Death Rides a Horse

Death Rides a Horse (aka Da uomo a uomo, or As Man to Man) is a 1967 spaghetti western directed by Giulio Petroni, written by Luciano Vincenzoni, and starring Lee Van Cleef and John Phillip Law.[1]



Contents
[hide]  *1 Plot summary  ==Plot summary[ edit] == Bill (John Phillip Law), a boy whose father was killed and mother and sister were raped and murdered in front of him by a gang, sets out 15 years later to exact revenge, having used the time to become an expert marksman with a gun.
 * 2 Cast
 * 3 Releases
 * 4 Reception
 * 5 In popular culture
 * 6 Bibliography
 * 7 References
 * 8 External links

Each of the outlaws bears a characteristic that Bill memorized while watching his family slaughtered. One has a tattoo of four aces on his chest, another a scar, one a distinctive earring and one a necklace bearing a skull.

As he begins his journey, a gunfighter named Ryan (Lee Van Cleef) is released from a prison after serving 15 years there. He was framed for an armed robbery by the very men who murdered Bill's family.

When they meet along the way, Ryan gets the better of Bill, who is blinded by vengeance, but he does Bill no harm. When the tables are turned later, Bill reciprocates, helping Ryan escape from a jail. But even though Bill has successfully killed the man with the aces tattoo, the more experienced Ryan insists on tracking the other outlaws alone. An equally determined Bill sets out ahead of him.

Bill is captured by the outlaws, beaten and buried alive from the neck down. Left to die in the hot sun, he is rescued by Ryan, who shoots several men standing guard. Preparing for the gang's return, Bill notices that Ryan is wearing a necklace with a skull. Ryan admits he was present during the murders. He gives his word that once the outlaws have been dealt with, he will remain to face whatever justice Bill seeks.

In a final shootout during a sand storm, the last remaining man who killed Bill's family has him dead to rights, only to be killed by Ryan's thrown knife. Bill nonetheless insists on revenge. Ryan's gun is empty, so Bill tosses a bullet to him. He has just one bullet left now himself. Ryan turns his back and walks away, daring Bill to shoot him in the back. Bill fires, but it is only to kill a surviving outlaw. A grateful Ryan then watches him ride away. ==Cast[ edit] == ==Releases<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">Wild East released this in its uncut theatrical version on a limited edition R0 NTSC DVD in 2011. ==Reception<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">In his investigation of narrative structures in Spaghetti Western films, Fridlund ranges Death Rides a Horse, together with Day of Anger as prime examples of a "tutorship variation" that further develops the play on age/experience between the protagonists in For a Few Dollars More, with Lee Van Cleef playing the older partner in all three films. In the "Tutorship" films, a younger protagonist seeks the more or less reluctant partnership of an older one, but differences of motivation eventually bring them into conflict.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-size:11.1999998092651px;">[2] ==In popular culture<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==
 * Lee Van Cleef as Ryan
 * John Phillip Law as Bill Meceita
 * Carlo Pisacane as Holly Spring Station Master
 * Luigi Pistilli as Walcott
 * Anthony Dawson as Bert Cavanaugh/Manina/4 Aces
 * José Torrès as Pedro
 * Carla Cassola as Betsy
 * Archie Savage as Negro Soldier
 * Mario Brega as One-Eye
 * Guglielmo Spoletini as Manuel
 * Angelo Susani as Paco
 * Giuseppe Castellano as Sheriff
 * Franco Balducci as Lyndon City Sheriff
 * Romano Puppo as Lyndon City Deputy
 * Walter Giulangeli as Mr. Meceita
 * Elena Hall as Mrs. Meceita
 * Bruno Corazzari as bartender
 * Natale Nazzareno as member of Pedro's gang
 * Felicita Fanny as Marita
 * Ignazio Leone as minister
 * Nerina Montagnani as minister's wife
 * Nino Vingelli as card player
 * Remo Capitani as member of gold escort
 * Giovanni Scarciofolo as Cavanaugh henchman
 * Jose Terron as Walcott henchman
 * Mario Mandalari as Walcott henchman
 * Ennio Pagliani as Walcott henchman
 * Giovanni Petrucci as Walcott henchman
 * Vivienne Bocca as Bill Meceita's sister
 * Richard Watson as bartender
 * Claudio Ruffini as Prison director
 * There are several influences from and references of Death Rides a Horse in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill:
 * Just like whenever the angered hero of Death Rides a Horse encounters one of the bandits who wronged him and killed his family, footage of the original wrong which is being avenged is superimposed over the hero's face; the same thing happens in Kill Bill whenever The Bride confronts one of the Deadly Vipers.
 * The main theme of Death Rides a Horse is used in Kill Bill. It is the trilling flute and mixed choral piece played when The Bride calls out O-Ren Ishii and her bodyguards at the House of Blue Leaves.
 * The scene where the main character, Bill, watches his family being murdered is, in part, reenacted in the animated scene of Kill Bill. Here the skull necklace is depicted as a skull ring, worn by the man who kills O-Ren's father.
 * Bill, taken captive by someone he is out to kill, is buried alive and left to die. The same thing happens in Kill Bill to The Bride.
 * "Death Rides a Horse" is a 1970 reggae single from the Hippy Boys. It appears on the B-side of Max Romeos single "melting pot" on the Pama Unity label
 * "Death Rides a Horse" is a name of a track on the Russian Circles album Enter