Same director, and a guest appearance from ‘That’ poncho
2 Likes
- Sollima: Run Man Run
-While not as good as The Big Gundown RMR is still a very pleasant film where Milian really shines. Donald O’Brien ain’t no Lee Van Cleef but he’s good enough not to be totally overshadowef by Milian. Watched it with my girlfriend and she enjoyed it too. I have noticed that this film is particularly well liked by women. 8/10
12 Likes
Day 18. Movie 13. Brother Outlaw.
Remember the old gag, Laurence Olivier minus Laurence Olivier equals William Shatner? Well, Once Upon A Time In The West minus Once Upon A Time In The West equals Brother Outlaw. Instead of heightening the tension, the close-ups before an action sequence either put me to sleep or gave me the giggles. Add in several towns devoid of any citizens (couldn’t afford extras, I suspect), and you’ve got a picture several rungs below mediocre.
8 Likes
Nicely described … mind bogglingly crap!
Day 18: The Grand Duel (1972) D-Giancarlo Santi. Starring Lee Van Cleef, Alberto Dentice, Horst Frank, and Dominique Darel. The haunting theme song by Luis Bacalov came to mind to mind and led me to revisit this often overshadowed spaghetti. Sheriff Clayton (Van Cleef) is en route by stagecoach to Saxontown when he crosses paths with Philipp Wermeer (Dentice), who is engaging in a gunfight with bouty hunters. Wermeer is wanted for the murder of the Saxon family patriarch (Frank). Clayton and Wermeer know the truth about what happened to the Saxon patriarch, and the three Saxon brothers, led by the eldest, David (also played by Frank), try their hardest to get rid of Clayton and Wermeer, so the truth never sees the light of day. Rating: 4/5.
11 Likes
Spagvember Fest 2023 Day 18
First Time watch
Matalo!
Mátalo! - The Spaghetti Western Database!
**** 1/2 out of *****
Never thought I would say this about an SW in a million years, but we’re definitely dealing with a case of style over substance, and that’s what makes the film enjoyable.
A trippy, near totally hallucinatory version of Dio Non Paga il Sabato ( Kill the Wickeds) takes the former’s plot and transports it to a surreal desert landscape where everything strange that can happen does, and the few people who get caught up in the hoopla. The cinematography has an abstract painterly quality to it, the camera engaging in quite the unusual positions and angles, the viewer’s senses and aspect of time caught in suspension.
Cast members Corrado Pani - looking like a cross between Klaus Kinski, Luciano Rossi, and even a little Scott Glenn, Luis Davila, Claudia Gravy, Antonio Salines, Ana Maria Noe all do excellent work in their respective roles as utter derelicts, sadists, and nut jobs. The only disappointment for me was Lou Castel who looked completely out of place and unsure of why the hell he was doing this.
The experimental rock score shouldn’t work in a Western, but surprisingly fits it well.
Arrow did a great job with the restoration of the film and has loads of good extras. Just wish Arrow could’ve gotten the Wild East interview with Lou Castel.
I would also highly advise against recreational drug use when watching as the film is trippy enough as is, I think adding any substances would send anyone on a total freak out.
12 Likes
Day 19
Une corde, un Colt - The Spaghetti Western Database (spaghetti-western.net)
After exploring on Tubi recently, it was time for something a bit more familiar as I have been horseback riding all day and am completely done in. There really is no need to expound on this one much except to say Hossein should have made more westerns. While this one checks all the boxes for its place in the genre, it is also very different from the standard and in a positive way.
I will conclude by saying that very few women have ever had a man wrapped around their little finger like Michel Mercier’s Maria had Hossein’s Manuel. Her character is completely fascinating.
13 Likes
Day 18: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (rewatch)
Thoughts:
TIL there’s actually a comma missing in the English title.
10 Likes
Vengeance (1968)
Jokko Barrat (Richard Harrison, years before he would appear in so many Godfrey Ho movies), Richie (Alberto Dell’Acqua, one of the many undead in Zombi), Domingo (Luciano Pigozzi, who appears in so many movies and always gives me so much joy when he shows up) and Mendoza (Claudio Camaso, the brother of Gian Maria Volonté. Unlike his leftist brother, Claudio was ultra-fascist to the point that he may have planted a bomb at an entrance to Vatican City. He was exonerated, but years later was arrested for strangling a friend to death and then killed himself in jail) have a plan to steal gold from some bandits, but are betrayed by Domingo. Mendoza dies and Ricky is tortured before between torn apart by horses.
Jokko follows the five men and Mendoza, killing them one by one and leaving part of a bloody rope — the same that was used to kill Ricky — all while being followed by a detective (Paolo Gozlino).
As much a gothic horror film as a Western, this was directed and written by Antonio Margheriti. The end even takes place in a mine and feels like its more Italian horror than cowboy epic. I’ve seen some reviews that say that this is a typical Western, but I wonder what movie they were watching.
11 Likes
YANKEE
Not the first time watch , but a long time ago and nearly forgot how good it was .
These crazy and colorful camera work , this gaunt guy with the way to big hat , which seems to spring from a comic book , the simple story and whole characters , make this flic a little gem .
