( aka La Brute, Le Colt et Le Karate/Blood Money)
( 1974 / Italy / France )
Reviewed By-Paul Cooke Director: Antonio Margheriti Starring: Lee Van Cleef , Lo Lieh & Julian Ugarte Source : Seven France / PAL DVD / Wide Screen Ratio 2:35:1 / Anamorphic 16:9 / English Language Dolby Digital 2.0 / Shaw Brothers Showcase / French Interview / Forced French Subtitles On English Language Presentation
‘‘I might have spent more time in jail than a retired prison guard’’
Ten fingers of fighting fury from the East , and twelve barrels of bullet laden lead in the hands of the fastest draw in the West team up , as Lo Lieh and Lee Van Cleef gallop together under the Direction of Antonio Margheriti in his Gun Fu flick ‘The Stranger And The Gunfighter’. Thanks to those fabulously fussy French folk in Europe the movie gets the full shiny silver star DVD treatment in glorious Cinemascope , and its never looked better. Throw away that washed out full screen PAL DVD , under the alternate title of ‘Blood Money’ , and invest your hard earned dollars in this the cinematic Cadillac of releases.
Lee Van Cleef’s character Dakota rides into the Western town of Monteray to rob a bank. He sneaks in at night to put his skills at lock picking and safe cracking to best effect. Within the secure vault are the pictures of four women , all with a mark tattooed upon their backsides. It is the work of Wang , a Chinese man who’s bank it is that Dakota has chosen to rob. Wang disturbs Dakota and races into the vault despite Dakota’s attempts to stop him before the explosive charge detonates. Wang is killed by the explosion and Dakota is hauled away by the town sheriff to be tried for murder.
On the other side of the world in China Wang’s nephew Wang Ho Kiang , as played by Lo Lieh , is summonsed before the town warlord to answer for his uncles seeming misappropriation of monies loaned. Word of Wang’s death has reached the warlord. He wants the money that Wang was given to invest , and made profit upon in America , to be delivered up to him or death will befall Wang’s family. Lo Lieh’s character Wang is given one year to find the accrued gold and to return with it or suffer along with the Wang family pain of death !.
With Dakota languishing in jail awaiting hanging Wang soon befriends him by using skilful deception to uncover the truth behind his Uncles untimely demise , as well as establishing what the four curious photographs mean. Happy that Dakota did not intentionally kill his Uncle , nor steal the treasure , Wang rescues Dakota from the gallows. Together they ride off in search of the four tattooed female derrières . It’s a bum deal but they have the cheek required to get to the bottom of the bizarre puzzle.
The search for Uncle Wang’s four branded mistresses brings the unlikely pair up against Yancy Hobbitt , a crazed preacher who is also a skilled gunfighter. Dressed all in black , with a long flowing overcoat and oversized Stetson , he rides around in a mobile chapel drawn by eight harnessed horses. This deacon of doom wreaks vengeance upon man in the name of the lord and spits parables of venom at all who stand in his way. He’s a pistol poppin’ prophet of purification , who’s also out to solve the clues etched upon the rears of Uncle Wang’s wanton women. Yancy wants the treasure to build a real church and in order to do so he has to go up against Dakota and Wang , but he does not do so alone. The dark pastor hooks up with a mighty native American , a giant of a man with great strength and just what Yancy requires.
With the female flesh sought out it’s a hands on display of seek and behold in the race to uncover the treasure. Dakota and Wang build upon their alliance and are soon watching each others backs as bar room brawls and gang square offs allow both men to show what they can do in a tight situation. Lo Lieh gets to showcase his kung fu with moments of great agility , and Lee Van Cleef gets to eyeball the bad guys and shoot anything unfriendly that moves. There’s a nice bloody head squib squirt to behold and Wang uses his fists of fury to disembowel with bloody technique in the final segment.
The big showdown and show stopping highlight does indeed come in the final reel as all the main players come face to face. Lee Van Cleef gets to square off against the excellent Julian Ugarte’s Yancy Hobbitt , and Lo Lieh gets to fight one on one with the far bigger native American wrestler. Its fisticuffs , fighting Fu and a big old Gattling gun express train of a conclusion. One that sees Lee Van Cleef nestled between two charging horses letting rip with a monster automatic firing machine gun to the tune of total decimation of Yancy Hobbitt’s gang. Who needs ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ with this Hobbitt home wrecker around !?.
Lo Lieh and Lee Van Cleef make for a great odd couple and Julian Ugarte plays the role of maniacal villian with great aplomb. Director Antonio Margherti gets the best out of his cast and throws together two contrasting film genre’s with consummate skill. The movie is pure Fun and entertains throughout its ninety odd minutes duration , so much so the ride seems like a gallop right up to the rootin’ tootin’ , fu fightin’ finale. When East meets West ‘La Brute , Le Colt , Et Le Karate’ c’est bon regarde the very best.
Film : 3.5 Fists Of Fu Picture : 4.5 Fists Of Fu Sound : 3.5 Fists Of Fu Overall : 4.0 Fists Of Fu To Purchase this DVD, visit X-Ploited Cinema
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