Boot Hill (1969)

The third of a trilogy of films Terence Hill and Bud Spencer made with director Giuseppe Colizzi, and generally considered the weakest of the three. Without (yet) having seen the second in the trilogy, I’m inclined to agree with that assessment.

The plot is a little sparse. It features Terence Hill as a man on the run from a gang of bandits who ends up hiding in a circus. One of the circus acrobats ends up killed by the bandits causing Woody Strode (another acrobat) to join Hill for revenge. They then take up with Hill’s former partner (Bud Spencer) to kill the bandits who are holding a mining town hostage.

A good chunk of the early film is spent with Hill hiding out in the circus with very little explanation. At first this comes across as interesting and mysterious, but by around the 30th minute when the plot has still advanced no further it begins to get a little dull. Things get slightly better from there on by the plot is still pretty thin: there is no real peril and no twists or side-plots.

On the positive side the film is generally well-shot and looks professional, with bits of the film being honestly quite good (the opening for example). It’s just the weak plot that lets it down in my eyes.

The three reviews at the Spaghetti Western database are quite interesting to me. They represent the difference of opinion surrounding the film, with some people more able to see though its flaws than others.