The Ugly Ones

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.