The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was the third film in the "Dollars trilogy". The other two were A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. Clint Eastwood starred in all three. Joining him in GBU are Eli Wallach as the lovable scoundrel (ugly) Tuco and one of the best western villains of all time, Lee van Cleef...Angel Eyes. Van Cleef plays the bad one, Setenza. Of course, Eastwood is the 'good' guy.

The story begins, giving us a brief glimpse of the life of Tuco, being hunted down by three men who may or may not be bounty hunters. Maybe they just have a grudge against Tuco. We never know, because they don't speak and Tuco puts them away in a heartbeat.

The scene then shifts to Setenza paying an unwelcome visit to a man at his hacienda. Setezna sits down and helps himself to the familys dinner, and proceeds to tell the man that he has been sent by a man named Baker to find out some information. He also tells the man that Baker has paid him 500 dollars for this information. Finally, the man gives in...feeling just a wee bit threatened by the big man with the hawk nose and feral eyes. The man tells him the information and also lets it slip that there is a strongbox of money that happened to get lost. He knows nothing of it's location. The man knows that Baker has sent Setenza to kill him, so he offers Setenza a thousand dollars -- some in cash and some in gold -- hoping it will buy his life. He puts the money on the table. Setenza tells him that when he's paid to do a job, he finishes it and shoots the man dead.

Setenza returns to see Baker. The man who hires other people to do his dirty deeds and find out information for him is sick in bed. He doesn't look too well at all. Setenza proceeds to tell Baker the first bit of information that he's learned. Eager for more, Baker says "Keep talkin'!" Setenza notes Baker's greed, then tells him the rest of the information, including the fact that the man gave him a thousand dollars. "I think it was his intention that I kill you," he tells Baker, ripping the pillow out from under his head and shoving it over his face. Setenza fires his gun into the pillow, leaving smoking holes in the pillow and Baker dead. The words "the bad" appear in the lower right corner of the screen.

McCoy has a soft spot for van Cleef who never failed to play his roles to the hilt with an aplomb that made it all so believable. He was a villain with class, always on the mark. I am rather fond of him myself...loving villains as I do. In fact, thinking back on things, it could be that ol' Angel Eyes is the one made me partial to the baddies. Is it possible that the line "You're a hunter, I'm a wolf" from Preacher Man is an homage to van Cleef as Setenza? The fact that Setenza accepts Bakers money doesn't mean that Baker has any power over him. This is shown by the fact that Setenza kills him, completing his tacit contract with the dead man. He only indulges in such games when they are to his advantage. As dangerous and cunning as someone like Baker is, Setenza is far more deadly. He is his own man. A loner. The wolf who gets away. Angel Eyes is also the personification of the Angel of Death, whose eyes the dying see as lead rips through flesh.

We now move from the western genre of films to the cult classic horror movies that also inspired McCoy. Click on Evil Dead below and learn more!