Spaghetti Western Double Feature: His Name Was King (1971) / The Moment to Kill (1968) (DVD)

HIS NAME WAS KING (1971): Hardened bounty hunter "King" Marley is hired to track down the notorious Benson brothers, who have been smuggling guns across the Mexican border. One of them tries to lure King into a trap, but is killed when his weapon backfires. Hungry for revenge, the others kill King's brother and brutally rape his sister-in-law on their wedding day in retaliation. Now the bounty is personal, and King won't rest until he brings back the Benson brothers' scalps...

A brutal, revenge-driven Spaghetti Western, His Name Was King stars Richard Harrison, a mainstay of European B-movies during the 1960s and 70s. He frequently starred in sword-and-sandal pictures made in Italy, such as The Invincible Gladiator (1962) and Giants of Rome (1964). Unlike his contemporaries Steve Reeves and Alan Steel, Harrison had formal acting training. After Italy cut down film production, he moved to Hong Kong, where he starred in a total of 18 martial arts features. German actor Klaus Kinski is best known for his work with director Werner Herzog. Some of their collaborations include Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) and Fitzcarraldo (1982). Kinski also was a regular in Spaghetti Westerns, playing a villain in For a Few Dollars More (1965), among numerous others.

THE MOMENT TO KILL (1968): Two seasoned gunfighters, Lord and Bull, are hired by a judge to retrieve $500,000 worth of gold stolen years ago from the Confederate treasury. They arrive in town to find the judge murdered and his handicapped daughter kidnapped. The girl is held captive by her evil uncle, 'Boss' Forrester, who demands to know the location of the missing gold. Feeling honor bound to the dead judge, Lord and Bull saddle up to rescue the helpless girl. Little do they realize that Forrester has a virtual army of gunmen guarding her. This may be Lord and Bull's last shootout...

The Moment to Kill stars George Hilton, a veteran of over 20 Spaghetti Westerns, including Sartana's Here Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin (1970) and They Call Me Hallelujah (1971). Co-star Walter Barnes was a former football player for the Philadelphia Eagles who started acting in Westerns in the late 1950s, even scoring a small part in Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo (1959). Tired of the limited opportunities America offered him, he moved to Italy in the early 1960s, where he got much bigger roles in Spaghetti Westerns.

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