Tonight, I’m back into the Vengeance Trails set for Bandidos (Dallamano, 1967), possibly the best picture in the set and a movie which has grown in stature over my time here at the SWDB from a hidden gem championed most vocally by the wily @scherpschutter into a bona fide genre classic, especially having now been given some of that much-deserved boutique distribution treatment by the merry little wizards at Arrow. Lots of spags have strong, memorable openings but Bandidos’ train massacre is as visceral and indelible as anything Leone managed.
Day 5: ‘Condenados a vivir’ (Condemned to live) aka Cut-Throats Nine (1972)
Just about making the deadline with this cheery little yarn … which is actually a very good film, quite artsy in places, and not the exploitation gore fest that the American posters suggests.
This is my first non-Almeria desert SW for this festival !!!
Spagvemberfest 2021 Day 5: Keoma (1976) Another long overdue rewatch. Still a pretty great movie, but this time I have a couple of thoughts on it. That soundtrack is still mighty irritating, and though the De Angelis brothers did more less the same approach in “A Man Called Blade” it’s more annoying here because it is overused.
I also saw a lot of stylistic similarities between the two films and though they might make a great double feature. I just don’t think I could take that much De Angelis in one sitting.
Also, do we really need all that slow-mo? Oddly it often worked well with the music, but there sure seemed to be a lot of it.
This was unplanned, but I am sticking with the Krautwesterns. Seems like the nostalgia has gotten ahold of me, folks… So for No.6 it’s once again back to the plains of Munich or wherever it was filmed…
Die Goldsucher von Arkansas (Massacre at Marble City) is anothcer Cliché-ridden Cowboy-Indian-Golddigger Fantasy sprung from the paperback minds of 60s German theater audiences. Again many familiar faces, some expensive and expansive sets and action pieces, but thin plot, lousy dub and don’t expect much realism. The DVD again offers really decent quality but just like the others in the box is not English friendly (the identical French box btw isn’t either but if you’re better in French than German, that might be an option). Corny postwar fun. 2/5
There are several services available. The majority works only with standard services (Netflix, Prime, etc) but others allow particular video. Never used but this one seems pretty simple.
I hadn’t seen this for years, so gave it another go. The DVD I watched has crappy pic quality, but is in widescreen.
Directed by Giuliano Carnimeo, and starring Jeffrey Hunter (of ‘The Searchers’ fame), escorted by the gorgeous Daniela Giordano and Pascale Petit, plus the ever-reliable Piero Lulli, and Nello Pazzafini.
This is a serviceable, entertaining SW, featuring some great action sequences, and boasting a cracking score by Gianni Ferrio.
It is certainly worth checking out…
And No.7 is the last one in that DVD box set (I watched them in the wrong order, but they aren’t connected)…
Die Flusspiraten vom Mississippi (River Pirates of the Mississippi) is a rather elaborate little crime drama mixed with piracy, cowboys vs indians and adventure elements. A bit confusing and nothing terribly original, but a respectable effort. In terms of quality, this disc offers the worst picture out of the three, but it’s still somewhat enjoyable, there just isn’t much detail and it’s rather pixelated. I liked the story and it’s a bit different from the others. A bit more effort than usual went into a professional dub and a nuanced script. 2.5/5
By the way, even though this one strikes me less light hearted and a bit more serious and adult than the others, there was one scene in there that was so funny: the Sheriff breaks up a bar brawl and proclaims that if there’s one more person hitting another they’ll pay a fine of 5 dollars. A guy behind him promptly slaps a girl on the butt, laughs and duly hands her 5 dollars. LOL
One of the spaghettiest of spaghetti westerns. This movie captures the mood of the genre perfectly and what a great cast to go along with George Martin. The downside to this movie is that listing Rosalba Neri as a star in this film is overstating things a bit and the story is just okay. A fun watch though just for the mood of the film alone.
My one sheet Spanish poster of this one was my inspiration to get back on the Gemma wagon for day 7. I picked up the poster in Madrid a few years back when there with my son. We were wandering around the city killing time when I happened upon a movie memorabilia shop stuffed with great stuff. I got sucked in and was soon out of time and had to dash for the airport which was probably just as well. I could have spent a lot of money there. Sadly, just a few weeks later I heard it had shut down so won’t be able to go back another time.
Anyway, Wanted is one of those pretty generic Gemma westerns where he looks great, does all the acrobatic tricks you expect and thwarts all the baddies by the closing credits. If you like these types of Gemma vehicles you will like this one. I bloody love them so this was a very pleasant revisit.
