His Name Was Holy Ghost

This movie is not exactly what I expected, but it is extremely enjoyable nonetheless.

As a spaghetti western, this film certainly delivers the goods. It has lots of action, a very good spaghetti style music score, fun dialogue, a great villain, gold, the Mexican revolution, and the great Gianni Garko as The Holy Ghost.

Generally, I prefer the darker, more serious spaghetti westerns over the comedic ones that became popular in the early seventies, and I wasn't expecting this one to be a comedy, but it is. What's even more surprising is that it's an excellent one that succeeds as both a comedy and a very cool spaghetti western. The funny parts are genuinely funny and, in a way, remind me of the classic comedy of the Three Stooges. This movie is ten times funnier and more interesting than any of the Terence Hill/ Bud Spencer movies that I have seen.

Another surprise about this movie is that the Holy Ghost character is not really "supernatural" as he is described in every single description of this movie I have ever seen. There is one short scene close to the beginning of the film in which he seems to be able to appear out of nowhere, but that's it! For the next 85 minutes of this 90 minute movie, the Holy Ghost is a mere mortal named Harold who is very resourceful and quick with a gun, but definitely no ghost.

I was curious about this movie mainly because I can't resist a supernatural western, especially if it's an Italian one! It isn't exactly what I thought it was going to be, but I'm pleasantly surprised that it's an excellent spaghetti western anyway, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the genre.