The Ugly Ones (1966)

To me, this movie is perfection.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

¨The ugly ones¨ is a terrific example of the spaghetti western genre from Spain. Offbeat Paella-Spaghetti Western co-produced between Spain and Italy . The band ( Tito Garcia, Hugo Blanco) of a nasty Mexican frees Jose Gomez ( the Cuban Tomas Milian ); he and his bandits trespass the frontier and occupy a village .Escaped Jose Gomez goes back to his home town chased by a bounty killer . The towns people protect Gomez, unaware, at first, that he is changed and become an evil gunfighter . Our hero named Luke Chilson (Richard Wyler) is a bounty hunter riding on a robust horse and hunting outlaws . Gomez returns his ranch and seeks vengeance against Luke , while his hoodlums kill , mistreat countrymen . Meantime his former girlfriend (the Eurobabe Zalowska)double-crosses his friend .It's an exciting western with breathtaking gun-play between the protagonist Richard Wyler against the heartless Tomas Milian and his hoodlums . Milian is fine, he ravages the screen, shoots, hit and run and kills . In the film premiere attained quite success and nowadays is well valued and I think it turns out to be a good Spaghetti Western. This movie is a lot of fun to watch. It's a fascinating story with a touch of peculiarity, some great characters, and an amazing music score.The picture also titled ¨The bounty killer¨is a tale of justice and revenge, as a man returns home to his village after his breakout and mistreats the townspeople . The basic plot is typical spaghetti western fare, but what makes this movie stand out is its style. Richard Wyler's performance in the movie is a bit wooden for the role of such an interesting character, but the fantastic performance by the always great Tomas Milian as the slimy, menacing outlaw and gang leader Gomez, make up for it. Appears as secondaries the habitual in Spanish/Italian Western such as Jose Canalejas , Luis Barboo, Ricardo Palacios , Mario Brega and Frank Braña , usual in Leone films. Special mention to Tito Garcia in his ordinary role as fatty Mexican bandit and in a cruelly baddie role , he is terrific, and bears a hysterical and mocking aspect , subsequently he would play similar characters .The film packs violence , shootouts , high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes. There is a very odd implementation of zoom shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as the film approaches its climax. Rather than the usual sustained, intensity-building close-ups that Sergio Leone was so fond of, the filmmaker here uses a rapidly zooming in and out camera for a more unsettling effect. The movie gets the usual Western issues, such as avengers antiheroes , violent facing off , quick zooms, exaggerated baddies, soundtrack with Morricone influence , among them . Good production design creating an excellent scenario with luminous outdoors, dirty and rocky landscapes under a glimmer sun and a fine set on the manor . The musician Stelvio Cipriani composes a nice soundtrack and well conducted , this turns out to be one of the most memorable parts of the movie; as it's full of strange sounds and haunting musical background . The opening theme is one of my favorites, and is one of those unforgettable tunes that will play in your mind over and over long after the movie is realized. The soundtrack contributes tremendously to the atmosphere of the film, including an emotive leitmotif, the music score is perhaps the best part of this film . Striking cinematography by Enzo Barboni , ¨Trinity and Bambino¨ films director though is necessary a correct remastering . Outdoor sequences with barren exteriors filmed in Spanish places located on desert of Tabernas , Almeria . This motion picture produced by Jose G Maesso (Gringo , Django, Tarantos) is professionally directed by Eugenio Martin and won prizes conceded by Spanish Spectacle Syndicate. Martin is a horror movies expert ( Hypnosis, A candle for the devil , The fourth Mrs Anderson ) and Spaghetti Western ( Requiem, for a gringo , Pancho Villa , The ugly ones , Bad man's river ). Rating : Acceptable and passable Spaghetti Western , well worth watching .

