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For fans of the gritty, dust-kicked world of Spaghetti Westerns, there's a whole horizon of lesser-known gems out there, and Rotten Tomatoes has ranked 25 that are ripe for the watching.
These are the under-the-radar flicks where the tumbleweeds roll and the showdowns are as intense as the noon sun – the kind of movies that true aficionados will nod appreciatively at.
They're packed with all the sharp shooting, moral ambiguity, and sun-scorched scenery you love but with plots and characters that are fresh off the stagecoach.
25. "California" (1977) Rotten Tomatoes score: 0% After the American Civil War, a former Confederate soldier, Michael 'California' Random, journeys to find a new life but gets entangled in a series of conflicts and personal challenges as he moves westward.
24. "The Bounty Killer" (1966) Rotten Tomatoes score: 0% A disillusioned bounty hunter, Willie Duggans, navigates the moral complexities of his profession as he tracks down various outlaws in the Wild West, questioning the nature of justice and revenge.
23. "The Specialists" (1969) Rotten Tomatoes score: 0% Hud, a lone gunfighter with a strict moral code, arrives in the lawless town of Blackstone in search of his brother's killers, uncovering a conspiracy involving stolen gold and facing off against various factions vying for power.
22. "Death Sentence" (1968) Rotten Tomatoes score: 0% A mysterious gunslinger known as Ryan, after being double-crossed and left for dead, seeks vengeance against his former partner, a ruthless outlaw named Frank, leading him to manipulate two rival gangs into a deadly confrontation.
21. "Johnny Yuma" (1966) Rotten Tomatoes score: 33% Johnny Yuma, a former soldier, seeks to claim his inheritance but finds himself in a deadly conflict with his greedy and unscrupulous uncle, leading to a series of challenges and gunfights as he fights for justice.
20. "God Forgives... I Don't!" (1967) Rotten Tomatoes score: 38% After a train robbery leads to the disappearance of a fortune, gunfighter and gambler Cat Stevens teams up with a criminal named Hutch to track down the mysterious Bill San Antonio, believed to be dead but secretly orchestrating the crime.
19. "The Price of Power" (1969) Rotten Tomatoes score: 45% In a story paralleling the assassination of John F. Kennedy, a black deputy sheriff investigates the murder of President James Garfield, uncovering a conspiracy that involves high-level corruption and political intrigue.
18. "The Ruthless Four" (1968) Rotten Tomatoes score: 47% A gold prospector, betrayed and left to die in the Nevada desert, teams up with three partners to find a gold mine, but greed and suspicion lead to betrayals and a deadly showdown among the group.
17. "Cemetery Without Crosses" (1969) Rotten Tomatoes score: 49% A lone gunslinger, Manuel, is asked by his ex-lover to help avenge the murder of her husband by a wealthy family, leading him to infiltrate the family's ranch and set in motion a tragic tale of revenge and betrayal.
16. "Django, Prepare a Coffin" (1968) Rotten Tomatoes score: 50% A gunslinger, Django, now working as a hangman, secretly saves the men he's supposed to execute, building a gang to seek revenge against the corrupt politician and his henchman responsible for murdering Django's wife.
15. "If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death" (1968) Rotten Tomatoes score: 52% Sartana, a mysterious and lethal gunman, finds himself in the middle of a complex web of double-crosses and shifting alliances as various factions, including outlaws, corrupt officials, and bounty hunters, vie for a hidden treasure.
14. "Navajo Joe" (1966) Rotten Tomatoes score: 54% Joe, a Navajo warrior, seeks vengeance against a group of outlaws who massacred his tribe, becoming embroiled in conflicts and forming alliances as he hunts down the sadistic gang leader, Duncan.
13. "Four of the Apocalypse" (1975) Rotten Tomatoes score: 57% Four unlikely companions — a gambler, a pregnant prostitute, a drunk, and a mentally unstable man — traverse the dangerous landscape of the Wild West, facing brutal outlaws and their own personal tragedies.
12. "Tepepa" (1969) Rotten Tomatoes score: 60% Tepepa, a revolutionary Mexican bandit, fights against the oppressive government forces and a sadistic English doctor who is experimenting on the local population, leading to a violent struggle for freedom and justice.
11. "Day of Anger" (1967) Rotten Tomatoes score: 60% Scott Mary, a downtrodden and mistreated street cleaner in a small town, is taken under the wing of a notorious gunfighter, Frank Talby, and learns the art of gunfighting, only to eventually face off against his mentor when he realizes Talby's ruthless nature.
10. "Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot!" (1967) Rotten Tomatoes score: 61% After being betrayed and left for dead, a gunslinger known as "The Stranger" seeks revenge against his former comrades, encountering a bizarre town plagued by greed, corruption, and surreal violence.
9. "Mannaja: A Man Called Blade" (1977) Rotten Tomatoes score: 63% Mannaja, a skilled bounty hunter with a troubled past, arrives in a mining town dominated by a corrupt tycoon and his henchmen, leading to a vengeful crusade to free the townspeople and confront his own demons.
8. "Bandidos" (1967) Rotten Tomatoes score: 63% Renowned sharpshooter Richard Martin is crippled by a former protégé during a train robbery; he then trains a new apprentice to exact revenge against the traitorous student, leading to a dramatic showdown.
7. "Massacre Time" (1966) Rotten Tomatoes score: 64% Tom Corbett returns to his hometown to find it under the tyrannical control of the Scott family, leading him and his brother, Jeff, a drunkard turned gunslinger, on a violent quest for revenge and justice.
6. "Light the Fuse... Sartana Is Coming" (1970) Rotten Tomatoes score: 71% The enigmatic antihero Sartana investigates a complex conspiracy involving a fortune in stolen gold, outwitting rival gangs, corrupt officials, and bounty hunters in a series of encounters filled with twists and gunplay.
5. "A Bullet for the General" (1967) Rotten Tomatoes score: 72% During the Mexican Revolution, El Chuncho, a bandit leader, and Bill Tate, an American mercenary, form a partnership to steal weapons for the revolutionaries, but Tate's hidden agenda leads to betrayals and a violent confrontation.
4. "The Mercenary" (1968) Rotten Tomatoes score: 80% A Polish mercenary, Sergei Kowalski, navigates the Mexican Revolution by selling his services to various factions, eventually aiding a revolutionary leader, Paco Roman, in his fight against the Mexican army and a rival mercenary, culminating in a final showdown.
3. "Keoma" (1976) Rotten Tomatoes score: 80% Keoma, a half-Native American, half-white Union soldier, returns home from the Civil War to find his hometown under the control of a tyrannical gang leader and his corrupt former Confederate officer father, leading to a vengeful quest for justice and redemption.
2. "Face to Face" (1967) Rotten Tomatoes score: 81% A mild-mannered history professor, Brad Fletcher, and a notorious bandit, Beauregard Bennett, form an unlikely alliance during the tumultuous period of the American Civil War, leading to a dramatic transformation in both men's characters and destinies.
1. "The Great Silence" (1968) Rotten Tomatoes score: 100% In the snowy landscapes of Utah, a mute gunslinger named Silence battles against a group of ruthless bounty hunters led by Loco, who are targeting outlaws for personal profit, leading to a tragic and violent confrontation.
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