yeah, peaceful most of the time, but watch out for women avenging with rifles 
I’ve just watched this film. Pretty weird, that’s for sure, but I can’t say if I like it or not. It was so twisted that I asked myself at some parts if it’s a dream or not. 
I thought that the ending would be more spectacular, but I still enjoyed it. I think I have to re-watch it. Matalo deserves it IMO.
One thing is certain to me - it was good. 7/10
Have you seen Kill The Wickeds Mickey13? It’s practically the same film but without the indulgent weirdness.
http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Kill_the_Wickeds_Review
I prefer it - although I’m sure others will disagree
I prefer the other as well, but both films are interesting.
And I like the crazy ending of Matalo! 
[quote=“Reverend Danite, post:143, topic:201”]Have you seen Kill The Wickeds Mickey13? It’s practically the same film but without the indulgent weirdness.
http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Kill_the_Wickeds_Review
I prefer it - although I’m sure others will disagree[/quote]
I have heard that both movies have the same script. I haven’t seen Kill The Wickeds yet. 
Maybe I’ll watch it some day. Now I must still watch more known spags like Navajo Joe.
I wanted to see Matalo because of its reputation. I don’t know what I should think about it.
It was good, full of “what the hell” moments though.
Maybe after second viewing it will get better.
[quote=“JonathanCorbett, post:144, topic:201”]I prefer the other as well, but both films are interesting.
And I like the crazy ending of Matalo! :)[/quote]
Yes, the ending was totally psychedelic, but I liked it.
not even a 0
beyond bad for me
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It’s not a motiveless motion: towards the end of a rather elaborate and full of atmosphere long take there’s a shot of the Hotel sign, the camera swings and… we hear the ring of a bell. Matchless!
Mind your words Jonathan, when speaking with Tom about this movie. He hates it !
I agree with Johnathan. It’s not a motiveless picture. Matalo simply emphasizes on visual and audio techniques, while the plot of the movie is pushed to the backseat.
Does the plot even exist in this one? I don’t think so. 
In terms of surreality it leaves its opponents behind IMHO (acid rock score, boomerang duel - great idea BTW, 70s style fringe, strange sound effects). It’s not on my Top 20 yet, it may be though.
I have to review it some day. It’s a good movie for a hot, humid, summer night. 
[quote=“Mickey13, post:149, topic:201”]Matalo simply emphasizes on visual and audio techniques, while the plot of the movie is pushed to the backseat.
In terms of surreality it leaves its opponents behind IMHO (acid rock score, boomerang duel - great idea BTW, 70s style fringe, strange sound effects).[/quote]
yeah, I totally agree and this is why the movie attracts my attention from the first minute of its opening. Concerning surreality it’s much more catchy, innovative and appealing than “kill the wicked”, even the cast is doing a excellent and better job than those guys in “wicked”. I enjoyed watching this movie, although I’m not a friend of hippie-esque, experimental, LSD influenced flicks.
I realize only now that in the English language version this particular is absent… ???
not only one of my worst SW, on of my top 10 worst movies ever made in any genre
Don´t know why, but I put this one on for a fourth time or so, this time with no weed or alcohol enhancing it. Pretty bad movie. Didn´t like it the first couple of times that much, but at least I was inebriated. Technically it prety much sucks and it goes downhill after a nice opening scene. It drags and sucks and drags, with annoying performances by pretty much all of the cast. Not many surreal things going on either, apart from the cameraman who must have taken some acid while filming.
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Unsure what to think about Matalo, really. For the first twenty minutes or so, I’m thinking, this is it. The most perfect Spag of the lot. For me, like. Grim, gritty, entirely murderous, and populated by ugly people, or in the case of principals Corrado Pani and Claudia Gravy (Grrr! She’s gorgeous!), good-looking people who happened also to BE ugly and hateful, with a horror movie score and something… badly off-kilter. Purposely. Just brilliant. And even though, following a stagecoach holdup, the pace slows considerably, I was still thinking that this movie is/was as cool as f*ck.
