I watched it about a year ago, but I did’nt like it so much although the soundtracks were good!
Five stars in my book! Very good in every department, dark.
Just watched Hossain’s earlier Le Gout De La Violence / A Taste of Violence [1961] and enjoyed it quite a bit. I remember enjoying Cemetary when I saw it years ago on a subtitled SBS screening. I’m hoping Cemetary is on Arrow’s remaster list right now.
Having watched this for the first time in over ten years thanks to Arrow’s excellent Blu Ray, this is a superior Euro-western.
Hossein demonstrates an excellent control of pace and direction and makes a film that moves along very well despite there not being a huge amount of plot and incident. The film itself is a refreshing change in many ways from the usual spaghetti cliches.
SPOILERS
There are a few points I don’t exactly get though in terms of the revenge scheme:
Was the “rape” a planned part of the revenge or did it just sort of happen and Manuel and Maria did nothing to stop it?
If not, was Maria’s only plan to force the Rogers to do penance at the re-burial?
Why was Manuel not willing to hand the girl over the two brothers later? Why did he want to hold on to her? He released her himself anyway.
Did the two brothers plan to kill Manuel and get the girl back for the $2000? I don’t understand why they didn’t just go to Mexico like they kept planning to…
Kevin Grant has something to say about it in “Any Gun Can Play” (p. 176). I quote, in case you don’t have it:
“The extent to which revenge has cast a cloud over Maria’s judgement and her conscience is shown when she allows her husband’s brothers to violate the girl; her signal to them can be read as either tacit permission or an instruction, but either way it indicates how desensitised she has become.”
Watched the Arrow’s BluRay the other night with an Italian audio (and English subtitles). Is the Italian audio the original?
As to AngelFace’s questions above this is my opinion (spoilers):
Why didn’t the brothers go on to Mexico as they planned? Because Maria asked them to stay and tells them she might need them. Was the rape planned? Yes, it seems so. After the kidnapping Maria arrives at ghost town. Not a word spoken. The brothers arrive. She nods them on. They do what she has asked of them then leave. Then she leaves. Not a word spoken. And the brothers thought they would make some money from the kidnapping as well. When they learn that there will be no ransom money, Thomas tells Maria “you should have told us, we wouldn’t have played your game”. Why was Manuel not willing to hand the girl over the two brothers later? Because Maria wanted her handed back to the Rogers raped. It was part of her revenge. Did the brothers plan to kill Manuel and hand the girl back for the $2000? Yes, it seems so.
To the extent that any audio can be considered original, then in this case it is really French because the two leads, Hossein and Mercier, can be heard in their own voices.
The lack of French audio was one of the reasons I haven’t acquired the BD yet. I know Arrow tried to secure the rights but could not get them. Perhaps this means a French release is going to be announced soon… :
To me the Arrow release still is an improvement, as the Buoi Omega release, even with its five language tracks, has German subs only.
Just rewatched “Cemetery Without Crosses” after many years. Enjoyed it a lot. Dark, melancholic, nihilistic! One of the very best!
Can’t wait for the next Arrow blurays! ;D
Kudos to Arrow for a fine HD release of an absorbing and fascinating western. I for one appreciate having the dvd, my computer doesn’t have blu-ray, in what appears to be correct AR compared to the 1.77:1. The DB has Antonio Molino Rojo as a Valee brother. I do not think Rojo is present at all. The Valees are Staccioli, Canalejas, Carlos Bravo and this actor:
Sitting next to Manuel at the dinner is a cowboy with a ski-jump nose. Has to be Saturno Cerra:
Luigi Ciavarro is the unfortunate Rogers ranch hand guarding the horses.
I’m pretty sure Guillermo Mendez is present at the hanging, holding Ben’s horse, but he’s either behind someone or too far away to be sure or maybe I just need a bigger TV 
It seems you are right. Rojo is certainly not one of the Valee brothers. As for Bravo, were there two different SW actors using the name Charly Bravo?
This guy?
Same guy, same scene as my pic after he walks over to the card table and looking down, holding his rifle on the Rogers card game.
Thats right. But is he the same as this guy?
Or is that guy the same as this guy?
I haven’t seen White Apache but that certainly looks like Bravo. The bottom pic is a different actor IMO. Where is that one from?
The French forum has a nice variety.
Yes, I think you are right.
He is the guy playing Aguila in a Town Called Bastard. For some reason I have been thinking he was Bravo.
I wonder how they got the rights to use French audio? Or maybe they just didn’t get permission and no-one complained. It’s a real shame Arrow couldn’t get it. I know they tried.
I watched this recently and never commented on it. The first five minutes of the film look like no other western and thats because of Hossein’s unqiue directing and the way he tells the story from behind the camera. After the dramatic hanging, we see a lone gunman, who puts on a black leather glove, is mean with a pistol, living in a ghost town, called upon to exact the revenge of Ben Caine, and has a dark, grim back story. Our lone gunman decides to undertake the mission to satisfy Maria, and the rest of the film speaks for itself. Maybe more of french film that an italian one, but it really is sharp and stunning. Its theme song is catchy, its ending cold, and its plot flawless. Not many flaws here.
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I watched Arrow Video’s DVD. Lovely print. It made me like the film even more than I did the first time I watched it. Without a doubt, one of the best spaghetti westerns ever made.