A band of outlaws led by Scaife (Bruno Corazzari) and Dan El (John Ireland) rustle a herd of cattle, but are unable to get them through a mountain pass before it closes for the winter because of snow.
So they decide to lay over for the winter in a small town where Bill Ransom (Raymond Pellegrin) is sheriff. He immediately smells trouble. For one thing, he knows Dan El from a violent episode in the past that ended in the murder of several innocent people.
In fact, Ransom raised Dan El’s son Tony (Andrea Giordana) as his own, letting the young man believe his father has died. Tony is now is love with Ransom’s pretty daughter Gladys (Betsy Bell).
Ransom tries to launch a pre-emptive strike against Scaife and his men. But when that fails, the vicious killer and his men take over the town. They turn the male inhabitants into their slaves, the females into their concubines. And Scaife has anyone who disobeys put to death.
Tony strikes out against the bandits, and soon finds he has what seems to be an unlikely ally — Dan El.
Andrea Giordana as Tony, finding an unexpected source of assistance as he rebels against Scaife and his men in Taste of Death (1968)
John Ireland, a gunman pitted against an old friend by a new partner in Taste of Death (1968)
Review:
The film is more successful than your average Spaghetti thanks to the setting (a snowy mountain town), the sad fate of the sheriff and the viciousness of Bruno Corazzari in the role of the lead villain.
There’s an odd mentor-pupil segment with Dan El teaching Tony how best to kill after warning him of the futility of revenge. At one point they shoot the hands off a snowman.
But the fact that the tutoring takes place just outside town so that Scaife can hear the gunfire makes it yet more odd. Betsy Bell looks pretty as the sheriff’s daughter, but her part in the film seems most disjointed of all.
Bruno Corazzaro as Scaife, about to enforce his will on an unwilling town in Taste of Death (1968)
Betsy Bell as Gladys, the sheriff’s daughter, wondering if a rescue is coming in Taste of Death (1968)
Directed by:
Sergio Merolle
Cast:
Andrea Giordana … Tony
John Ireland … Dan El
Bruno Corazzari … Scaife
Raymond Pellegrin … Sheriff Bill Ransom
Betsy Bell … Gladys
Sergio Scarchilli
Claudio Scarchilli … Robin
Giovanni Petrucci … Young villager
Fulvio Pellegrino … Mark
Mireille Granelli … Scaife’s girl
Ruggero Cressa
Giuseppe Altamura
aka:
Quanto costa morire
Cost of Dying
Runtime: 91 min.
Title tune: “Who is the Man?” by Raoul
Raymond Pellegrin as Sheriff Bill Ransom, willing to die for the residents of his town in Taste of Death (1968)
Claudio Scarchilli as Robin, one of Scaife’s top guns, dousing himself with perfume to become more appealing to the gals in Taste of Death (1968)
Memorable lines:
Dan El: “Scaife has no pity. To him, resistance is a technical problem. Which he solves by killing.”
Dan El: “Even a heroic death is stupid.”
Bill Ransom: “I’m not a hero. But I must try to do everything I can to defend them (the town’s residents).”
Dan El: “Well, then, tell you’re residents to get ready to sell their lives dearly.”
Scaife: “This is the one man of all of you who had worth, and he simply had to go. You didn’t know he had dreams. Dreams of being the good shepherd protecting his flock. Brave fools must die, while the cowards live and breathe on. This village is mine. You will obey me, and you will live only because I need you.”
Sheriff Bill Ransom, dying of his wounds: “It seems I have to leave this village.”
Dan El: “We can still send a few of them to hell.”
Scaife: “The nights are cold up here. Are you afraid of me.”
A young woman shakes her head no.
Scaife: “What makes you afraid?”
The woman: “Nights of loneliness.”
Dan El to Tony: “You’re getting everything wrong boy if you think you’re avenging Bill’s death. All you’re doing is just killing him a second time. You know revenge serves no purpose. You’re just adding death to death.”
Giovanni Petrucci as a young villager held at gunpoint over a piece of bread in Taste of Death (1968)
Mireille Granelli, about to become Scaife’s girl in Taste of Death (1968)
Trivia:
* Bruno Corazzari was still playing TV roles in 2009. He made his film debut in the Lee Van Cleef Western “Death Rides a Horse” (1967) and played a member of Cheyenne’s gang in “Once Upon a Time in the West” (1968).
* This marked the only film directed by Sergio Merolle, who spent most of his time in the film industry as a production manager
* German-born Betsy Bell appeared in just seven films, according to IMDb. Her only other Spaghetti came in 1970’s “Ballad of Death Valley” (aka “Sartana in the Valley of Death”) where she played a saloon singer in a brief scene, strumming her guitar during an alternate version of that film’s theme song, “King for a Day.”
Gladys (Betsy Bell) and Tony Andrea Giordana) during happier times with Sheriff Bill Ransom in Taste of Death (1968)
Andrea Giordana as Tony, taking part in a night attack on the Scaife gang in Taste of Death (1968)
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