A passable and attractive Pasta Western , as main novelty being shot in Israel , and packing thrilling scenes , crossfire , rapid zooms and strong confrontations. A Western full of shots , go riding , crossfire , plot twists and violence . It contains a catching soundtrack , an atmospheric cinematography and spectacular production design shot in Neguev desert , Israel and Elios studios , Lazio , Rome . Acceptable Western about a merciless revenge happening after a bank robbery , in which a thief , Jack Murphy (Robert Woods) , leader of a dangerous band is betrayed by their members : Skinner (Rik Battaglia) , Reb (Larry Dolgin) , Indian Joe (Mimmo Palmara) Mathias and the brothers, Bill and Gordon . They mistreat and torture him and leave him for dead . Later on, Jack survives and goes for revenge and he kills each man of the band one by one . The unsettling and disturbing avenger attempts to hunt them , seeking justice throughout a long deadly confrontation between the tough revenger and his enemies . Jack contends his enemies at duels and ambushes in which he must use his experience and cunning . Jack is eventually supported by previous friend , and the end takes place his encounter with enemies at the town , including unexpected surprises . This is a doomed journey to hell through vengeance , murders and violence .

Ordinary Italian Western with sad atmosphere , attractive musical score and concerning the customary revenger seeking justice and vengeance . Run-of-the-mill Maccaroni Western , adding a few novelties , but also with usual elements , such as extreme baddies , betrayers , noisy action , turns and some spectacular action scenes . This reckless hero was here well played by the Spaghetti star Robert Woods who proceeds his relentless vendetta at whatever cost , acting as a judge , jury and lethal executioner . It is a habitual Spaghetti Western including thrills , regular scenarios , nail-biting action , shoot'em up , and an unexpected final twist . This motion picture was well directed by Gianfranco Baldanello packing an evocative soundtrack , evocative cinematography and acceptable production design in a medium-low budget . This exciting Western regarding an implacable hunting down , adding cruel killings against people , it should be more fun than it is , but the film seems some claustrophobic in the final part , mostly filmed at the village , as much of the action takes place at a Saloon , and the central street for the abandoned town , though including some defiles , mountains when the horseback riders are go riding . Stars Robert Wood is nice as the violent , furious pistolero who is roused to action by seeking vengeance . Robert , because of his height, he did most of my own stunts . Robert Woods gives better acting than other previous roles, because of he plays a complex character , a revenger who is really fed up with his dark and sinister past and seeks for vengeance when his sister is raped and killed . Woods played a lot of Spaghetti Westerns , some of them passable , others lousy ones , as follows : "A Dollar and a Grave , Gatlin Gun , Black Jack , El Puro, Colt in the Hand of the Devil, The Belle Star Story , My Name is Pecos , Pecos Cleans Up and Seven Guns for the MacGregors" . Along with Robert Woods in the movie appears some Spaghetti familar faces such as : Rik Battaglia , Mimmo Palmara , Goffredo Unger as Fredy Unger , Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia , Tom Felleghy and two gorgeous Eurotrash beauties : Lucienne Bridou and Sascia Krusciarska.

The music by Coriolano Gori is suitably Spaghetti in Ennio Morricone wake , with usual guitar chords and other instruments in Italian style . Adequate cinematography in Eastmancolor by Mario Fioretti , though a perfect remastering being really necessary . This Spaghetti Western was nicely shot by the Italian professional Gianfranco Baldanello . He was a prestigious assistant director to popular Italian films such as ¨Leopard of Sarawak¨ , ¨Vendetta of Ursus¨ , ¨Cavalcata selvaggia¨ , ¨David and Goliath¨ , ¨Sword of the Sarracen¨ , ¨1527 Il sacco di Roma¨ , ¨Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hércules¨ , among others . As he was assistant director/writer/editor/producer and subsequently directed some films . Gianfranco made several Spaghettis , such as ¨Uccidete Johnny Ringo¨ , ¨This man cant die¨ , ¨Son of Zorro¨ , ¨The Cry of the Wolf¨, ¨Black Jack¨ , ¨Blood River¨ and ¨30 Winchesters for El Diablo" - International title- or "Gold Train" . Being starred by usual Spaghetti genre stars as Brett Halsey , Gianni Garco , Peter Martell , Wayde Preston , Fernando Sancho , Anthony Steffen and Robert Woods . Rating : 6/10 decent Spaghetti Western . The flick will appeal to Spaghetti Western aficionados .

BLACK JACK is a dark, dark example of the spaghetti western, replacing the usual light comedy found in these films with an almost vicious streak of violence which, while not explicit, still hits the mark. No doubt it was made as a result of DJANGO and the writer's efforts to go one step further in delivering a nihilistic storyline.

Robert Woods plays an effective character as the leader of a group of thieves pulling off a big robbery. All goes according to plan, until the inevitable 'thieves fall out' aftermath, in which he's betrayed and left for dead by the bad guys, who also rape, murder, and scalp (!) his sister for good measure. Woods survives, albeit in a crippled form, and goes on a mission of vengeance against his former allies, tackling them one at a time.

It's a simplistic plot but one that supports a film with a good visual style, including touches of Poe, no less, here and there, especially at the Roger Corman/Poe cycle inspired climax. The violent scenes are well directed and Woods plays a memorable character, dressed all in black and limping difficultly across the screen. BLACK JACK isn't what I'd call a classic, but spaghetti western fans are well advised to seek it out.

There really is a nasty streak to the anti-hero played by Robert Woods, in this violent revenge tale. So many of these Italian Westerns are based on the revenge plot, it gets your attention when one like "Black Jack" separates from the crowded genre. After an ultra clever bank robbery, Woods is turned on by his gang, and left with none of the stolen money, a broken leg, and the strongest of revenge motives, after his Sister is raped and scalped. The rest of the film follows Woods as he tracks down his tormentors, and cruelly dispatches them with some creative kills. The musical score is quite good, and the Israeli locations are intriguing, including what appears to be a real mine of some sort. Definitely one of the better "Non Leone Westerns." MERK.