Eugenio Martin's "El Precio De Un Hombre" aka. "The Bounty Killer"/"The Ugly Ones" seems to enjoy a particular appreciation of many of my fellow Spaghetti Western fans, but, personally I do not regard the film as being above average. I have utmost respect for director Eugenio Martin for his fantastic Horror film "Horror Express" (1972, starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Telly Salavas), and leading man Tomas Milian is one of my favorite actors, but, as far as I am concerned, this one is nothing beyond enjoyably entertaining, as the story is rather unoriginal and predictable. "The Ugly Ones" is only the second Western Milian ever did, the first being Sergio Sollima's masterpiece "La Resa Dei Conti" ("The Big Gundown", 1966) which is doubtlessly one of the greatest (Spaghetti) Westerns ever to be made. Milian is doubtlessly one of the greatest actors in Italian genre/cult-cinema. Starting with Westerns (most notably Sollima's trilogy), he would later become the most charismatic villain/hero in the Poliziotteschi of the 70s (most notably in Umberto Lenzi's fantastic "Milano Odia" and "Roma A Mano Armata"), and his oeuvre also includes a variety of other great films, such as Lucio Fulci's brilliant Giallo "Non Si Sevizia Un Paperino" ("Don't Torture A Duckling", 1972). No matter whether he is the hero or the villain, Milian is always fantastic and completely owns the screen with his unique presence. This film is mainly recommendable for Milian, who appears as the cunning, manipulative and somewhat charming villain he would often play in later crime flicks. Otherwise, it profits from a genre-typical nice score and cinematography, cult-regular Mario Brega in a supporting role, and the greatest possible setting for a European Western: the Spanish Almeria desert. Milian plays José Gómez, an outlaw who escapes with the help of the innocent Eden (Halina Zalewska). Eden and a bunch of other good people who have known Gómez since his childhood, help him hide from Luke Chilson (Richard Wyler), a bounty hunter who is very successful in his profession. After a while, however, it becomes more and more obvious that Gómez is nothing like the poor orphan they once liked anymore...The plot has strong resemblances to Anthony Mann's American Western "The Naked Spur" of 1953 (the Spanish Version of which was also called "El Precio De Un Hombre" in some countries), but while the premise fits the morale of the American Western quite well, it does not quite fit the antihero premise of this Italian Western. Even though portrayed as the villain, Milian's Gómez is the only interesting character in the film. The hero played by Richard Wyler (who sadly passed away this month - RIP), is your typical tough guy but good guy. Halina Zalewska's character is the typical innocent and naive but kind-hearted female - no surprises here. Miss Zalewska didn't appear in too many well-known films, but might be familiar to Italian Horror/Cult-Cinema fans for appearing twice aside the wonderful Barbara Steele, in Antonio Margheriti's "I Lunghi Capelli Della Morte" (The Long Hair of Death", 1964) and Camillo Mastrocinque's "Un Angelo Per Satana" ("An Angel For Satan", 1966). Spaghetti Western regular Mario Brega is the most notable member of the supporting cast; Brega, who appeared in masterpieces such as Sergio Leone's Dollar-Trilogy and Sergio Corbucci's "The Great Silence" (1968), is once again good, though his role here doesn't call for particular acting skills. Overall, "El Precio De Un Hombre", is a decent enough but not particularly praiseworthy film, which is mainly recommendable for Tomas Milian.

This one starts out slow but gets good. It is reportedly Tomas Milian's first western. He turns in one of his best performances as an escaped convict who returns home, where the "bounty killer" of the title lies in wait for him. The townsfolk side with their old friend Milian, only to watch his behavior degenerate into that of the miscreant he's become. Soon his entire gang of freaky looking b**tards (the alternate title is "The Ugly Ones") has trickled into town and the villagers are at their mercy.This film is the ideological opposite of "The Great Silence" in that everyone hates the bounty hunter, but in the end he turns out to be right. Just the same it's quite entertaining when it gets going and features the best "outlaws terrorizing the townsfolk" sequence of any western I've seen. Rivals the one in the first "Mad Max," which isn't even a western. One of the terrorizing outlaws is the drunk from "Cutthroats Nine." Actually, the cast all around is great, with more than one familiar face. The musical score works well once you get used to it, though it sounds a lot like a cross between a Morricone rip-off and something by that guy who did the "Brady Bunch" music. Eugenio Martin's direction, while it has some slow spots and flaws, shows true inspiration.All in all, worth seeing for genre fans and a must for those of Tomas Milian.

Released as "The Ugly Ones" this is a highly overrated italian western. Its slow (not interestingly so), Badly Filmed (although the print I saw was damaged) , Diabolical acting that even bad dubbing does not take away from and a plodding plot that the saturday b serial westerns of the 1940's would have been proud of. From the same time came a group of highly polished or just plain original versions of the theme that america had been churning out for 3 decades. The italians revived the genre , breathed life into it, but this monstrous waste of time seems to be a cyst on the backside of the industry that was chopped off , but not quick enough , it made the screen.