James Cooper (John Ireland) is a non-violent bank robber in the old west.  He wants to hold up one last bank and then retire to his farm with his wife (Gloria Milland) and daughter (Nadia Marconi).  However, he is double-crossed by his partner, Moxon (Mirko Ellis), who kills everyone who works at the bank and tries to steal the money for himself.  After Cooper throws Moxon over the side of a cliff and hides the loot, he is approached by Miguel (Antonio Sabato, Sr.), a young artist who had just deposited his money moments before the bank was robbed.  Miguel explains that he’s been saving up for a future exhibition in New York and he convinces Cooper to give him back his money.

Cooper is soon arrested and, because he was seen talking to the robber, Miguel is accused of being his accomplice.  In jail, Miguel helps Cooper to fight off the other inmates.  When it becomes obvious that Miguel was innocent, he is released.  He promises Cooper that he will check in on Cooper’s family.

Years later, dying of malaria, Cooper escapes from prison and discovers that his family is missing and Miguel seems to be working for Moxon, who survived going over the side of that cliff and is still looking for the loot.

Co-written by Bruno Corbucci (the brother of Django director Sergio Corbucci), Hate For Hate is a by-the-numbers spaghetti western that does not ever match the grandeur of the work of Sergios Leone or Corbucci.  It had a troubled production, with the original director being replaced by a former assistant to Pasolini and the film’s tone changes halfway through, going from being a light-hearted adventure to being a grim and fatalistic story of a dying man seeking revenge.  There are a few good scenes, like when Miguel holds off a group of outlaws by fooling them into believing that he has an army with him.  For spaghetti western fans, the most interesting thing about Hate For Hate is that it was the first excursion into the genre for both John Ireland and Antonio Sabato.