Hanging For Django AKA Noose For Django AKA No Room to Die - 1967 Sergio Garrone
I return to this one whenever I feel like watching a Spagh and can’t decide for which one. It’s a cheap 1967 production but it has some real visual style to it thanks to Garrone’s shots and veteran cinematographer Franco Villa. I particularly like the close ups of the faces, and the zooming of the frame whenever The Preacher (William Berger cooler than ever) fires his six-barrel shotgun! All the action scenes are handled very well, very much in-your-face - fast ferocious - just like it’s supposed to be. I think this might be my favorite Steffen film for now…
Pick for this afternoon. This one is on Prime, although I’m pretty unsatisfied with the small quantity of spaghettis made available in Prime Portugal catalog. Only a fistful of titles.
For No.8 (don’t have anything better to do today) I went from Kraut Westerns to a mix of Fish’n’Chips and Baguette Western in…
Soleil Rouge (Red Sun) starring Charles Bronson, who just celebrated his centennial, the blonde goddess Ursula Andress, the great Toshiro Mifune (a real Samurai) and the great Alain Deloin (at least a Samourai). This Terence Young flick is a bit of an oddity. It is often lobbed into an imaginary “east meets west” subgenre that is otherwise crowded with D-grade screwballs, but this one is a bit different altogether and doesn’t deserve to be lobbed in with the rest. It’s still a bit uneven, and Ursula doesn’t show up until an hour in, but then there’s a lot to see of her. An interesting adventure with very colorful characters, decent production value and lots of violence… 3/5
This was the first of Guerrieri’s westerns and definitely his weakest. It ineptly mixes some legitimately good gritty sw elements with some horrible comedy. For the same mixture of elements done way better I suggest checking out the films of Giraldi. Sancho is exactly the same character as every time he’s in a movie and nobody did it better than him so of course he’s fine but our lead is bland as a piece of cardboard. Thankfully, Guerrieri would go on to give us two great westerns after this forgivable early misstep.
I can’t understand why I thought this film was poor when I first watched it at the beginning of my spaghetti western fandom. All that I know is that now, having watched it a second time (my first rewatch of the season) it’s definitely a new favorite. Guerrieri’s direction is amazing and Damon is a great, and vastly under appreciated, star in my opinion. Rosalba Neri makes for a great villain as well. The film really has that great gritty look that we all can’t get enough of. Sadly Damon if’s given an annoying sidekick, something the director seems fond of since he’d give Garko one in his final, even better, western.
I remember liking this when I’ve watched it previously but what I don’t remember is just how bonkers it is. It also has a slow part in the middle that I don’t recall. Having said that it is still thoroughly enjoyable as I love the SWs that provide violence in abundance. 7/10
Spagvemberfest 2021 Day 6: “Life is Tough, Eh Providence?” (1972) I think I have a higher tolerance than most folks for watching spaghetti western comedies, probably because of my often juvenile sense of humor. Most of them usually come up way short, but I found this one to have some suprisingly fun moments. I’d seen it’s sequel “Here We Go Again, Eh Providence?” and found it too manic, plotless and silly. Things are also pretty silly here, but there are more western elements, and it’s a bit more restrained. Most of the humor is slapstick on the level of a Looney Tunes cartoon, and much of it works pretty well. I think this largely due to Tomas Milian’s deft comic skills as the Chaplinesque main character and director Giulio Petroni’s restraint. Yes, it’s hard to believe this is by same director as “Death Rides a Horse,” but he handles the gags well, and never lets things get too out of hand. There is the requisite comedy brawl, but it’s mercifully short, and I really enjoyed the chase involving Providence’s tricked out wagon. Yes, the humor is largely for kids (except for the line about ball handling), but hey, my inner 10 year-old enjoyed this one. And the theme by Morricone is light and catchy. At risk of losing all critical credibility, I’ll go out on a limb and give it mild 7/10.
A rewatch. Technically this is my third time viewing this film, but it’s actually my 2nd watching experience as my technical 2nd viewing was for a review in Mike Hauss’ great Digest series. Another solid SW that’s still a little underrated I think, and deserves a lot more love. Robert Woods is in top form with the part of Pecos, one of his best. The Blu Ray from Arrow looks fantastic, very vibrant in colors. A nice upgrade from the Koch Media DVD, which is still a nice disc.
