So I’m paying more attention to the music than anything, and am noticing that Morricone recycled some old music in this film. There are two pieces I’m recognizing: “Poker d’Assi” from For a Few Dollars More, and some incidental music from For a Few Dollars More.  I don’t really have an explanation for it, it’s just something I’ve noticed from working on those other movies for so long. Maybe because he had so many movies going that he ended up borrowing from himself?

As an aside, I see quite a few similarities between Death Rides a Horseand Kill Bill, particularly the plot. Bad guy is taken advantage of and incarcerated (Ryan sold out by his gang and spends 15 years in jail, The Bride/Beatrix tries to leave but is hunted down and shot, spends four years in a coma), then hunts down and slaughters everyone that turned on them. In most cases the people they are hunting down are in higher places in society (wife/mother, politician, rich estate holder, etc.). The Bride almost seems like an amalgamation of Bill and Ryan. There are also similarities between Death and For a Few Dollars More, mostly the master/apprentice relationship between Bill/Ryan and Monco/Mortimer (hard to avoid seeing this due to Van Cleef being in both films). Some of Morricone’s music from Death Rides a Horsemen is used in Kill Bill (I think “Man to Man”).