Falconeer Surprisingly lousy Western, especially considering that "Silver Saddle" comes from the creator of "Four of the Apocalypse" and "Massacre Time," which are two of the finest Italian Westerns of them all. This movie is a dud, dragged down by a lead who lacks the hardened charisma needed for a role of a lone cowboy bent on revenge and living off the rough terrain. Giuliano Gemma looks like he should be picking up gals, (or maybe even men) in some Euro disco, circa 1978. The fact that Gemma is wearing more make-up than a saloon hooker, doesn't make matters any better. Maybe in the days of grainy VHS tapes it could pass unnoticed, but that hi-def picture quality is unforgiving, and our hero is plainly wearing eyeliner and blue eye shadow and more foundation than a drag queen. But what really sinks the whole production is the music; there is this "theme song" that is so unbelievably sappy, corny and ridiculous, that I thought it must be some kind of joke. And the song is played again, and again...and AGAIN, throughout the movie. This fitfully dire song completely destroys a movie that wasn't any good to begin with. The story concerns a lame revenge plot; he sees his father killed in the beginning of the movie, grows up and seeks revenge. Original, huh?After watching the amazing "Massacre Time," and thoroughly enjoying the intelligently written and realized "Four of the Apocalypse," I felt like I had to search our Lucio Fulci's less-known "Silver Saddle." Now I know why it's so obscure; it sucks..

Wizard-8 While Italian movie director Lucio Fulci is best known for his bloody horror movies, he actually did dabble in other genres in his career. He even made a few spaghetti westerns, "Silver Saddle" being one of them. Made when the spaghetti western genre was breathing its last breath, it's been all but forgotten today. To a degree I can understand this. It does have more than its share of dull spots, and Giuliano Gemma is only adequate in the lead role. But the movie all the same has enough interest to satisfy spaghetti western fans. Fulci throws in some interesting direction at times, such as with some particular camera movements as well as how he composes what's in front of the camera. Though there isn't enough action, what action there is in the movie does catch your attention, particularly with some very bloody squibs thrown in. Gemma's somewhat underwhelming performance is made up for by the presence of American actor Geoffrey Lewis, who is amusing without being overbearing. And the music is great; you'll be humming the title song for days after watching the movie. It's no classic, but it's a respectable final effort for a genre that was breathing its last.

The_Void Lucio Fulci will probably always be best known for his gory zombie movies; but he also directed some of the best films in the Giallo genre as well as a few other gems elsewhere. Fulci only directed three films in the popular Spaghetti Western genre; and I for one am thankful for that as it was clearly not his strong point. His first attempt at the genre, Massacre Time, was an above average western, if not especially brilliant. Four of the Apocalypse was well made but frankly dull, which brings us on to this film; which is more exciting (slightly) than Fulci's last effort, but too sappy for a western and too lacking in important areas. The plot is very typical for a Spaghetti Western and focuses on a man who, as a child, witnessed his father being killed. He grows up to become a bounty hunter going by the name of Silver Saddle and naturally he wants revenge and starts plotting once he finds the people behind his father's death. However, he ends up coming across the young son instead and after thwarting an assassination on the boy, sets off for his revenge.The music is generally a very important element of the Spaghetti Western; and again it's a place where this one is seriously lacking. The score is, simply, horrible. What we get is a singer droning on about the plot of the movie and it will do nothing but make you cringe! Ennio Morricone, this isn't. The film seems all too keen to shy away from the stuff that usually makes this genre so great - namely, violence and action, and instead decides to put its focus on the relationship between the central bounty hunter character and his enemy's nephew; a young and irritating blonde haired kid. This relationship may be interesting for some; but personally I found it very boring and it wasn't what I went into this film looking for. There are a few action scenes but nothing particularly startling and the way the film moves is rather boring far too often. Prolific Spaghetti Western star Giuliano Gemma takes the lead role and is one of the film's few saving graces as he puts in a believable performance. The ending is rather decent too and wraps things up nicely; but this is not a great western unfortunately.

Witchfinder General 666 Lucio Fulci's "Sella D'Argento" aka "Silver Saddle" of 1978 is the last, and in my opinion the least interesting out of three Westerns directed by Fulci (not including his co-directing of Julio Buchs' "A Bullet For Sandoval" of 1969). "Silver Saddle" is definitely not a bad or boring Spaghetti Western, it is actually a fairly good movie, and Giuliano Gemma plays the lead very good, but I personally expected a little more from a Fulci Western, particularly after great "Tempo Di Massacro" aka "Massacre Time" of 1966 (with the great Franco Nero in the lead), and the moving though sadistic "Quatro Dell'Apocalisse" aka. "Four Of The Apocalypse", which was maybe no Spaghetti Western masterpiece, but which I personally liked a lot."Silver Saddle" starts out very good, when little Roy Blood witnesses the murder of his father by a henchman of the powerful Barrett Clan, and subsequently subsequently shoots the murderer and takes his saddle, which is adorned with silver. Grown up, Roy Blood (Giuliano Gemma) has become a deadly gunslinger, who still uses the silver saddle. After befriending a crook named Two Strike Snake (Geoffrey Lewis), Roy obtains an opportunity to kill the patriarch of the Barret Clan, and therefore ultimately avenge his father's death. When Roy hides where he suspects his arch enemy, however, a little boy shows up instead. Some thugs try to assassinate the kid and Roy keeps them from doing so by shooting them all......and at this point things started to bother me. Cute little kids in bigger roles may work fine in many movies, but they do certainly not belong into a Spaghetti Western directed by Lucio Fulci. The little kid was probably intended to be 'cute' and/or 'funny', but, I'm sorry to say this, I just found the little brat annoying as hell, and although he even admittedly is funny in some points of the film, the whole movie could have been a lot better without him.Nevertheless, "Silver Saddle" is entertaining in most of its parts. A Spaghetti Western enthusiast, I have utmost respect for Giuliano Gemma for his performances in such films as "Day Of Anger" or "The Price Of Power", but I have never numbered Gemma among my favorite Spaghetti Western actors, since he hardly ever embodied the typical antihero, but was more of a typical 'good guy' in most of his films. Nevertheless, Gemma fits perfectly in some roles, and one has to say that his performance in "Sella D'Argento" is very good, and I could hardly imagine anybody else playing the role of Roy Blood. Geoffrey Lewis also delivers a very good, funny performance as Gemma's buddy Snake. The supporting cast furthermore contains two truly great Spaghetti Western regulars, Donal O'Brien, who only has a small role, and Aldo Sambrell, who once again plays a thuggish Mexican bandit. The locations are good, the score is OK, I especially liked Snake's theme, the only parts I didn't like about the soundtrack were the parts with the singing. All said, "Silver Saddle" has its flaws, they should especially have left the little kid out and there is a lot of other unnecessary and silly cheese throughout the film, but apart from that it is an enertaining if disappoining Spaghetti Western, with a fair amount of action and violence in it. As a Spaghetti Western enthusiast I found it to be an enjoyable time-waster, fans of Giuliano Gemma should give it a try. Don't expect too much though.