A few of our SpagvemberFest regulars tend to recap their viewing experiences at the end of the month but there’s no hard and fast rule on recapping and you’re more than welcome to give us your “half-time analysis” as it were. 
I also want statistics at the end of this one, for the newsletter 
SPAGVEMBERFEST 2020
Day 15
Hands of a Gunfighter (R.R. Marchent / 1965)
For the rest of Spagvemberfest I’m going to concentrate on see all (or at least most) of Craig Hill’s westerns and first up was this one which I’m pretty sure I have only ever watched the once. Very much a traditional / Spanish style western but with some nice touches and a good down beat ending which definitely adds to its charms.
Scherps’ full review pretty much reflects my thoughts on it so you can read that here.
4 Likes
- Salvi: 3 Bullets for Ringo
-I had Koch’s dvd still wrapped in plastic on my shelf even though I bought this some 10 years ago or something like that. That’s a good indicator that the film ain’t good and yes, this is some awkward stuff. Film with loads of ideas thrown together in badly directed mix. Then again it has some surreal appeal in it. Remembering the film now is like remebering a dream from last night where all kinds of weird things happened and somehow they form a story even if you’re not sure what it was all about. 4/10
7 Likes
It’s a weird one for sure, and Wanted Johnny Texas is just as weird and surreal - even though the action in that one is very entertaining
SPAGVEMBERFEST 2020
Day 16
My Horse… My Gun… Your Widow (Bosch / 1972)
Saw this one for thye first time almost exactly 10 years ago so had forgotten everything about it. Turns out it is a quite reasonable “chasing the treasure” action adventure with its tongue firmly in cheek but without any unnecessary slapstick. For 1972 that’s quite an achievement really so fair play to it.
I’d also forgotten that it re-uses that terrible song from Arizona Colt Returns. You know the one. “Bing Beng Bong Bang…” And lastly, I’d also forgotten that strangely that awful song somehow fits this film better and doesn’t sound nearly as jarring as in the original.
4 Likes
Day 16 I decided to go with an SW a lot of people highly recommend
https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Chiedi_perdono_a_Dio…_non_a_me
I like Giorgio Ardrisson a lot, and he’s a very expressive actor too, without getting too hammy. This is my first time seeing Dragomir Bojanic (aka Anthony Ghidra) in an SW, so I’m hoping he’s as good as I’ve read. Revenge themed Westerns are always interesting and fun, and that it combines a family feud is also cool.
5 Likes
SPAGVEMBERFEST 2020: DAY 16
Kicking off the second half of SpagvemberFest with a real pioneer of the genre: A Fistful of Dollars (Leone, 1964), starring Clint Eastwood as a ronin samurai playing two factions in a town off against each other with such aplomb that he inadvertently causes the Italian movie industry to go bloody berserk and steal all his adventures.
So, the plan was that I was going to take a break from AFoD whilst staying true to my Spagvember remit by watching Yojimbo (Kurosawa, 1961) for a few days on the trot. Recharge the batteries a bit, you know. But, now it’s come to it, I can’t help but feel I’ve failed if I switch to another movie. Feels too much like a cheat. I’d rather just miss another day or two here and there. So, tonight, I’m back with Joe, his mule, his prototype bulletproof vest, Marisol, Piripero, Silvanito, Ramon, John and the rest of them. Baxters over there, Rojos there, and me right smack in the middle.
I still might watch Yojimbo as well though, anyway. I quite fancy it now.
5 Likes
Day 16 - 7 dollars on the red
Another great surprise for the month, Anthony Steffens stars in this excellent spaghetti western in a performance that conveys much more emotion than his usual roles. Everybody was great and the score by De Masi is as great as usual.the only thing that I found jarring was that the film looked very flat, the exteriors to me looked more like a place where they could shoot a western and not where wanted to shoot a western, the costume design was nothing particular. Loredana Nusciak also has a small role and the finale is violent and dramatic, just how I like it!
7 Likes
Sergio Garrone’s latest spag was my pick for today’s. I did expected an extreme lowbudget late genre flick, but it is not that bad. Lot of familiar faces, including Jean Louis, making a third appearance on my spagvember list. Here with a stronger character. Overall all of this regular cast, despite theirs smal roles, have a good presence in this flick. Which is remarkable for some of them.
