Death Played the Flute (1972)

Michael Forest is Nick Barton, who returns home to discover bandits have attacked, killing his father, wife and another woman while leaving his daughter Suzy raped and traumatized.

One of the bandits in on the raid of the Barton ranch was “Whistler” Kimble (Giuseppe Cardillo), who wears a black overcoat, plays a flute and doesn’t approve of raping and killing defenseless women.

So he quits the gang in protest. Much to the dismay of its leader Ransom (Antonio Molino Rojo), who fears Kimble will report his activities to the law.

His attempt to ambush the estranged gang member fails, leaving Kimble and Barton with mutual enemies.

So Kimble agrees to help Barton get his revenge. Heck, he might collect a few bounties along the way.

One problem with their plan: Ransom has the town sheriff under his thumb, and the sheriff’s brother in his gang.

When the brother is killed, Ransom describes the guilty party as a man wearing a black overcoat with a flute around his neck.

That means Kimble and Barton need to watch out for the law as well as Ransom’s large gang of shoot-from-cover henchmen.

Review:

An odd film with horror movie overtones and tons of unrealized potential.

Most intriguing is the role of Elvis look-alike Giuseppe Cardillo (Steven Tedd), who gives the film its English title thanks to his habit of sometimes playing the flute before gunning a man down.

But he’s also a troubled man with a sadistic streak. Just ask the prostitute he visits midway through the film. Her response to his advances: “I just don’t like the way you always want to make love .. Kimble, why do you always want it like this?”

Instead of exploring that answer, the filmmakers serve up scene after scene of characters riding around, mostly to offer Ransom’s men an opportunity to spring another ambush.

And that’s something they’re quite inept at, meaning they wind up littering the screen with their own dead bodies.

Speaking of which, the death scene at the end of the film is one of the oddest and most drawn out you’re going to find in a Spaghetti Western.

Directed by:
Angelo Pannaccio
as Elo Pannacio
or Mark Welles

Cast:
Michael Forest … Nick Barton
Giuseppe Cardillo … “Whistler” Kimble
as Steven Tedd
Susanna Levi … Suzy Barton
Franco Borelli … Suzy’s fiance
as Chet Davis
Giovanni Petti … Barton’s father
as John Petty
Antonio Molino Rojo … Ramson
Raul Aparici … Reed, Ramson henchman
Sergio Aparici … Cameron, Ramson hencman
Juan Fairen … Kelly, Ramsom henchman
Luciano Conti … Al, Ramsom henchman
Marcello Meconizzi … Ramson henchman
Benito Pacifico … Ramson henchman
as Dennis Colt
Ivi D’Annunzio … Prostitute

Also with … Irio Fantini, Anna Bacchi, Itala Guitto

Runtime: 84 min. / 75 min..

aka:
Lo ammazzò come un cane… ma lui rideva ancora
Requiem for a Bounty Hunter

Music: Daniele Patucchi
Song: “A Man is Made of Love” sung by Ann Collin

Memorable lines:

Gang member when Kimble insists on leaving a gang that kills defenseless women: “I hope you ain’t aimin’ to start a fight with Ramson. He’s real dangerous.”
Kimble: “Yeah, well, remember, I can be dangerous too if I set my mind to it. And if the gang bothers me, it’ll be a pleasure to hunt all of you down like coyotes.”

John Barton, upon meeting the stranger with a flute: “Hey, I’m talkin’ to you.”
Kimble: “I ain’t no information office.”

John Barton to Kimble: “I’m a simple man. You’re confusing that with simple-minded.”

Trivia:

According to some reports, producers later added hard-core sex scenes, featuring different actors and actresses, to this film and re-released it as “Porno Erotic Western” in 1978. It’s easy to see where those scenes could have been slipped into this film, but no one seems to have actually seen the X-rated version.

That said, this was reportedly the first film Angelo Pannaccio directed. His later efforts — “Sex of the Witch” (1972) and “Erotico 2000” (1982) among them — have a more erotic bent.