This one is really bleak and nihilistic, so watch out for that. Set during the American Civil War, we have Confederate soldier George Hilton having to go AWOL in order to save the honour of a woman who has just borne his child. George has several problems, however, one being that the army aren't too lenient on deserters, and his lady's father, Sandoval (a very loud Borgnine, just the way we like him!), really hates his guts and wants nothing to do with him. Plus, he gets caught and sentenced to death in pretty short order.

Killing his captor and heading south with a couple of mates, George finds that the town his fiance lives in is suffering from an outbreak of cholera, his missus has just died, and Sandoval has just dumped the kid on him and banished him. Further still, George finds that his kid is starving to death, but no one will feed him as they think the kid has cholera. The kid dies, and George turns to the dark side and starts murdering everyone who turned him away. Is this a Western or an Adam Sandler film?

George gets himself a gang of bandits while on the other side of things Sandoval keeps getting madder and madder and madder to the point where he denies he even had a daughter in the first place (although in secret he's shattered inside that she's gone - nicely performed by Borgnine). Both men are gearing up for a confrontation that they cannot avoid, as both of them have lost their souls...

We all like Ernest Borgnine, right? You can't go wrong with him here, as a stubborn but honourable man consumed by grief. George Hilton too does a nice turn as the loved up soldier turned blank-eyed killer and it's the fact that both characters have more depth that carries the film. Neither of them are particular evil men, but through circumstance they are both turned into monsters.

Good film. Loved the custard-pie fight at the end!

Wait...no...that didn't happen.

A BULLET FOR SANDOVAL is a dark and mean-spirited spaghetti western that offers a leading role for genre stalwart George Hilton who has a more involved reason for revenge than most. He plays a gunslinger whose pregnant girlfriend falls ill, leaving him to bring up his son alone. Unfortunately for him, his girlfriend's tyrannical father kicks him out, leading to tragic circumstances. Hilton then goes gunning for revenge. This is a great story, but the film as a whole gets dragged in one too many sub-plots that are utilised merely to pad out the running time. The budget is obviously low and aside from an entertaining Borgnine the performances are understated. It could have been so much better.

Because hundreds of Italian westerns were made, they couldn't all be classics! In fact, a bunch had to fall in the at best mediocre range--and "A Bullet for Sandoval" certainly is that. Despite a starring role for Ernest Borgnine, this wasn't enough to elevate this movie to anything other than a time-passer for those obsessed with the genre.

The film begins with an idiot being told his girlfriend is about to give birth to his baby. Despite this being during the Civil War and the man being in the Confederate army, he just runs away--and so it's hard to really empathize with the guy even though he wants to return and marry the lady and do the right thing. When he arrives, however, he finds that his girlfriend is dead! And, her father threatens to kill him unless he leaves and takes the baby with him! He and his partners leave and try to find lodging and food, but because a Cholera outbreak has occurred, folks are very unfriendly and refuse help. The baby soon gets sick and dies and the man vows to make the towns and the baby's grandfather pay. Now this was actually a pretty good idea for a film (despite the whole AWOL angle). However, the man and his friends went far beyond exacting revenge--the gang grew and they terrorized EVERYONE. Because of this, you really had no empathy for him or his nihilistic cause. On the other hand, the father (Borgnine) wasn't exactly likable...and in fact NO ONE in the film was the least bit likable or multi-dimensional. They were all either scum or victims! Because of this and the film's not taking advantage of a decent plot idea, I found myself happy when the whole thing ended (and on a very, very downbeat note).