Kill them All and Come Back Alone a.k.a Bang crash, bang wallop, biff bosh bash - wallop wallop, kap-ow ping, boof aghhh BANG!
4 Likes
#Spagvemberfest Late-to-the-duel-Edition / No. 3
Johnny Hamlet
My memories of this a bit out of the ordinary (for Castellari no less) spaghetti western were certainly quite positive. Upon rewatch, I still think it is a very solid movie, but I found it not as entertaining, with the style and story to be often more annoying than pleasing and the movie quite unbalanced with Castellari having more fun shooting fisticuffs than a proper drama. It is still quite a movie.
The BluRay looks excellent! A review (German) is forthcoming.
8 Likes
Day 25: God Made Them…I Kill Them (1968) w/Dean Reed and Piero Lulli. Proto-Sabata movie with Dean Reed as a hired gun by the corrupt big-wigs of a small town. The big-wigs hire Jim Corbett (Dean) to protect the town from outlaws and banditos. However, when Corbett and his tagalong, Joe witnese the town sheriff (Lulli) and his men (disguised as Mexican bandits) rob a stagecoach for its gold, a conflict of interest soon arises. God Made Them was better than I thought it would be. Reed made good leading man material in this Paolo Biachini film. Rating: 2/5.
5 Likes
Classic.
DAY 26:
Manos torpes (1969) - Director: Rafael Romero Marchent - 7/10
Moody, grim and outlandish. The movie seems to be in the same vain as other experimental spags such as El Puro or Matalo, but the experimentation here predominantly appertains to its narration as opposed to some other psychedelic touches. It is true that the storytelling exhibits a rather ephemeral disposition and may seem a bit all over the place at a glance, but in the context of this film, this characteristic appears to be purposefully utilized with a view to painting the overall picture in a certain way and enduing the canvas with a very distinctive feel.
Hence, instead of the customarily balanced narration, we get the frenzied stream of a narrative characterized by broad brush strokes and a sort of narrative expressionism denoted by its rapid edits and frenetic focus, which imparts a rather stark appearance to the tout ensemble. Aside from the somewhat unremarkable soundtrack, the motion picture displays some very stylish inclinations in spite of its salient shortcomings and sets about the tale in a manner completely divergent from other genre entries. A must-see work for any seasoned spaghetti western aficionado and another film which should have been released officially by now.
Una bala marcada (1972) - Director: Juan Bosch - 6/10
6 Likes
Spagvemberfest 2022
Day 26
Bandidos (Dallamano / 1967)
Another one from the excellent Vengeance Trails box set and another film that just keeps getting better for me with every viewing. One of the very best.
11 Likes
#20 Batzella: Paid in Blood
-Random pick from pile of dvd-r’s. Who would otherwise choose to watch willingly a Batzella film anyway? Just terribly boring film, highlight of the film must be a granny (around 180cm in height) who takes part in a fist fight. 3/10
5 Likes
Day 26
The Mercenary
Mercenario, Il - The Spaghetti Western Database (spaghetti-western.net)
After yesterday’s debacle, I decided to go with something a bit more familiar today. It has been some time since I watched this one, so it was nice to experience it again. I really love the chemistry between Nero and Musante plus Palance is as creepy as you can get. The final scene in the bullfighter’s ring is one of the best in the genre. The unique camera angles (the shot of Musante waiting for the final toll of the bell from the perspective between Palance’s feet and the constant close-ups of Nero’s piercing blue eyes as examples) while Morricone’s “L’Arena” plays is truly unforgettable.
12 Likes
One of my all time favorites. I should sneak this one in, as well, even though it is not on my list of titles that I need to get watched (new discs, etc)
1 Like
You can never go wrong with Chuck Connors and action. Still need to pick up that UK release myself.
1 Like
DAY 26
No.16 came out of the bowl today, and that’s Ferdinando Baldi’s overwrought but compelling gem The Forgotten Pistolero (Baldi, 1969), one of those based-on-an-ancient-tale spags where tear-streaked revenge and burning homesteads are high on the agenda (as is one of the best - and most recognisable - scores the genre has to offer). I haven’t seen it in some time and I always find myself reluctant to give it a whirl since, on the face of it, The Forgotten Pistolero doesn’t exactly snap my radish. That said, I’ve always found myself falling under its spell once it’s on.
8 Likes
Day 23 Hate they neighbor
Day 24 Four of the apocalypse
Day 25 Minnesota clay
Day 26 If you meet Sartana…
7 Likes
Ben and Charlie - Rather long and starts out a bit heavy on the slapstick for my tastes, to the point where it seems like a movie I’m not going to like much at first, but then it turns around when the duo begin getting into trouble and becomes something else. I can appreciate the slow start now for its building of character, even if I would have preferred it to be done in a less goofy way. Its a unique entry in the genre which although it borrows from other titles in different scenes, still has a character all its own
4 Likes
I find it to be Batzella’s least vexatious entry personally, but that does not say much in view of how bad the other two are.
