La belva (1970)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Mario Costa

Writer:

Mario Costa (writer)

Release Date:

12 September 1970 (Italy)

Genre:

Western

Cast

Klaus Kinski	...	Johnny Laster
Gabriella Giorgelli	...	Juanita
Steven Tedd	...	Riccardo
Giovanni Pallavicino	...	Machete
Andrea Aureli	...	Riccardo's Father
Remo Capitani
Giuliano Raffaelli	...	Gary Pinkerton
Paolo Casella	...	Glen (as Paul Sullivan)
Grazia Di Marzà
Fiona Florence
Gioia Garson
Cristina Iosani		(as Cristina Josani)
Vittorio Mangano
Ivana Novak
Pilù

Also Known As:

Rough Justice
The Beast (USA)
The Bell (USA)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (1989) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Monte Gelato Falls, Treja River, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Nadir

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Red Dead Revolver (2004) (VG)

a fairly good spaghetti western

This was a somewhat enjoyable movie, even though I was expecting it to be better.

Klaus Kinski does an adequate job with what he is given, but his character really doesn't have much personality. I'm not sure if this is Kinski's fault or the director's, but the character of Johnny is simply a man who can't control his sexual impulses. There is absolutely nothing else that can be said about him. He has no unusual mannerisms or interesting personality traits to speak of. He is just downright boring. This does not make for a good main character of a movie, especially when the film is a spaghetti western. The other characters are even more boring. In fact, they are too dull to even be called cliché.

Stelvio Cipriani's music score is very good, which really helps this movie, since a good score is especially important in a euro-western.

The overall story is also pretty good, and is enough to keep you interested all the way to the end. The main story being told in this movie is not really about a sex maniac in the old west, as many people describe it. It is a tragedy of Shakespearian proportions that shows just how much damage greed can do to a person and his or her loved ones.

The problem is that the characters are not interesting or memorable enough for the viewer to become emotionally involved in the story. Therefore the most memorable thing about the movie ends up being "Kinski plays a sex maniac." It's too bad because this movie had the potential to be much more.

Still, it's interesting enough to be worthwhile if you're a spaghetti western fan.