My Name is Pecos (1966)

Although it’s clearly very low budget, this is an excellent minor Spaghetti Western. Robert Woods plays the titular “Pecos” who arrives in town seeking vengeance against a gang who hate Mexicans. The local townsfolk live in fear of the gang, but that doesn’t prevent them from doing a little doubled-dealing and trying to get rich themselves. The mood is somewhat bleak throughout as the few remaining “good” townsfolk are brutally picked off one-by-one.

There’s nothing phenomenally original here (except possibly the racial inversion of the Mexican hero fighting the white gang) but it hits all the right notes for a minor Spaghetti Western and is watchable and (fairly) polished despite its budget. The town undertaker (long a staple character of the Spaghetti Western) is a nice touch, actively double-crossing just about everyone in this case.

Naming a small and underpopulated border town “Houston” suggests the producers hadn’t really looked up their geography though…