the John Woo variety, shooting fifteen or sixteen times as needed, particularly noticeable in the prison break. The music by Carlo Savina is outstanding, but that's as usual for this genre. A lesser gem, in a nice package from Wild East including an interview with Mimmo Palmera.

While this is one of the better "spaghetti westerns" from the 1960s, it is little known in this country despite the presence of Steve Reeves in the starring role. Reeves' looks and presence here indicate that he could have had a post-Hercules career in the movies and it's both sad and puzzling that this career never evolved.The movie itself lacks the flamboyant, even operatic style one often associates with these westerns, but unlike some of its competitors, this has a solid, well-constructed script which effectively uses the "revenge" theme without any digressions or detours. By some standards, this movie might even be labeled "minimalist!"There is one missed opportunity, however. Reeves spends an entire reel laboring on a rock pile in one of those primitive, scorching-hot desert prisons manned by sadistic guards who are quick to dish out brutal punishments. (One is reminded of "Hellgate" or "There Was a Crooked Man.") He sometimes works with his shirt off -- giving us a look at that glorious, suntanned, sweat-streaked torso -- and he's sometimes given a punch or a kick or a shove. However, there's no scene of Reeves being tied to a post and given a savage flogging across his bare back. Since Reeves had one of those born-to-be-whipped bodies, it's unfortunate the makers of this movie didn't take advantage of this resource.