After talking to Stanton about whether Mannaja is gothic or not, I had this inspiration to talk about gothic spaghettis and determine what is gothic and not. To start, would anyone describe El Puro as gothic? I believe someone told me it had a “freaky moment or two.” It also looks pretty gothic judgeing by the screenshots but I haven’t seen it yet.
IMO a gothic western must have some surrealism in it. There must be some dark scenes, scenes by night, the hero (or villain) appears like a ghost … Two of the best examples are “And God said to Cain” with Klaus Kinski and “Strangers Gundown” with Anthony Steffen. Also Clint Eastwoods Movie " High Plains Drifter" is in that category. Then there of course some Gothic Elements in other SW too. I wouldn’t call Tonio Cervi’s Today we kill , Tommorrow we Die a typical Gothic Western but the climatic scene at the end in the forest with the mist has a Gothic Look.
I actually havent seen any yet but I wouldnt say for something to be gothic it need a toch of the surreal(but it can of course).
A dark, sobre atmosphere is gothic.
When I studied literature in U, my professor said that “Gothic” describes a mood that is primarily gloomy and suggestive of the supernatural elements. It is a staple of the Romantic movement of the late 18th-early 19th century. “Gothic” shows the struggle between man and nature, while nature mirrors the turmoil inside the characters. The characters are often “haunted” by their own imagination and dark, repressed sides, while they are also disturbed by supernatural elements.
I don’t know enough to agree or disagree with the professor.
Most SWs I’ve seen have dark elements but they’re not exactly a deep exploration of the human psyche. Their mood can be full of dread and melancholy such as The Great Silence, but still I hardly recall a SW that had obvious supernatural elements.
Well, if I read correctly, Cut Throats Nine might be a gothic western. It has the eary music that almost suggest a horror movie and man VS nature and with the addition of snow, It is very gothic.
what about " the forgotten pistolero"? with all the family members dastardly deeds and secrets surely this qualifies as a " gothic".
I wouldn’t call it gothisc. Just soap opera ish. And soaps aren’t gothic.
Unless you count Dark Shadows…that was basically a soap, and certainly gothic 
I’d say Forgotten Pistolero definitely has gothic elements but then my interpretation of ‘gothic’ is probably closer to that outlined by Mrs Angel Eyes above. As such, anything with candelabras and emotionally repressed characters qualifies on some level for me. I even think the scenes with Rosalba Neri in Johnny Yuma have a gothic quality about them. Something about the dueling pistols and Rosalba’s cold cruelty. But of course as we already established in the ‘non american western’ thread everyone has their own understanding of these things. 
How about Kill and Pray. I think that definetly has some gothic scenes. Where Lou astel and Mark Damon are shooting the candles has something of a gothic quality. Probably because Mark Damon looks dead.
Yep, Damon definitely has a gothic feel to his character in that. The rest of the film not so much but Damon, with his palid face and cape, very gothic in my view.
Whay about “Vengeace”. Is that one gothic?
Definite Gothic elements as I recall. Camaso’s character in particular, with his hat and cane comes across as a kind of victorian gothic villain.
Speaking of Vengeance, I just watched it and Im about to post in its main thread.(FYI I didnt dig it)
[quote=“Mrs Angel Eyes, post:4, topic:1338”]When I studied literature in U, my professor said that “Gothic” describes a mood that is primarily gloomy and suggestive of the supernatural elements.
…
Their mood can be full of dread and melancholy such as The Great Silence, but still I hardly recall a SW that had obvious supernatural elements.[/quote]
As I’ve recently said somewhere, Duel in the Eclipse may partially fit into this category - it’s not that our main man has supernatural powers, and there is no overwhelming feeling of melancholia permeating the film - it’s just that our fellah starts to spook out his superstitious opposition with ‘omens’ - a black cat, duststorms, thunderstorms and of course - the eclipse - whereas really he’s just a glorified weatherman sort of … but with a gun.
And a bad taste seventies car seat cover for a poncho of course
I’m watching Keoma right now & I would say that it qualifies for me. i agree with Strangers Gundown as well.
Django is gothic too, with the red masks and the nihilistic final battle.
Don’t know if I mentioned it before but I’m working on a article on the gothics. Django is included. It may take awile since I had to restart from scratch after it turned into a shit article. But porgress is coming.
As usual, I’m looking forward to your work.