The Yankee (Leroy) offers the Concho (Celi) to collect the bounty of all his henchman … as he doesn’t want , lets him know - The Yankee does it alone and finishes him last
Tinto Brass unique spag is highly recommended .
https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Yankee
10 Likes
Day 19:
Gli specialisti (The Specialists) - 1969
Haven’t watched the Eureka Blu Ray until now, as I was so peeved at their dishonest pre-sale description of this release having an English audio option … well documented on this site … so this time I went with Italian audio. The English subtitles are mainly ok … but for fuck’s sake, Eureka … we don’t need a translation of every credit in the title sequence - These releases are aimed at a cine sophisticated audience … or am I wrong?
Anyway … I hadn’t watched the film for at least 10 years and thankfully had forgotten much of the finer detail , which made this one great fun, and dare I say exhilarating - Yeah, it’s leisurely paced, but when the action kicks off, you sit up and pay attention, like I was 12 years old ! 
Johnny Halladay, I thought, I’m not going to like you … but he does a surprisingly good job without trying to impersonate any other genre leading men - Yes, he’s doing the stoic loner routine, but it doesn’t come off cringy, as it so easily could have.
There are some happenings in this movie that might make you think director, Sergio Corbucci was having more than a few digs at the genre itself … One telephoto shot near the end clearly aimed at a distant Italian town, which bares no resemblance or connection to the time period or plot … there after we have another long distance image of a huge setting sun, with the protagonist literally riding off into the sunset … the obnoxious and complete historically off 'anarchist /hippies are 4 real dickheads, but they’re not just there for comic relief as it turns out … so, put up with them to see the pay off. There are quite a few other bits and bobs that seem to be satirising society and politics too … So, it’s almost not a real western, but nevertheless highly entertaining.
I won’t go on any further, except to say that after nearly 3 weeks of revisiting some of these films, this is the one I’ve enjoyed most … not the best film necessarily, but right up there in top 20 land.
8/10
PS: I discovered why it’s called The Specialists, rather than The Specialist … as we automatically assume the title refers to the main character, ‘Hud’ … I don’t know if this has been discussed before, but it comes from a sarcastic comment made by Hud to the stagecoach travelers at the beginning of the film … I don’t want to spoil it by saying anymore.
14 Likes
Oh, I dunno, amigo…I could name a few… 
A great SW, but one that I still find difficult to watch because of the rape scene, unshown as it is…which somehow makes the defloration of an innocent girl all the more vile.
5 Likes
Last night, I watched not so much an SW, as a superb, and lasting tribute to the greatest of them all - ‘The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’.
Several years ago, the restoration of ‘Sad Hill Cemetery’ was, and will no doubt always remain, the most fitting accolade to one of the SW’s most iconic, memorable, and exciting end scenes ever filmed.
My dream now? To visit the actual location…
As ‘Harmonica’ would say: “Someday…”
12 Likes
Spagvemberfest 2023
Number 8
A Fistful of Dynamite (1971 / Leone)
Stupid of me but I’d forgotten just how good this one is. Sure, Steiger chews scenery like he has eaten eaten in weeks but it fits the role and the character arcs of the two protagonists are a welcome and rare element in these films, Just really good on every level.
10 Likes
Spagvemberfest 2023
Number 9
Life is Tough, eh Providence? (Petroni / 1972)
Still the funniest of all the Italian comedy westerns for me, although that is probably damning with faint praise as that bar isn’t set very high. But I do genuinely enjoy this one and laugh out loud a few times.
9 Likes
Spagvemberfest 2023
Number 10
Sartana in the Valley of Death (Mauri / 1970)
Maybe better titled “Sartana and the Low Budget Scorpion of Death”? Although really nothing to do with Sartana at all but nothing new there. It’s not terrible but not much good either. Perfect for a binge day when you’re desperately trying to make up for lost time in Spagvember and need something to have on while you’re doing the ironing.
11 Likes
Film #20 - Ben and Charlie - First viewing - the theme/score is one of my favorites - 
out of 5
https://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Amico,_stammi_lontano_almeno_un_palmo
this one was mildly entertaining, i didnt love it, it was ok.
9 Likes
Hm, now I’m wondering, do you rate SWs substance so much higher than I do, or their style so much lower? 
In my opinion, many SW are examples of style over substance. The stories in their core remained pretty generic and formulaic through the whole cycle (granted, with some increasingly colourful characters as window dressing). Frayling breaks them down into just three plot types, I believe.
Visually, on the other hand, even some of the lesser ones embraced the growing freedom of the late 60s, early 70s and played around with all sorts of, at the time, innovative stuff like extreme wide angle or telephoto lenses, zooms, a whirling handheld camera, extreme high and low angle shots, filming through objects like beer glasses or a card deck being shuffled, macro shots of a drop of sweat, point of view shots over the barrel of a gun, people talking to the camera, and so on.
I once read somewhere (can’t remember where) that SW was the first commercial and popular film genre using experimental filming techniques. Maybe not as pronounced as the giallo genre which basically took over from SW and took it a step or two further, but to me SW in general is very much about style, not about substance. Unless we have different definitions of those two things (like there’s no coherent story at all in a style over substance film), of course.
6 Likes
- Lucidi: Can Be Done, Amigo
-I did remember I wasn’t really fond of this one but didn’t remember that it was such a slow, tedious, boring film. It’s like if everyone was just sleepwalking through the film and none was interested of doing this crap. 3/10
8 Likes
Nonsense … it’s f**king brilliant!
2 Likes