Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Cost Of Dying (1968)

A gang of cattle rustlers, lead by their blond leader Scaife (Bruno Corazzari), acquire a herd of cow by killing the herders that are tending to them in the snowy mountains of Colorado. The rustlers try to get the herd through the snow-covered forest but cannot make it, so they enter a small town asking if they can stay a few days. Although suspicious, the town sheriff Ramson (Raymond Pellegrin) lets the men stay.

Later, the sheriff's adopted son Tony (Andrea Giordana) and his girl, go into the country store to get supplies. There they run into the rude gang of rustlers who try to take the girl away. There is a fist fight that is broken up by the sheriff.

Dan El (John Ireland), one of the rustlers, meets and talks with the sheriff. It turns out that Dan is an old friend of the sheriff and the father of Tony. Dan tells the sheriff that he should leave town. Scaife and his gang are bad and do not intend to leave but to take over the town. The sheriff gathers the townsfolk together and tries to get them to take up arms to fight the gang. However the most of townies are apathetic and walk away.

Late at night the sheriff, and the few men who will fight back, sneak into the rustler's camp to try to drive them out. It doesn't turn out their way and the men are defeated. Scaife and the sheriff have a showdown with the sheriff being shot and killed.

Scaife makes the villagers his slaves by forcing the men to work making a corral for the cattle. The other men go after the women of the village to have their way. While the men are resting after a hard day's work, Tony sneaks away killing a guard in the process. When Scaife find out, he has three town men shot and laid out for the entire village to see. The next day Tony pretends to be one of the corpses, surprising a guard. He kills the guard and steals his horse.

Scaife and his gang hold Tony's girl hostage as they search the woods for him. Dan breaks away and finds Tony. He confronts him and says that Tony must fight back. He trains him in gunplay on the snowy mountains.

Back at the village, Tony's friend is killed by one of the gang as he tries to get some bread to eat. Suddenly Tony rides in on a horse and beats up the rustler. However the baddie is not dead and tries to shoot Tony. But the villagers had had enough and one of the men kill him with an axe.

The villagers finally rebel and start killing the rustlers. Scaife and his men keep finding the dead bodies of the guards. All the houses are empty as the townsfolk have taken up positions. There is a huge shootout in the town. Finally Scaife and Dan face off. Dan shoots Scaife but as he approaches the rustler, Scaife pulls out his gun and shoots Dan. Tony arrives just as Dan dies. He throws down his gun in disgust.

Alternate Titles: Quanto Costa Morire, A Taste Of Death

Available: Amazon