| Starring: | Luke Askew Luigi Pistilli |
| Music: | Riz Ortolani |
| Cinematography: | Mario Vulpiani Silvio Fraschetti |
| Editing: | Antonietta Zita |
| Producer: | Gianni Minervini |
| Country: | Italy |
Night of the Serpent (also known as Nest of Vipers) is a 1969 Italian spaghetti Western film co-written and directed by Giulio Petroni and starring Luke Askew.
In a remote Mexican village, a group of townsmen (the town's Alcalde, the town's bartender, the town's priest and the town's prostitute) conspire to rob child orphan Manuel of his inheritance, since they are all Manuel's relatives and his estranged father, who was living in USA, recently died and left a lot of money to his son. After finding out about the "nest of vipers" and their scheme to get Manuel's inheritance, Hernandez, the commander of the army garrison in the villa, joins the group of conspirators with the intention of robbing orphan Manuel of his inheritance. Meanwhile Luke, an alcoholic ex-gunslinger suffering from a traumatic past, is chosen by the revolutionary General Pancaldo (a friend of Hernandez) to be the pawn of the conspirators. However, after finding out about the group's plan and their intention of killing Manuel and his adoptive mother María, Luke decides to get back into shape leaving alcohol and facing the conspirators and the Mexican army head on.
The film was shot between Almeria, Cinecittà, and De Paolis Studios in Rome.[1] Franco Bottari served as production designer, while Franco Lo Cascio was second unit director.[2]
While film director Giulio Petroni was generally dismissive of the film, several critics praised it, notably Spanish film critic Carlos Aguilar, who deemed the film as Petroni's best, and one of his favorite spaghetti westerns. Film critic Eugenio Ercolani described the film as "fierce and tense", and noted the strong giallo influences in the script.[3]