Spagvemberfest Day 11
Keoma (Castellari / 1976)
Nero and Castellari get ticked off the Hall of Fame list and I have to say this film gets better for me. I even don’t mind the music which used to irritate me. The dialogue is the weakest part of the film so no surprises that they were writing that as they went along but the visuals and editing are really good and up there with Johnny Hamlet as Castellari’s best I think. The Cult Films Bluray looks pretty good too.
SPAGVEMBERFEST: DAYS 11 & 12
Hm. A challenging day today. See, I picked my 30 'Fest films at random just before the 'Fest started. Great, but it means I don’t always get my favourite films, nor do I always get films I particularly fancy watching. But, therein lies the Challenge that is Spagvember. My double bill for this evening kicks off with The Grand Duel (Santi, 1972), which has always been a solid “middling” film for me. I have always liked it, but I have never loved it. That’s as complimentary as I can be and, for me, it’s also as good as it gets this evening, because I’m following that up with The Specialists (Corbucci, 1969), far and away my least favourite film that I’ll be tackling this SpagvemberFest, and to be truthful a movie I only bought out of a sense if wanting to support the ongoing reproduction of Spaghetti Westerns by the boutique UK Blu-ray labels (which is also the only reason I own Eureka’s Run Man Run or Arrow’s Texas, Adiós!).
Still. I might like it this time. I have Damascene conversions with spags before; Eureka’s release of A Fistful of Dynamite turned me into a fan of a film I’d previously dismissed as (admittedly well made) crap. Who knows.
Day 11: The Stranger Returns (1967)
Day 12: Have a Good Funeral My Friend… Sartana Will Pay (1970)
No. 12:
DUELLO NEL TEXAS
I really like the naive early SW. This is a very early example from the “transition phase”. That means from the time when real SW developed own style not only copying American Westerns.
Music by Ennio Morricone, Richard Harrison in the lead.
Rewatched via Explosive Blu Ray.
Master is the same as Italian DVD and so there are many things to criticise. Too soft, sometimes pixled, sometimes grainy. Far from perfect. Seems there is no better material or negative is in bad condition. Nevertheless you may enjoy this very early SW that way.
Gli fumavano le Colt… lo chiamavano Camposanto
Directed by Carmineo and with of cinematography of Enzo Barboni, this must have been made at the period he was doing the first Trinita movie. Camposanto with a straight translation to Portuguese as Holy field was always one of my favorite SW names, and yes it’s nice to watch well directed and with a good chemistry between Garko and Berger, it does not test your patience. Nice Bruno NIcolai Soundtrack also.
Spagvember Fest 2024
Day 12
W Django!
Long Overdue Rewatch. Along with Django Spara per Primo this is an excellent Django copy film. The similarly titled character is on the hunt for the men who raped and murdered his wife, and only a Mexican horse thief is a witness to the killers’s identities. But can the horse thief be trusted? Complications arise when one killer becomes a respected banker and another a captain in the Mexican Federales.
Anthony Steffen was a good choice to carry on the Django character name after Franco Nero went on to other roles, his serious expressions, steely eyes, and weathered face work to the character’s advantage. Mixing wanting revenge with stellar and creative gunplay was another good choice.
Glauco Onorato, an Italian character actor and dubber - most famous as Bud Spencer’s Italian voice, does a really good Eli Wallach impression as horse thief Carranza, the sole witness to the death of Django’s wife. Onorato does an excellent job of keeping audiences uncertain as to what motive and reasons he has in helping Django, something never completely right with the character.
The French Blu Ray looks really good and the 2K restoration is exceptional. While there’s no English audio, the film is really easy to follow.
Wrath of God (1968) (orig. L’ira di Dio) - Director: Alberto Cardone - 5/10.
The oater constitutes a very unpretentious, ably assembled piece of entertainment which benefits from Cardone’s proficient combination of Spanish and Italian locations as well as surprisingly firm grip on the narration. Film’s primary downside stems from its far-fetched plot-weaving: certain developments are so unbelievable and strain credulity so much that the storyline almost appears to be a naive fairy tale of sorts. A pack of bandits bushwhacks Halsey’s character and having robbed him of his money and killed his girlfriend, they abandon him because they are confident he is never going to find them.
In spite of the aforementioned, the protagonist effortlessly tracks them down one by one, knowing exactly where to go and what to do so as to exact revenge in just the way he wishes. Indeed, some of the executions are preceeded by successions of events whose eventual result is far from being as obvious as our main hero’s poise would lead us to believe. Therefore, notwithstanding tale’s outstanding focus and excellent pacing, the story seems almost risible in how oversimplified it is, not to mention the final revelation does not really make for much of a surprise and is exactly what you would expect from this sort of material. Thankfully, the flick is fun enough to watch and does not get bogged down by any unnecessary detours along the way, so the streamlined narrative at least partially compensates for the somewhat insubstantial script.