I do hate the poster art used on this one. That won’t convince me to go to the cinema.
And it seems they try to sell it as a Sabata. Weird!
6 Likes
Day 17: The Hills Run Red
The opening scenes appealed to my grindhouse sensibilities but I wish the speeding wagon chase and the prison scenes could have been longer. If we’d seen a more brutal life while Brewster was incarcerated then maybe a better revenge tale could unfold. Alas, this isn’t that film. Too much sentimentality and Americanisms spoiled this for me… and I don’t even want to think about the ending.
6 Likes
- Torrado: Relevo para un pistolero
-Early spanish western shot in black and white and without any paella or spaghetti flavors. Uninteresting film with bland cast. For completists only. 2/10
3 Likes
Day 17 - Hole in the forehead
A nice embodiment of what you can expect from the genre, torture, religious symbols, machine gun action and laughing Mexicans, for this it makes a nice viewing for fans of the genre but of the three Vari films I watched this was in my opinion the lesser. Still nice entertainment but nothing you haven’t seen before. I would have liked to see ghidra and hundar in a better plotted film cause they are both vary good in this, such is the case for the score by pregadio. I would recommend it but for people who enjoy the genre only
6 Likes
Day 17 I’m going with the 2nd pairing of Anthony Steffen & Fernando Sancho
The first of the SWs to take on the theme of the Zapata Mexican Revolution directly, even if the Revolution itself only serves as a backdrop for a nice set of action pieces. Still looks like a fun watch non-the-less.
4 Likes
SPAGVEMBERFEST 2020: DAY 17
It’s with oddly renewed vigour that I pull on my dancing platform shoes and strut my funky stuff to today’s classic: A Fistful of Dollars (Leone, 1964), starring Clint Eastwood as a teenage kid in New York, working a dead-end job by day but ruling the disco dance floors of NYC by night. You make me feel like dancin’, Clint! I wanna dance the night away!
So, tonight, I’ve agreed to watch a DC animated movie - Deathstroke - with my son, and then I’ve agreed to watch Marriage Story with my wife, so AFoD isn’t going on until the other side of midnight. Will I actually stay up and watch it? Possibly; I’ve watched it that late a handful of times already. It’ll probably depend on our baby girl. If she gives us a full night without disturbance then I’ll likely just drift off whilst listening to it, like a well-worn bedtime story. On the other hand if she has us up three times in the night as she’s been doing lately, I’m definitely going to have Joe and co. keep me company. Yee f#cking haa.
4 Likes
SPAGVEMBERFEST 2020
Day 17
Bury Them Deep (Moffa / 1968)
For a patchwork quilt of a film which uses scenes and footage from at least 3 or 4 other films this one holds up surprisingly well. It definitely drags in places which seems counter intuitive if you are sewing bits together to make a film but then it would appear that the original footage was so slim they needed all they could get. Sadly, the original scenes are mostly the best and I can’t help wondering what this film could have been like with a proper budget to make a complete film. Ettore Manni and Ken Wood upstage Hill for sure but they actually make a pretty good trio of differing types. Overall, its failings make it all a bit ponderous and patchy but considering its make up it could be a lot worse.
6 Likes
I’ve just seen Heads or Tails (1969) and surprisingly enough, I think it’s one of the better low-budgeted spags out there. While the movie doesn’t boast any outstandingly good direction and sporadically suffers from its incongruent tone as well as certain asinine touches, its generally different focus and the way in which it’s plotted make this outing something different altogether despite being not too dissimilar from other cheapos of its kind as far as its technical rendition goes.
Instead of degenerating into another spag with horsemen interminably riding around in the midst of the grovel pit desert, it approaches the subject of vengeance in a different manner and succeeds in being interesting without resorting to action set pieces on too many occasions, which was most surprising indeed. Although I feel it could’ve been much better, it’s a good enough exploitation western that benefits from its moderately balanced pacing, offbeat character and overall twistedness. Even though it might sound familiar on paper, it’s quite different and legitimately makes the best of its severely limited budget.
5 Likes