Creeping Death

KILL THE POKER PLAYER is an interesting mix of spaghetti western and mystery elements. An insurance investigator named Pinkerton from Lloyds of London (!) arrives in a small western town to solve a bank robbery. The Sheriff, the Saloon Owner,a Local Rancher, and a Very Strange Doctor top his list of suspects. All he has to do is stay alive long enough to solve the mystery!

Entertaining film that will appeal mainly to spaghetti western aficionados. It's less than stellar special effects give away it's low budget, and there are some rather hard to believe moments scattered around the movie, but overall, I found it entertaining. It certainly had some interesting ideas and was made with enthusiasm!

Now, here is a genuine Western Giallo! During a bank robbery, three robbers get away with quite a lot of cash but slaughter a vast amount of people to get it. We see the faces of two of these guys, but third is kept a secret, and shortly after the other two are killed by extremely fake looking snakes, we find out why - the murderer has assumed a different identity and is hiding out in a frontier town, and it's up to George Hilton lookalike Robert Woods to find them.

Robert is playing a man called Jonathan Pinkerton, send for Lloyds Bank London to find the missing money. He is immediately given the name Mr London as he goes around the town trying to figure out what's going on...a town which seems to be suffering from a plague of snakes. Suspects include a snake studying doctor who claims the snakes tell him things, sheriff Frank Bana who is equally suspicious of Pinkerton, shifty ranch owner Clinton, the guys who owns the bar and his sneaky girlfriend Susan Scott.

The killer of course twigs that someone is looking for him and leaves snake-related traps for Pinkerton while taking the odd pot-shot at him too (with this being a Western and all). Pinkerton also has an on-going feud with the staff of the local bar which leads to various shoot-outs and punch ups, plus we get a healthy dose of Giallo-style investigation and red herrings.

While it could have done with a little more suspect murdering, things do pick up in the last half hour when Pinkerton starts to unravel the mystery and people start dropping like flies. I did manage to guess the killer but didn't guess all the twists the film had for me. This does lean more towards the giallo than the Western but should satisfy fans of both, surely?

A British insurance agent named Pinkerton (Robert Woods) arrives in a little town , Honeyville , to resolve a bank robbery . Earlier an attacker carried out a hold-up , killing witnesses . When he escapes with two accomplices , one of the three thieves killed the other two to take possession of all the money . Meantime , Pinkerton is investigating the bank robbery and offers 200.000 dollars to discover clues about the third bandit . There are several suspects : Sheriff Lewis Burton (Frank Braña) , a saloon girl , Kate , (Nieves Navarro as Susan Scott) , Saloon owner Karl (Carlo Gaddi) , Dr. Torres (Ernesto Colli) , the wealthy owner Clinton (Ivano Staccioli) . A bit later on , some people show up murdered by serpents bites . Who's the killer ? .

This stirring Pasta/tortilla Western packs zooms , thrills , shootouts , go riding , some brief touches of humor with tongue-in-cheek , a lot of murders and brawls in Terence Hill/Bud Spencer wake . It is a moving blending of Pepperone Western and suspense elements . Italian/Spanish production filmed in Madrid surroundings , full of familiar faces , assaults , exaggerated characters , gun-down , red herrings , lots of shots and fights . The film packs action , shootouts , drama , treason , high body-count ; however , being slow-moving but slightly entertaining and approaching increasingly the Giallo style , and keeping some details that make it special in this particular Spaghetti sub-genre . Starring Robert Woods as a peculiar employee of Lloyds of London , he is called Ginsburg , a real government agent , undercover as Jonathan Pinkerton , a tough investigator who attempts to find out a heist and strange killings . Robert is passable , he ravages the screen , he jumps , leaps and bounds , hits and runs ; besides , delivering punches , slaps and kick-ass . Worthwhile watching for a demonstration of the confrontation between Robert Woods and his ominous enemies , the greedy saloon owner , a ruthless rancher and his heinous hired hands , including some looks that say it all , adding an exciting ending . Mediocre performances for the whole casting . "Hai Sbagliato... Dovevi Uccidermi Subito!" or "Creeping Death" or "Kill the Poker Player" is professionally starred by Robert Woods . Robert starred several Tortilla/Ravioli Western as "Five Thousand Dollars on One Ace" , "Seven Guns for the MacGregors" , ¨Four Dollars for Vengeance" , ¨Black Jack¨, ¨El Puro¨, "Gatling Gun" , among others . Support cast is frankly decent , thanks to the appearance important secondaries from Spaghetti/Tortilla or Paella Western , these are the followings : Frank Braña , Nieves Navarro , Saturno Cerra , Rafael Albaicín , Ivano Staccioli and Carlo Gaddi . It contains an intriguing as well as catching musical score by Carlo Savina , Spaghetti's ordinary . And an evocative and adequate cinematography by Rafael Pacheco , shot in Colmenar Viejo , Manzanares Del Real , Madrid .

The motion picture was regularly directed by Mario Bianchi , often using pseudonyms as Renzo Spaziani and Frank Bronston . Mario , son of director Roberto B Montero , was an Italian craftsman , writing and directing ; working from the 70s in all kind of genres and B movies until the late 90s . Most of them starred by Richard Harrison , Frank Braña or Robert Woods . Bianchi directed some Westerns and acceptable action movies , such as : ¨1974 Più Forte Sorelle , ¨1973 Fast hand¨ , ¨1971 Masked thief¨ . And made thrillers as ¨1979 Napoli Storia d'amore and vendetta¨ , ¨1978 Napoli... i 5 Della Squadra Speciale¨ , ¨1978 Provincia Violenta¨ , ¨1977 La Banda Vallanzasca¨ . Mario subsequently directed soft-core and hard-core films until his retirement .