Cemetery Without Crosses (1969)

Generally considered one of the classics of the lesser known Spaghetti Westerns. The Rogers family kills Ben Craine and his wife, Maria recruits Manuel (Robert Hossein, who also directs the film) to help her seek revenge. Manuel is unwilling, but does it because of his barely concealed love for Maria. He kidnaps the daughter of the Rogers family, which only inflames matters further. It all ends in tragedy.

The film is generally a well-made, well-plotted Spaghetti Western. If I had two criticisms, it dragged slightly in the middle, and the music was a little repetitive (there were only two tracks really, plus a sung version of the main theme for the credits). However, the story worked well, with the Manuel's unwillingness always showing through. The English dub was possible slightly weak (but by no means the worst dub recorded for a Spaghetti Western); I'm slightly unsure what language the definitive dub is in though - maybe French? The best scenes were those in the old ghost town - especially that where Manuel and Maria "face off" while her brothers-in-law rape the kidnapped daughter in the saloon - but generally the ghost town was very evocative.

It's probably worth pointing out that although one of the better films of the genre, it's a good cut below Leone and the best of the Corbucci films.

The German DVD has reasonable audio and a selection of languages; the video is a bit fuzzy and washed out, but is watchable. I think it's possibly reasonably hard to find now.