(1968) I'll Sell My Skin Dearly/ Vendo cara la pelle (In Spanish with English subtitles) SPAGHETTI WESTERN

The Spaghetti Western equivalent of "Shane" that starred Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur and Vane Hefflin. It opens with a land grabber, Ralph Magdalena (Dane Savours) and his three outlaw goons killing a mom, dad and their daughter in cold blood just so he can own their property. The family also happens to have an older and adult son, Shane (Mike Marshall) who was out of town seeking retribution on the landowner and the three outlaws. The first two outlaws who participated were easy especially if one of them happen to be the sheriff around the area. The whereabouts of the third outlaw became a mystery until toward the end.

During his pursuit, some other outlaw from a distance happens to injure Shane on the leg. And by chance he gets taken care of by the attractive single mother, Georgina (Michele Girardon) of a young little boy, Kristian (Valerio Bartoleschi), who has a dog. Besides being in pursuit of the men responsible for the slaughter of Shane's family, Ralph Magdalena also happens to have a right hand man named Benson (Spean Convery)

So and so western with no actual innovative action or gun moments. Watchable and yet cheesy with recognizable scenes from the movie Shane, such as the boy, Kristian and his dog peeking through bar of Shane dealing with Magdalena's right hand man, Benson. And it's main theme of the landowner, Magdalena that is similar to the 1953 version when the landowner intending to kick out farmer, Van Heflin and his family. And if the landowner could not get what he wanted, he would resort to bullying tactics, which is when mysterious stranger Shane shows up.

After the whole family of Shane (Mike Marshall) was murdered, he is seeking revenge. Being merciless in the beginning (he even buries one villain alive!), meeting a beautiful young widow (Michele Girardon) and her son makes him slowly change his mind. His obsession with revenge (the camera just loves to make close-ups of Mike Marshall's steel-blue eyes staring wildly) gradually fades away. Especially when he finds out that one of the villains he has hunted has become a monk because he regretted his deeds. Will Shane be able to forgive?

At first this seems like an average revenge western among a thousand others, but it stands out from the crowd by a slightly more thoughtful attitude of director Fizzarotti, whose only western this is. Revenge isn't just a natural way of life (or rather, death), it is questionable sometimes. Also the movie has an interesting cast. You may recognize one familiar face, Spartaco Conversi, from 'Once Upon A Time In the West' among the bandits, for example. Voted 7/10

In my case: Western movies. So I reckon I might have rated it higher than most will see it. Still land while the theme of avenging and taking matters into ones own hands seems as old school as it gets ... and has been portrayed mutliple times (and better than what we see here too), this can be "fun" to watch, if you are and understand the tropes and cliches this uses or rather bathes in too.

The lead is charismatic, the love interest too. And then there is the kid ... who needs a father figure ... or at least that's what the movie makes us believe. Even if that father figure does not seem to teach the son lessons he should be learning ... or is that PC form of education the wrong way to look at things and our hero right in giving the kid a harsh lesson in life/reality? That's up to you to decide ...