Gone re-watch this one today. My first watch was in the nineties, in VHS. Here’s photos of that version (from my friend Nino collection).
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#10 Django, the Last Killer (1967)
3.5/5
First time watching thanks to a suggestion from @Hired_Peon last Spagvember. I love the mentor/apprentice gunfighter films. This one owes a real debt to two of the best films in the genre, Day of Anger and The Big Gundown. Anthony Ghidra is Django, a bounty hunter vaguely reminiscent of Franco Nero’s character, and George Eastman is playing a Tomas Milian-like peon who needs to learn to be a shooter in order to avenge his family. The plot seems a bit inevitable, but I appreciate this entry quite a bit–it’s mostly serious and pretty well filmed.
I watched a YouTube cut that was about 83 minutes with some sloppy cuts. Can anyone here confirm that the German Blu-ray is an uncut 87 minutes? I’m tempted to add it to my collection.
#11 The Grand Duel (1972)
4.5/5
Rewatch. This is now in my top 20 spaghetti westerns. I’ve seen it many times, my opinions have fluctuated on it–but my rewatch this morning just clicked in every way. The silly humor is endearing. Much of the music is top rate. Lee Van Cleef’s last great western is extremely stylish and beautiful. It feels every bit like a “comic book hero” kind of film, but sometimes that’s just what you want, and you want it done with a great star, soundtrack, and style. And the Arrow Blu-ray is highly recommended.
Lee Van Cleef is simply the best–I can’t name a cooler actor.
Edit: Oh, and I suspect this is the only spag I’ve watched that has a script influenced by The Godfather. Some of the lines about “never ask me about my business” and “one day we’ll be in the white house” and the whole crime family thing… I can’t help but wonder. This apparently came out December 1972, so maybe the script was still touched up after Coppola’s classic was released in March 1972.
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Yes, the running time is 86 minutes 47 seconds. The Mediabook is available from Amazon at a reasonable price at the moment.
According to the German OFDB, the Blue-ray is uncut.
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No. 15 & 16:
I QUATTRO INESORABILI
LA MORTE NON CONTA I DOLLARI
Our monthly 35mm Spaghetti Western Double Feature in Cologne Filmclub. Established in February 2016.
This Double feature was definetely a highlight in 2024 since both movies were really great to watch on the BIG screen and with about 25 people in total it was a great experience.
It is a little bit like entering a time machine back to the 1960s. At least for about 4 hours 
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Spagvember Fest 2024
Day 17
all’Ombra di una Colt
Rewatch. An entertaining enough middle of the road SW with a refreshing positive love story thrown in. Solid B grade material.
Canadian actor Stephen Forsyth does a pretty dang fine job as the gunslinger ready to settle down, hang up his guns, and marry the woman he loves. His main obstacles being his sweetheart’s father, his mentor and fellow gun for hire, who believes the relationship will only end in Forsyth’s character’s death, leaving his daughter heartbroken, and of course some unscrupulous types looking to cash in on the money the duo earned protecting small Mexican villages. Forsyth now must prove himself worthy of marriage and stop the crooks from robbing him.
Conrado San Martin is sorely underused as the veteran gunfighter whose daughter has fallen for his protégé, a love affair he fears can only end tragically. Sporting the typical fatherly devotion and love, San Martin’s old timer only wants his daughter’s happiness and future assured, but far too much time spent his gun has made him cynical to who is worthy of his child.
Jose Calvo, Franco Ressel, Franco Lantieri, Aldo Sambrell, and Helga Line offer fine supporting roles as the varied characters out to help or harm Forsyth in his journey.
Koch Media’s/Plaion Pictures Blu Ray is super good looking.
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Time for Great American Western 
14. Fidani: Savage Guns / His Name Was Sam Wallash, But They Call Him Amen
-After El Puro it’s time for another of Robert Woods’ dramatic roles, this time as a hero who had phobia of clapping doors. Film so bad that it’s almost good. 5/10
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'DJANGO’ (1966)
A magnificent, bloody SW classic, in every sense of the word…
The English language track is rather poor, so I always opt for the original Italian audio (even though it’s not Franco Nero’s actual voice).
Alongside ‘The Great Silence’ (1968), this is Sergio Corbucci’s finest and most influential work…a sheer delight from its muddy opening scenes, to the atmospheric finale against a backdrop of overgrown weeds, forgotten hopes, and abandoned graves.
Anyone whose best friends are a coffin and a machine gun, gets my vote everytime…
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I wish I could join you on these evenings … it looks like great fun, and the ‘real’ cinema experience can not be beat.
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Five Giants From Texas (1966) (orig. I cinque della vendetta) - Director: Aldo Florio - 4/10.
