Sunday, April 12, 2020

The Unholy Four


I found Enzo Barboni's first film streaming on one of those free streaming Roku channels tonight. I was enjoying the film when I decided to look up who he cast and crew were and discovered that first interesting fact. George Eastman I recognized, as well as Woody Stroke . But seeing the name Enzo Barboni really piqued my interest. As a huge fan of the Trinity series and other works in comedy, I was in for a surprise with this decidedly much more serious approach to the Spaghetti West.

Everything about this film speaks to a Barboni's masterful craftsmanship as a cinematographer. He sets his western apart with an immediate departure from the high desert sands with a high summer sun and decides to set this film in the deep autumn, muddy and cold. The characters look cold and the film print on the channel seemed a bit washed out.

After a bank robbery, the thieves set fire to the local hospital and four inmates of the sanitarium escape in the confusion. Among the escapees is a man named Chuck Mool, an amnesiac with no memory of who he is or where he comes from. Recognized by one of the thieves, it's only then that Chuck is told his name that he remembers the town he comes from and the three other men join him in his quest to regain his lost memories.

But it's not going to be a fun or breezy adventure, despite the light-hearted music playing. And the people in town are eager to take advantage of the situation.

6 out of 10