DAY 27:
Kid Vengeance (1976) - Director: Joe Manduke - 2/10
Some of the worst shootouts, acting, editing, camerawork and directing I have seen in a spaghetti western and on top of the aforementioned, you get another helping of Leif Garrett’s cutesy theatrics, a subpar soundtrack, a preposterously plodding storyline as well as Lee Van Cleef looking like some 1970s hippie butt pirate. Some television productions of the era look superior to the kind of mortifying, slipshod appearance this endeavor exhibits and it is unbelievable how worthless the entire thing feels. God’s Gun was no grand masterpiece and you can tear it down all you want, but as bad as that was, it still had its share of attractions, did not look as dilapidated and hopeless and did not feel like a consummate catastrophe all things considered.
Kid Vengeance, on the other hand, manifests all the hallmarks of a grindhouse feature film as well as turgidity of an old-fashioned western along with its ensuant millstone of grandiloquence, which makes for the worst possible combination. All the additional brutality displayed in the sequent killings gets effectively stultified and nullified by the atrocious rendition on account of which it is occasionally difficult to tell what is going on. Very embarrassing and beyond awful, getting through this thing was a legitimately painful experience, it was a real challenge not to zone out completely whilst watching this somnolent wreck. Perhaps it’s just that the Spagvember fatigue is getting to me; be that as it may, I didn’t like it one bit, no sirree.
Sette winchester per un massacro (1967) - Director: Enzo G. Castellari - 4/10
6 Likes
#21 Fago: Vengeance is Mine
-Good film I had not seen for a while. Very atmospheric film with great music. Too bad that the plot seems to run out of ideas in the end and some of the action scene are rather routine, otherwise it would had potential to be top20 material. 7/10
7 Likes
Day 27
A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die (1972)
Ragione per vivere e una per morire, Una - The Spaghetti Western Database (spaghetti-western.net)
Another re-watch today, this time of an often unfairly maligned film in the genre. I personally believe that the majority, not all but a majority, of people who do have a negative view of this film have never seen an un-edited release. And, sadly, the vast majority of the releases out there are heavily edited and, frankly, don’t make much sense.
James Coburn, Telly Savalas, and the legendary Bud are all excellent in this film and the finale is non-stop action. The plot is straight forward enough on the surface but then digs a little deeper into an exploration of the fine line that often lies between redemption and revenge.
6 Likes
(I began writing this text a week ago, but several tie-ups have hindered my participation here, so I guess this will become more of a summary than a realtime-following of my part of this month)
Night of the Serpent (Giulio Petroni, 1969)
Is there any SW director not named Sergio who can compete with Giulio Petroni in terms of constant quality? I don’t think so. Maybe Dallamano, but he only made one entry, while Giulio made five. Out of those, three - his serious ones - have a safe spot in my top 20. This one appears to split opinion a bit, being a slow-paced, character-driven, melancholic story (particularly in the first half) which is obviously not to everyone’s liking. But, these are typical Petroni characteristics and make the film truly stand out from the crowd. Out of Petronis five westerns, this is probably the one most similar to Death Rides A Horse, with similar aesthetics and narrative themes.
The best scene ought to be about 25 minutes in where Luke makes his first attempt to shoot in a long time. It’s a quiet, slow, empathetic sequence that becomes almost heart wrenching when accompanied by the main theme played on a sole nylon guitar. In fact, I would not hesitate to call it one of the very best scenes directed by Petroni, perhaps even second only to Ryan getting released from his chain gang early in Death Rides a Horse.
By the hour mark, the question you keep asking yourself is how come this remarkable SW isn’t represented in any top 20 lists save for a couple. But then unfortunately, things go slightly downwards - probably because this is, as several others have pointed out, where the more standard genre conventions begin to show up. In the half-hour between Manuels abduction and Luke’s prison break it all becomes a little rushed and slightly melodramatic, although it’s still far from a movie killer, especially not as it does a great comeback in the last ten minutes or so. It ends on a positive, even somewhat heartwarming note, as The bad guys are down, Manuel is safe and Luke finally able to move on. It may be a bit too sappy for some, but I think it suits the entire redemption theme to a T (like in DRAH, the redemption and reconciliation themes ultimately overcome the darker ones, which is one of the more humanizing elements I like about Petroni).
Then there’s of course the score. The main theme is really closer to a 1950s Excello Record than your average Spaghetti Western score, but it sets the tone for the story so well that even a slightly altered soundtrack would ruin a part of the experience. It might not be the most complex, epic or ingenious non-Morricone score from the genre. But it might be the most beautiful.
Just make sure you watch it in Italian. The English dub is terrible. With original language it’s an impressive 8/10 (or 7,5/10 if I allowed myself to do half-star ratings).
(My next review is coming soon. I’ll try to catch up with my viewing by the end of this month)
7 Likes
#22 Kokkonen: Speedy Gonzales -noin seitsemän veljeksen poika
-Something different for change. I never get tired of these finnish comedy westerns, I must have seen this dozens of times. 7/10
4 Likes
This is one spaghetti I’m somewhat certain I will never watch again. Its maybe the worst out of them all for me