Director: Tonino Cervi
Written by: Dario Argento, Tonino Cervi
Cast: Montgomery Ford, William Berger, Tatsuya Nakadai, Bud Spencer

Year / Country: 1968, Italy
Running Time: 90 mins.

The angry Bill Kiowa (Montgomery Ford) has been in a jail cell for five years, practicing his gun draw with a self made wooden gun. “I don’t have any feelings, except maybe hate”, he tells the sheriff upon his release.

The man Kiowa is after is the evil Elfego (Kurosawa actor Tatsuya Nakadai), who leads a gang of Comancheros, half breeds of Comanche and Mexican descent. Kiowa musters four mercenaries to take on Elfego’s gang, including the giant O’Bannion (an early role from Bud Spencer) and a homosexual card playing gunslinger played by William Berger.

Halfway through the movie, we learn in a black and white flashback why Kiowa wants revenge on Elfego. Sounds familiar? That’s because horror maestro Dario Argento, writer of Once Upon a Time in the West is responsible for the screenplay. The vendetta between the two gangs ends in a beautiful autumn forest. The Comancheros meet a violent end one by one before Kiowa and Elfego have their final confrontation.

Although the story is not very original, the casting, locations and gritty atmosphere make Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die! an enjoyable feature. Ford makes a good hero, with enough attention paid to his darker personality traits, while Nakadai seemingly enjoys his role as melancholic and perverted villain. The budget was obviously modest, but the excellent cinematography hides this fact well.

Producer Tonino Cervi, who directs his only western here, may not be Leone. But then again who is? He accomplished a stylish and entertaining B-film in the finest revenge tradition.

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Biography: Tonino Cervi (1929, Milan, Italy – 2002, Siena, Italy) is an Italian writer, producer and director. He collaborated with many famous Italian filmmakers throughout his career, including Federico Fellini and Vittorio De Sica on Boccaccio ‘70.

Filmography: Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die! (1968), Queens of Evil (1970), La nottata (1974), Chi dice donna, dice donna (1976), Nest of Vipers (1977), The Imaginary Invalid (1979), Il turno (1981), The Naked Sun (1984), The Miser (1990), Looking for Madame Butterfly (1995, TV), Household Accounts (2003)