Haha, it seems this film gets VERY mixed judgments. I canât really give a definite opinion myself, since Iâve seen only the last part of it (from short before Merli gets buried with his head out of the ground - just how many SWs feature this torture?), but to be honest I kind of liked what I saw, at least in terms of direction. Some interesting camera angles there. And I really liked the location - hey, I was a fan of the cave! It created a nice dark/light contrast opposite to the full sunlight we often find in âgolden ageâ SWs. I guess Iâll try to catch it from the beginning next time itâs aired on tv 
Nice to have you back again, Poggy. Havenât seen you around here for a while.
Yeah, I fell out of the loop for a while⌠now that summer is ending I hope to catch up
x2 for me as well
Plus, I can never get enough Uma! Mannaja is a good atmospheric Twilight. Mannaja does have the whitest smile seen in a SW lead. 
Hey Idiot, with Poggy back, when is your better half gonna show again?
Welcome back Poggy.
When sheâs done cooking. Good girl. 
She feels that she needs to view more SWâs to not feel so out of place here.
MANNAJA (1977)
Very solid âtwilight spaghettiâ that starts off with great scene, possibly the best in the movie. Martino does a very good job with setting an atmosphere in the fog, rain and mud. He also has some very good ideas though some of them lack a bit in execution. The cross-cutting scene between the saloon girls and the stagecoach massacre could have been brilliant, but as it wound up on the screen, it just didnât quite work for me. The workers revolt also seemed to be a bit sloppy. But this is just me being picky because this was so close to being a great one. The story is a good one and the acting is solid with the notable exception of McGowanâs daughter (someone shouldâa tattooed âpretty vacantâ on her forehead :P). Cave scenes always get bonus points from me as well. And did i mention i happen to love the âBlack Leonard Cohenâ, i quite like all the music in this one.
Fun Factor - 7/10
Enjoyable, but not quite as memorable as Keoma. The story & charactersâ motives donât always make a whole lot of sense, but it has some neat scenes. + Extra points for wearing a poncho at the end & managing not to look like a Man With No Name clone.
Yeah great shot, throwing his poncho back in slow motion.
It was possible for me to see this one in two indoor cycling sessions. I had the cd for a long time but never actually have seen it.
I not going to talk about the plot and the quality of the actors although I do think John Steiner could act.
The locations is not perfect filming n Italy we always get the feeling that it´s to European at least in these days, maybe it worked better back then when it was made.
The main problem in this for me itâs the lack of feeling and charisma, and also a bad scenes connections, but maybe thatâs my fault because Iâm always comparing with best ones, I think that the direction of the film with a mian character that uses an axe and an actor like Steiner, should have more dark and gory creating a different atmosphere.
On the other hand those Italian directors always have working class issues, and they shown it. Well it got to far this time in my opinion I know that the communist party was political important in Italy back in 70âs, but I think the all thing takes more credibility to film. But a nice ending anyway, in this timeframe the best SW still Keoma in my opinion
I wish Merli had made more spaghettis.
saw this ages ago on vhs and thought it was good then. saw it on dvd last night and still think this is a good, very late SW. Yes it is like Keoma but in my opinon is better, and that includes the less irritating music.As a previous post point out Merli who is fine here in my opinon does resemble Franco Nero at times, and also Chuck Norris.I like the mud fight, and i feel this has itâs fair share of good moments. John Steiner is a great, nasty villain, but is killed off a bit too easy in a hurried climax. film is fairly brutal at times, and the poor women are shown no mercy again. i like this film.
Thatâs true. But it is also true for so many others.
Yes, like Adam West!
??? Did he appear in a SW ???
And of course One Damned Day at Dawn ⌠Batman meets Sartana!
You never stop learningâŚ
Rewatched it last and to me this is possibly the last great spaghetti western ever made in Italy. This movie came right at the end when the SW genre was as good as dead.
Sergio Martino has proven again and again that heâs one of the most well rounded and reliable directorâs of his generation. The man switches between genres without any problems from gialloâs, spaghetti westerns and cannibal movies.
I believe Martino directed only two SWâs in his entire career, both are superb although âMannajaâ is easily the best of the two. Merli makes a suprisingly good gunslinger considering he usually only played the tough cop characters in numerous poliziotteschi movies in the 70âs. He reminds me somewhat of a tougher looking Franco nero with a bad ass moustache. He does a very commendable job as the mysterious Blade and it makes me wish that he appeared in more SWâs. John Steiner is excellent as the slimey backstabbing Voller and has the perfect ratlike features to play the bad guy. Donald OâBrien has a small but memorable role as the outlaw Burt and is always a welcome face in any genre movie.
You get your basic revenge story but Martino manages to capture the viewers interests with lots of interesting set pieces. The opening scene in the foggy swamp has to be one of the most memorable and impressive opening sequence in any SW. The muddy, wet and foggy surroundings give the film an almost otherworldly atmosphere. Although according to Martino this was done because Italyâs only SW town was in such bad shape that he just decided to cover it in fog to hide itâs shoddy state instead of fixing it up. But exactly this gritty look of the movie is definitly something i can appreciate since i like my SWâs dirty and raw. Martino also squeezes in some impressive action scenes and makes cool usage of Bladeâs hatchet which ends up in various bad guys their limbs and heads.
After having rewatched this i seriously have to reconsider if this one shouldnât make my top 20 in the future. It contains all the right ingredients and never overstays it welcomes with unncessary long scenes or boring characters. Oh yeah, the somewhat weird but memorable soundtrack by the De Angelis bros. will grow with you on time. I remember i first hated it but now i rank it among my favorite soundtracks.