Film’s biggest demerit resides in that Florio’s style comes out toothless which is perhaps not so surprising considering this was his directional debut, but which may come as a surprise to those familiarized with his vastly superior At the End of the Rainbow. Though his learning-on-the-job direction admittedly grows better as the running time goes by, what this also means is that the former half proves pedestrian to say the least; for instance, the opening shootout in which the five’s best friend gets killed is handled in a rather soporific fashion, both photography and editing being on the underwhelming side. What exacerbates this issue is pic’s cursory script: the venture conceivably could have worked had it been outfitted with a robust narration, but the viewer is basically left in the dark as to five gunslingers’ backstories and has to do the guesswork to fill in the gaps. This would have been at least partially condonable had the narrative been equipped with a fair share of action scenes, but then again, there are not too many of those here either and with the exception of the admittedly galvanizing final gunfight, action sequences as such are few and far between. To add insult to injury, the plot unfolds at an exceptionally laggard pace, aggravating the said downsides fivefold. Except for the spectacular finale, the work turns out both narratively and visually nondescript, providing little in the way of satisfactory plot elaboration or action and progressing at a disagreeably leisurely tempo.
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SPAGVEMBERFEST: DAYS 17 & 18
Ooh lovely! A pair today badly in need of a rewatch. First up for me tonight will be The Return of Ringo (Tessari, 1965), a movie which can never maintain its place in my heart or my spag rankings but which I always love once I’m watching it; and I’m following that with the highly fancied Bandidos (Dallamano, 1967), one of those films that, for me at least, gets better on every viewing. Best opening scene in spag history? In movie history? Maybe. Probably.
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You`re always welcome 
Cologne is always worth a trip and we hope to go on with SW in 2025 and maybe also 2026.
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No. 17 & 18:
WHISKY E FANTASMI
Hm, i never really understood why no one seems to like this Margheriti.
It is a comedy SW influenced clearly by the Trinity movies. Most comedies from that time suffer from low budget and also from bad scripts.
This one was produced by United Artists and due to the locations there is real SW feeling. There are some fun moments with the Whisky drinking ghost and to me whole movie was quite entertaining. Also some good train scenes.
In Germany cinema start in 1974 was cancelled. Then in 1992 German Dub was made but it lasted up to 2004 when this movie had German premiere in TV. No other release yet.
PER QUALCHE DOLLARO IN MENO
Even I like Lando Buzzanca this is a really unfunny parody of FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE. Real hard to watch. No cinema start in Germany. First release was in 1988 in East German TV with a bad TV Dub. Not my cup of tea…
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Spagvemberfest Day 16
A Coffin Full of Dollars (Fidani / 1971)
With Simonetta Vitelli in the Hall of Fame actresses list it was inevitable I would have to include a Fidani and this was it. Mindless and illogical throughout but the acrobatic death throws are fun and Camerons “Dive and Shoots” are another bonus,
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Spagvemberfest Day 17
Hate Thy Neighbour (Baldi / 1968)
Not Nicoletta Machiavelli’s best role but then outside of Garter Colt she was always under utilised. George Eastman and Horst Frank share the bad guy duties and dominate the picture. Poor old Spiros Focas just gets lost in the mix despite being the leading man.
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Spagvember Fest 2024
Day 18
7 Dollari sul Rosso
Rewatch. I’ve always had a soft spot for this SW, the story, the characters, and the atmosphere just come together so well. The plot of a man spending a little over a decade searching for the outlaws who robbed his ranch, killed his wife, and kidnapped his child has never looked better than here.
Anthony Steffen gives a quite impressive dramatic performance as Johnny Ashley, the man robbed of everything and going from place to place to find the scum and make them pay. While hardened to the point his own life is expendable, Johnny hasn’t completely lost his humanity as there are lines even he won’t cross to see his goal achieved.
Fernando Sancho plays a real piece of work in the character of El Chacal. While he laughs a lot like he normally does, there’s no likable humor this time around as he’s just a no good ruthless outlaw willing to kill anyone in his way. That he does indeed care about the boy he kidnapped and his girlfriend offers an interesting dichotomy to the character.
The Koch DVD looks pretty good, but a Blu Ray upgrade would really benefit the film.
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I am a bit late to the party, due to some vacation time. Jumping on the Spagvemberfest train, I am going all down south: I am kicking things off with the reconstructed longer version of SAVAGE PAMPAS included on the French BluRay.
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- Leone: For a Few Dollars More
-Another masterpiece from Leone. 10/10
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Starblack (1966) - Director: Giovanni Grimaldi - 5/10.
In spite of some emblematically Italian violence and Grimaldi’s stylish execution, the tout ensemble does not exactly pan out in virtue of its underwhelming script. The story essentially combines elements of a Zorro yarn and a revenge arc, ultimately proving interesting in neither regard. The issue consists in that the Zorro whodunit component, for want of a better phrase, is quite tenuous and it is easy to see how the mystery is going to unfold in the long term. The vengeance subplot, on the other hand, does not figure prominently in the proceedings until right before the climax, so what constitutes narrative’s main pillar for all intents and purposes enters the equation belatedly for the most part. As a consequence, the storyline boils down to a ceaseless back and forth between Starblack and the local bad guy, the former assisting the poor townsfolk in repelling the assailants sent by the primary antagonist and then the latter throwing a tantrum, after which all goes back to square one. Needless to say, this makes for a rather repetitive watch, however, Grimaldi’s vigorous execution, film’s bounteous dispensation of violence and a number of memorable scenes, e.g. Starblack’s poker game, ensure that the project stays fresh despite its various failings. Hence, its defects notwithstanding, this one is pure spaghetti and for that, well worth a view.
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