Dead Men Don't Count (aka Cry for Revenge) 1968 Rafael Romero Marchent

Most Spaghetti Westerns seem to be about one man, alone, taking on entire towns full of thugs in order to set something right (i.e. Django, Fistful of Dollars, The Great Silence). It's not often that there are two like-minded gunfighters who join forces to rid a town of it's evildoers.  If there are two protagonists, one usually antagonizes the other protagonizer (see For A Few Dollars More, The Mercenary).  It's rare to have an Italian western that's actually a buddy picture, but that's the case here.

Anthony Steffen and Mark Damon play bounty hunting brothers Fred and Johnny Dalton.  They like to roam from town to town with their handfuls of wanted posters, killing bad guys and collecting their meager bounties.  When they come across the town of Blackstone, Arizona, they run afoul of the sheriff Bob Watson.  He gives them a day to get out of town, the guys agree, but of course things come up and the town needs to be set right.

I wish that Anthony Steffen and Mark Damon were able to make more buddy pictures.  You can tell they're having a blast making this.  It's just a shame that this movie is so run of the mill.  There are a few nice moments, like the Dalton brothers approaching every situation with a statement like "..just like Abilene?" and then shooting up the never ending supply of bad guys.

There's also an interesting subplot concerning the town's leading citizen, Steve Rogers (Captain America, hah!) and his wife.  She gave up her son as a baby to be with the rich Rogers, and Johnny Dalton just might be her long lost son.

The tone of this movie is a little too jokey for me, but once I got used to it, I had fun.  These guys might not be Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, but they do okay.

The DVD is a double feature by Wild East, a company that specializes in limited editions of Spaghetti Westerns.  As such, this is probably the best this movie will ever look.  Extras include a photo gallery and an interview with Mark Damon, who became quite the movie producer after his stint in westerns ended.  The other movie included on this DVD is called Kill and Pray.  It also stars Mark Damon, this time as the bad guy, and it's defiinitely worth watching.