"Tempo Di Massacro" aka "Massacre Time" of 1966 is the first and best Western directed by horror legend Lucio Fulci. Anybody who knows Fulci's work won't be surprised that this is a rather brutal Spaghetti Western, perfectly cast with the great Franco Nero.
When Tom Corbett (Franco Nero) returns to his hometown, after receiving a letter from an old friend, he finds it entirely in the hands of landowner Mr. Scott, and his insane and sadistic son Scott Jr.(Nino Castelnuovo). After visiting his alcoholic brother Jeff (George Hilton) and the old Indian lady who rose them after their mother's death, Tom tries to find out about the Scotts, especially Scott Jr., who enjoys torturing and murdering people, but nobody in town wants to tell him about them.
"Massacre Time" proves, that Fulci is not only a Horror-genius, but also a competent director in other genres. While Westerns were certainly not his strongest genre, this film, as well as "Four Of The Apocalypse" are more than solid films that should not be missed. Franco Nero is great as always, it is no coincidence that this guy is one of the icons of the Italian Western. George Hilton also delivers a great performance as Jeff Corbett, Tom's brother who is a great shot, in spite of his constant drinking. I also found that Nino Castelnuovo made a very good insane villain. The Chinese undertaker is another great and very funny character. A Fulci film, this is of course a pretty violent movie, people are almost whipped to death, a guy is lacerated by dogs, and the film does not scant with bloody bullet-shredded corpses. Lallo Gori's soundtrack is also pretty cool, not phenomenal but decent. As many Westerns starring Franco Nero after Sergio Corbucci's masterpiece "Django", "Tempo Di Massacro" was marketed as a Django sequel in Germany and Austria. "Massacre Time" is definitely not as brilliant as "Django", but it is still a great, original and very entertaining Spaghetti Western that should not be missed by genre-fans. Highly Recommended!