The storyline started to fall apart though. Most specifically, a key part of the story: Bart’s “plan”, which, once brought to its conclusion, didn’t make a lick of sense. Let me just see if I’ve got this, because I’m sure I’ve missed something vital here: Bart’ plan was to pretend to die during the stagecoach robbery, hope to fupping Jeebus that his comrades don’t bury him or check him for fatal injuries or anything (they don’t) and just leave him there (they do) so’s he can wander the streets of the ghost town, mostly at night, ominously poking his gun hither and thither and disappearing again like a Scooby-Doo bad guy, waiting for the hidden gold - which wasn’t hidden until AFTER he’d fake “died” anyway - to make its reappearance thanks exclusively to the industry of a stranger he couldn’t possibly have known was coming and couldn’t possibly have known would engineer a circumstance where the gold is now out in the open and on a donkey’s back, at which point, he’d spring into action by just sauntering into the scene, slutty vixen in one hand, pistol in his other, and announce that he’s taking Phil’s missus AND all the gold. I mean, if that’s all he was going to do, couldn’t he have done that without pretending to be dead and stalking around the place pointing his gun at things?
No matter. It’s still a real visual feast of unsettling disquiet, and it wouldn’t be the first Spag I’d seen which didn’t quite flow story-wise. Every bloody one of them like to take a quick swan-dive off of the narrative deep-end from time to time, so that’s… not fine, but I can swallow that. Strangely, I wouldn’t let another genre off the hook like that. Surrealist comedy, maybe.
Speaking of surreal comedy, two more scenes basically threw away the store of respect the film had garnered with me. In fact I’ll need a rewatch or two to decide whether I can find these scenes kind-of lovable in their way, and retain (and even improve) my good feelings towards the movie, or I find that they do indeed stop the film in its tracks and kill it like a lame dog. Firstly, the scene in which Ray the Stranger’s horse defends him from Ted’s attack and beats Ted senseless. And it wasn’t the concept; as daft as that is, I think there’s a fantastic nobility and romance to that concept. Done right, it could’ve been brilliant. The score, alternately horribly jarring and bloody excellent, suddenly really fitted, lending the whole thing a supernatural air. No, it was the execution of the scene, so laughable that director Cesare Canevari should’ve just looked at the results and abandoned it. Some shots of Ted’s outer wrists being daubed gently in red paint by a horse’s hoof just wasn’t cutting it. He’s been gently daubed (almost) to death, everyone! Hm… no. The second scene also involved Ted and this time it was his actual death scene, this time from boomerangs. Boomerangs! Oh, f*ck me sideways! He stays in the same static position while our boom-slinging hero around the corner, Ray, hurls the 'rangs down the main strip, past Ted’s position behind the wall, so’s Ted can watch each 'rang alter course and spin towards him. Does he move? No, each time he stands there patiently waiting as each one hurtles towards him (via a camera shot featuring an empty, boomerang-free frame) until - oh! - the boomerang is gently tossed towards him off-camera. Ow! It was just rubbish. Was it charmingly rubbish or just fuckawful? I’m unsure as yet. There was another scene prior to that, the main shootout, which was just dreadfully choreographed, almost exclusively involving spinning the camera round and around furiously while Ms. Gravy cried out, “BAAAAAAAAART!” every now and then, all set to some inappropriate but fairly groovy prog rock noodling. I didn’t dislike this scene, however: since there was sod-all on-screen to look at, thanks to the spinning camera, I decided to make the most of the prog-rock noodling and do an arm-waving gyratory hippy-dance in the middle of my room, and I felt all the better for it. It occurred to me that nowhere near enough films stop to allow their audience an arm-waving gyratory hippy-dance.
So: I think I enjoyed it. I hope I did.
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The mechanism of the movie was nice…but i didn’t like the story…
I watched this again. Maybe third or fourth time and I liked it even more than before mainly because of very good looking fan dubbed version using italian dvd. The film just looks so good, visually it’s one of the best looking sw’s with great sets and inventive camerawork and directing. Like mentioned before the first 7-8 minutes of the film are some of the best in the genre.
Film has it’s flaws (boring middle part and the absence of Pani) and it’s weird style somehow manages to leave you uncertain whether you really liked the film or not in the end. But still I found myself revisiting this film from time to time.
I really like Corrado Pani, he has great charisma here and like many others here i wished he had done more westerns. But same can be said also about Antonio Salines, I like his looks and his nasty character.
Right idea…and a great soundtrack,too
Are your screenshots accurate, Bluntwolf? This looks closer to 1.85:1 rather than 2.35. What is the running time of this release?
1,85:1 is the correct aspect ratio. Or maybe 1,66:1. But it was definitely not shot in 2,35:1.
The Italian DVD is in 1,85:1, and uses the same master. The runtime will then be 89:15 min.