The spaghetti Western genre helped revolutionize Wild West moviemaking during the 1960s, and many trailblazing films fused this style with elements of horror. This genre emerged in the wake of Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone’s classic films like A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which kickstarted plenty more directors to make their own low-budget Westerns filled with fast-paced action. While spaghetti Western-horror hybrids aren’t as well known as Clint Eastwood’s tenure as the Man with No Name, they still stand as an important part of this genre’s legacy.
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Many of the best spaghetti Westerns took in a litany of different influences and included aspects of comedy, horror, sci-fi, and even Shakespearian tragedy. Featuring major stars of their era like Lou Castel, Lee Van Cleef, and Klaus Kinski, these Italian Western movies included everything from excessive horrific gore to some truly frightful supernatural happenings. While the golden age of spaghetti Westerns reached its peak in the 1970s, the genre-bending nature of this style of filmmaking has had an undeniable impact on the stylistic aesthetics of the genre to this day.
You are watching: 10 Spaghetti Westerns With Horror Elements
10
The Masked Thief (1971)
Italian: In nome del padre, del figlio e della Colt
The Masked Thief was a dark spin on spaghetti Western themes of virtue and evil as it told the tale of two twins, one a noble sheriff and the other a ruthless outlaw and rapist. From Italian director Mario Bianchi, this filmmaker was known for his pornographic and sexploitation features and brought a subversive energy to this underappreciated release. Starring Craig Hill and Frank Braña, The Masked Thief featured plenty of action, thrills, fights, and shootouts.
As the story of two opposing brothers, the horror elements of The Masked Thief came from the vicious practices of the masked killer Mace Cassidy, whose connection to Sheriff Bill Nolan soon became apparent. Craig Hill played both brothers and managed to spread plenty of carnage throughout the film’s brief 77-minute runtime. While it may not be as well known as the classics of the genre, those who like their spaghetti Westerns with an extra dose of violence should check out The Masked Thief.
9
The Stranger And The Gunfighter (1974)
Italian: Là dove non batte il sole
Spaghetti westerns, kung fu, and eerie supernatural undertones all came together in the genre-bending movie The Stranger and the Gunfighter. With two major stars of their respective genres coming together, Western legend Lee Van Cleef starred as the outlaw Dakota opposite the kung fu icon Lo Lieh as the martial arts expert Ho Chiang. As a Wild West journey of life and death, the two come together in a search for buried treasure and a battle against the bandits who stand in their way.
The Stranger and the Gunfighter has eerie horror-like undertones as the duo discovers the body of Ho Chiang’s uncle Wang, which reveals clues toward the hidden treasure. With more messages hidden within tattoos on the body of Wang’s four mistresses, a message from beyond the grave guides the pair’s fraught journey. With so many contradictory aspects, The Stranger and the Gunfighter managed to be a comedy, horror, kung fu film, and Western all at the same time.
8
The Beast (1970)
Italian: La belva
Few spaghetti Western stars added an air of horror to their performances better than German actor Klaus Kinski, a true wild man whose personal life was the only thing crazier than the characters he played. This talent for playing madmen was powerfully seen in The Beast, where he played the sadistic bandit Johnny ‘The Beast’ Laster, a sex-crazed maniac who would rob any bank he came across and saw every woman as an opportunity for an unwanted sexual conquest.
The Beast was directed by the Italian filmmaker Mario Costa, and at times, it feels like he allowed Kinski’s wilder impulses to take over the production as he endlessly grabbed at every woman who appeared onscreen. Instead of the normal spaghetti Western setup of a reluctant hero with noble instincts saving the day, The Beast instead focuses on one of the bad guys and showcases his dire impact on everyone around him.
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The Stranger and the Gunfighter
PG
ActionWestern
Release Date
January 1, 1974
Runtime
107 minutes
Writers
Antonio Margheriti
Producers
Gustave M. Berne
Cast
-
Lee Van Cleef
Dakota
-
Lo Lieh
Ho Chiang
-
Patty Shepard
Russian Mistress / Twin Sister
-
See All Cast & Crew
The Stranger and the Gunfighter, released in 1974, is a Western adventure film where a condemned outlaw named Dakota is enlisted by Ho, a Chinese man, to locate a hidden treasure. Together, they embark on a quest involving a peculiar map divided among four women in the Wild West.
Character(s)
Dakota, Ho Chiang, Russian Mistress / Twin Sister, Italian Mistress, Chinese Mistress, American Mistress, Yancey Hobbitt, Sheriff, Lord Barclay, Chief Constable, Wang’s father, Wang’s sister, Abbot
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7
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If You Meet Sartana Pray For Your Death (1968)
Italian: Se incontri Sartana prega per la tua morte
If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death was the first of many spaghetti Westerns starring the gunfighter and gambler Sartana, a seemingly supernatural antihero who roams the Wild West using mechanical gadgets to trick his rivals. As a sinister lone-man protagonist akin to Clint Eastwood’s characterization of the Man with No Name, Sartana maintained an air of mystery that helped turn him into an icon of the genre.
With intense illusionary skill, Sartana injected this genre with horror as he spread fear into the hearts of other bandits and fought and shot his way toward a coffin filled with gold. As a Western packed with fatalities and more gore than the average Western viewer will be used to, If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death lived up to its title with a cruel, fear-inducing hero. While Eastwood’s spaghetti Westerns may be more iconic, viewers should not forget the legend that is Sartana.
