Massacre Time (Italian: Le colt cantarono la morte e fu... tempo di massacro, lit.

'The Colt Sang Death and it was... Massacre Time') is a 1966 Italian Spaghetti Western film starring Franco Nero and George Hilton.

In New Mexico, Tom Corbett is a prospector who receives a message from a family friend named Carradine, telling him to return immediately to the home where he lived with his wealthy widowed mother.

He gloatingly demonstrates his dexterity with a whip, giving the struggling Tom a protracted and humiliating beating in front of the assembled guests.

Jeff is tempted to leave the rest of the matter as a family affair, but relents and accompanies Tom on his mission to bring down Junior and his henchmen.

The insane youth retreats from a bare-knuckle fight with Tom, and to a tussle on a narrow wooden walkway between two ranch buildings.

After a brief fist-fight, the maniac Junior loses his balance as he tries to force Tom over the side and instead falls to his death, landing in a dove-coop.

Tom's hand gently lowers the muzzle of Jeff's gun and shakes his head, meaning that there's no need for any more shooting.

[2] The screenplay for Massacre Time was primarily written by Fernando Di Leo, who entered the film business in the early 1960s as a screenwriter and assistant director;[2] having previously co-written A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, A Pistol for Ringo and The Return of Ringo, Massacre Time marked his first solo screenplay credit, although Di Leo's writing partner Enzo Dell'Aquila and director Lucio Fulci made uncredited contributions.

[2] Massacre Time was originally supposed to be an Italian-Spanish co-production with Ringo co-star George Martin attached to the leading role of Tom Corbett,[6] but the Spanish co-producers withdrew their involvement and funding after Fulci refused to tone down the script's violence, thus preventing Martin from taking the role.

[5] Having decided to shoot the film entirely in Italy on a lower budget, Fulci instead cast Nero as Tom at the suggestion of his assistant director, Giovanni Fago, on the basis of production stills from Django.

[9] Although an international English-language version was made, a redubbed English version produced by American International Pictures was theatrically released in the United States in December 1968 as The Brute and the Beast, with a longer running time (88 minutes);[10][8] it was one of only two Spaghetti Westerns imported to the United States by AIP, the other being God Forgives...

[12][page needed] Arrow Video released the film alongside My Name Is Pecos, Bandidos and And God Said to Cain as part of their Blu-ray box set Vengeance Trails: Four Classic Westerns on July 27, 2021.