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Released by: Mill Creek Entertainment
Released on: March 1st, 2016.
Director: Various
Cast: Various
Year: Various
The Movies:
Mill Creek are no strangers to releasing grey market films of varying quality, with this four picture set serving as yet another mining of the increasingly dry mine of obscure Spaghetti Westerns.
To be fair, half of the films released on Mill Creek's 4 Vengeful Westerns collection are actually Spanish co-productions, with 3 Dollars of Lead, a.k.a. Damned Pistols of Dallas and 4 Dollars for Revenge being directed by Jose Maria Zabalza and Jaime Jesus Balcazar respectively. The other two-7 Dollars to Kill, a.k.a. Seven Dollars on the Red and Paid in Blood-are the products of Italy, with the latter Luigi Batzella picture probably serving as one of more obscure entries to hit home video.
It also happens to be one of the most interesting, as Paid in Blood possesses the benefit of Batzella's tendency for a little bat shit crazy, mainly in terms of the American dubbing. The plot follows lower tier Spaghetti star Jeff Cameron as he searches for outlaw Ringo, who robbed and murdered his brother. The acting is fairly solid for such a low budget picture, with the humorous dubbing following suit as Cameron hooks up with a pacifist prospector nicknamed "Mule." The requisite double and triple crosses follow, with Paid in Blood moving along at a decent clip, making it probably the most watchable film in the set for those still new to these third and forth string spaghettis.
7 Dollars to Kill is alternatively the most well known on the set, as it's appeared on numerous other western sets over the years, and is readily available on YouTube. It's still enjoyable, however, as it follows the revenge mission (catch the running theme here yet?) of one Anthony Steffen, who's out to find the gang who murdered his wife and abducted his son. Steffen is usually accused of being quite wooden, but yours truly has always dug him as an actor, and his rage is pretty palpable during some pretty intense and cold blooded gun fights. The final discovery of Steffen and his son is predictable, but delivers the proper goods, while Fernando Sancho is always a welcomed sight in one of his many villain roles.
Now that the good is out of the way, on to the more forgettable films in the set. 3 Dollars of Lead is particularly dreary, an early sixties Spanish western which feels more indebted to the American westerns of old than the more stylized and violent westerns which would emerge years later. The typical "strangers rides into town to save abused folks from ruthless gang" is all Zabalza can muster here as a filmmaker, with the film eventually devolving into caricature, not being helped at all by the terrible print Mill Creek has used here for presentation.
4 Dollars of Revenge is a little better, following a Captain who is wrongly accused for the massacre of his company, who were accosted while transporting Confederate gold. The court scenes and drama is well done, with some decent emoting from the supporting cast, while Robert Woods is all steely reserve and righteous justice as Captain Dexter. There's quite a bit of time spent in hunting down the killers, adding to the suspense, but overall Balcazar's film struggles to keep up the steam throughout its running time, eventually sputtering out without a lot of memorable moments.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Many multi-pack public domain sets are known for their shifting levels of quality, but all four of these films frankly look terrible. Print damage and audio issues with the English language Dolby Digital Mono tracks abound, making this disc a chore to view on nearly every level. And there's no winning, even with the films which look halfway decent, such as Seven Dollars on the Red. This film is presented in anamorphic widescreen, but the soundtrack warbles and fluctuates like a warped record, while the two full frame films are severely cut off and cramped. Additionally, there are no subtitles or closed captioning options provided.
There are no extras to be had, and yeah...this disc is a pretty bad time.
The Final Word
It's pretty much a no brainer that there are better options out there for Spaghetti western fans, in both the PD set and proper DVD and Blu-Rays. 4 Vengeful Western Films strikes out, thanks to abysmal AV quality and uneven content.