6
Johnny Hamlet (1968)
Italian: Quella sporca storia nel West
One of the most impressive things about the writings of William Shakespeare is that they remain eternally relevant no matter what genre they are reimagined as. While viewers will be well aware of rom-com remakes of classic Shakespeare plays like 10 Things I Hate About You or Anyone But You, they may not have checked out this spaghetti Western take on Hamlet. Starring Andrea Giordana as Johnny Hamilton, Johnny Hamlet was a fascinating Shakespearean Western adaptation that maintained the tragedy’s horrific undertones.
With dark thematic undertones, Johnny Hamlet featured its star digging up the body of his dead father as he tries to uncover the mystery of his murder at the hands of a gang of bandits. Johnny Hamlet mixed classic Western tropes with eternal themes of the play, making this a spaghetti Western unlike any other. By putting an original spin on this well-worn story of revenge and vengeance, Johnny Hamlet offered a unique take on a classic play.
5
Requiem For A Gringo (1968)
Italian: Requiem per un gringo
With a mix of gore and psychedelia, Requiem for a Gringo was a truly original spaghetti Western partially based on Masaki Kobayashi’s 1962 Japanese film Harakiri. From directors Eugenio Martín and José Luis Merino, Lang Jeffries played a man with special knowledge of the heavens on a quest for revenge against the gang of desperados who killed his brother. With outrageous violence, intense sexuality, and a truly strange hero, Requiem for a Gringo was an undefinable hidden gem of the genre.
With classic Western themes of vengeance, Requiem for a Gringo blended sci-fi and horror in a way rarely seen during this era as it used the tropes and cliches of the genre to tell a story as bizarre as it was entertaining. With a score, fascinating characters, and a mystical aura, the use of zoom shots and intense close-ups only added to the film’s disarming sense of fun. Requiem for a Gringo may not be to everyone’s taste, but to diehard spaghetti Western lovers, it’s a must-watch movie.
4
Matalo! (1970)
Italian: Mátalo
Matalo! starred Lou Castel as a boomerang-wielding outlaw who terrorized him while holed up in an isolated ghost town. With elements of horror in its complex narrative, Matalo! was a totally original spaghetti Western that valued psychological depth over action and told its story with an almost total lack of dialogue and featured an innovative soundtrack that mixed in elements of rock n’ roll music and Jimi Hendrix-like guitar solos.
Mátalo translates to “Kill Him” in English.
With thrilling shootouts that saw Ray the stranger face off against bandits’ pistols with nothing to fight back with but a bag of trusty boomerangs, this unique weapon of choice proved absolutely deadly in the hands of a skilled fighter. The unnerving sound effects positioned the howling wind as much of a character as anybody else, which made Matalo! a strange but engaging piece of Western filmmaking.
3
Django The Bastard (1969)
Italian: Django il bastardo
The gothic horror Django the Bastard took the spaghetti Western genre firmly into the realm of scary movies of a mystery stranger who swears revenge against Confederate soldiers. This classic revenge story saw Anthony Steffen play Django, the man hell-bent on making the men responsible for a Civil War massacre pay for their misdeeds. As Django kills his foes one by one while crossing their names off his ominous list, the question on everyone’s mind is whether they are dealing with a one-man army or an avenging angel of death.
The nonstop intensity with which Django enacts his revenge makes for frightful viewing as he kills with an unchanging, stone-faced seriousness that would leave even the sternest bandit quaking in fear. Django the Bastard had a ghostly presence that’s missing from other revenge-based spaghetti Westerns, making it all the more unnerving.
2
And God Said To Cain (1970)
Italian: E Dio disse a Caino
And God Said to Cain was a gothic Western with elements of horror that told a classic tale of long-festering revenge. With Klaus Kinski as Gary Hamilton, a man granted a pardon after spending ten years imprisoned, this dark story saw him set out on a quest for vengeance against the men who framed him so long ago. Set on a dark, stormy night, Hamilton haunts the landscape like a ghost as he hides out in desolate cemeteries and bides his time against the men he’s sworn to murder.
With brutal intensity, Hamilton took the opportunity to kill the men in one fell swoop as he enacted a massacre under the guard of night and finally achieved his long-standing desire for revenge. And God Said to Cain featured a thrilling and frightful score by Carlo Savina, which added to the dark power of his horrific narrative. With an incredible performance from Kinski, And God Said to Cain was one of the most underrated spaghetti Westerns ever made.
1
Cut-Throats Nine (1972)
Italian: Condenados a vivir
As perhaps the bleakest and goriest spaghetti Western of them all, those who like their Wild West movies with a healthy dose of horror have to watch Cut-Throats Nine. A brutal experience of pure nihilism, Cut-Throats Nine saw bandits attack a wagonload of convicts, with the results being that only a sergeant, his daughter, and seven sadistic prisoners survive. As the sergeant tasked with getting the crooks to their destination, he must deal with all the lies, greed, and betrayal that unfold in this haphazard situation.
Cut-Throat Nines pushed the spaghetti Western genre further into horror movie territory than it ever dared to endeavor toward before or since. With practically every character capable of untold violence, the psychopathic killers at the heart of this story made The Hateful Eight look like a simple playdate. Cut-Throat Nine is not for the faint of heart, but those looking for a frightful Western will be more than satisfied with this terrifying tale.
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Category: Entertainment