Deadly Spaghetti: The Goodest, the Baddest & the Ugliest Italian Westerns Ever Made

The Western is one of the most prolific genres in American cinema and spread to many other countries. At one point, a number of directors in Italy and Spain (which technically wouldn't be a Spaghetti Western) decided they could do the American genre better. They took a generally harder, nastier, and better take on the romanticized Wild West which glamorized a historically ambiguous period.A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, and A FEW DOLLARS MORE are pretty much the only Spaghetti Westerns I've seen. They're also considered to be some of the finest Westerns ever made and all by Sergio Leone. However, what about the other Spaghetti Westerns? THE BAD ONES.I'm unfamiliar with John LeMay's other review books but this was a quite entertaining rundown of a bunch of B-movie foreign Westerns which attempted to capitalize on the success of the aforementioned works. The kind of films which Quentin Tarantino used to watch for lack of better things to do while running a video store (his career before directorial international superstardom). There's Captain Apache, Shango, and a movie starring Burt Reynolds where both he as well as the director (a Sergio who wasn't Sergio ) were disappointed with who they got.The book is funny, irreverent, and entertaining. My only regret is he actually doesn't review the really iconic Spaghetti Westerns because the book feels incomplete without them. Otherwise, it's well worth the purchase price.7/10

“Deadly Spaghetti” is a useful primer about European westerns and classifies them according to an interesting criterion. You will learn about the good, the bad, and the ugly of Spaghetti westerns as well as the stars and directors. Indeed, it is often entertaining to read, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Sir Christopher Frayling’s landmark time “Spaghetti Westerns.”

Good look at a bunch of westerns that may not be the first ones you think of when considering spaghetti westerns. While not exhaustive or encyclopedic it does provide enough material that you'll want to chase down the ones you haven't seen before

I actually bought it to see which ones of a few box sets were any good as to not waste my time.Also to compr

I had a hard time trying to understand the format and purpose of this book. After reading the author's introduction is was apparent that it was little more than separating good hardworking people from 3 dollars. There are over 600 Spaghetti but there are only a small hand full in this "book." For some odd reason it includes many bad ones. Since I wanted to watch a good Spaghetti Western I looked for one in the book. I found one the author said was good called God's Gun. It wasn't good: a tiny phoned-in part by the great Richard Boone, Lee Van Cleef as a priest, and Leif Garrett looking like he just walked out of a teen disco. So if you are looking for a guide to help you wade through the many terrible Spaghetti Westerns to find the good stuff, this book won't be of much or any help. I figured that for 3 bucks it would at least steer me toward a few great films that I wouldn't have otherwise known. I quickly gave up on even that modest hope.

If you read the regular itdlisn western books this is a worthwhile addition as it deals with less popular films and rates them with details. Just a hood book. Great price and even cheaper 2 pound 15 pence on kindle.