Spagvemberfest Day 12
Gunfight at High Noon (J.L. Romero Marchent / 1963)
Released just one year before Fistful of Dollars but feeling like a couple of decades in style, content and dialogue. Still enjoyable enough for all that in its own way but far from a classic of the genre.
This one ticks off Richard Harrison, Marchent, Riz Ortolani and Robert Hundar
No. 13:
SU LE MANI, CADAVERE! SEI IN ARRESTO
Rewatch via Explosive Media Blu Ray.
This has never been a favourite of mine even I like PLL.
Very average stuff with very less real SW feeling.
Nevertheless not a complete waste of time and OK for rainy days.
Blu Ray has good image quality even the spanish HD source had to be filled with upscaled missing material. Pitch of German dub is not correct since it was a PAL source made for VHS/TV (no cinema start in Germany). Voices are too deep.Shame on Explosive Media. Therefore I prefer old Koch DVD that still looks very fine and has correct German pitch.
#8 Wanted
3/5
A pretty mundane western. Gemma is a sheriff with the unlikely name Gary Ryan, and he’s just what a lawless town needs. Naturally the establishment of the town (calling the establishment corrupt in a spaghetti is nearly always redundant) quickly inculpates Ryan in a crime (in order to continue their cattle rustling schemes) for which our hero must prove his innocence. The lack of actual cattle is conspicuous. But with a bit of style, a decent score, and Gemma’s talent for stunts, there’s entertainment here–though I found my attention drifting at times.
Spagvember Fest 2024
Day 13
Il Dio Non Paga il Sabato
Rewatch. This is a slow burn SW where the pay off is totally worth the film taking its time to unfold. I enjoy it quite a bit.
Basically we have a well made low budget affair of a gang’s decimation from the inside out as they go stir crazy waiting out a posse in a ghost town so they can hightail it to Mexico and begin to distrust each other over the loot in a stagecoach robbery. Only a passing by drifter and a crazy old woman can stop them as a betrayed colleague comes to settle a score with the gang.
Larry Ward as Ben Hudececk is probably one of the strangest Anti Heroes in the Italian West as he doesn’t carry a gun, let’s himself get the ever loving sh$@ beat out of him for a while and only really fights back after his horse breaks his attacker’s hands. When he does get going, he really knows his stuff, and does a sound job getting the villains.
Rod Dana, credited as Robert Mark, is a fantastic smiling menace as the hot headed gunman Randall. While loyal to his gang, he seems constantly at odds with leader Braddock, and when he’s left for dead in the stagecoach robbery, he vows revenge. When Randall reappears, he goes for the gusto in payback.
Furio Meniconi, an Italian character actor mainly known for secondary roles and bit parts/extra work, gets a rare chance at a solid supporting villain role in the part of Braddock. Meniconi’s burly frame serves him well as a heavy, and the looks he gives his underlings is priceless. His fate towards the climax of the film is some of the finest physical acting I’ve seen.
The Koch Media DVD is fantastic looking. I highly recommend this under seen gem.
Frayling had it in his top 20, anybody else?
In the German Western Lexikon (by Joe Hembus) it got 2 of 3 stars, which was more than some Spags of the forum’s top 20 got (actually Death Rides a Horse, Day of Anger, Giu la testa and Keoma got only 1 star). But yes, times have changed, and nowadays the film is mostly regarded as just another slightly above average SW, while the others climbed in the fan’s favor.
Almost half time!
Letterboxd and icheckmovies lists are updated.
Gunfight at High Noon (1963) (orig. El sabor de la venganza) - Director: Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent - 6/10.
Pic’s story essentially portrays a childhood trauma and its impact upon a trio of brothers whose father is killed during a clash with bandits: the surviving son played by Hundar openly expresses his disdain for the instituted laws, while the other played by Harrison deems them as necessary in maintaining order and social cohesion, perceiving them as a noble end in itself, which prompts him to become a man of the law himself the instant he becomes an adult. The third sibling basically resides between the two extremities and plays the role of an intermediary between the two men and by extension, between the two ideological positions.
The friction in question actuates the said men to seek justice in divergent ways, either adhering to or running afoul of the law depending on their personal inclinations. Not only does this strife make for quite a spectacle, but also it provides ample room for character development which reveals itself most conspicuously in Hundar’s part. On the whole, Marchent attempts to stylistically emulate the look and feel of the archetypical American western in the way he narrates and frames the central plotline here. Though it is hard to shake off the impression the work could have become a minor classic had it been crafted with more panache and stylistic elan, eschewing some of the moralistic clichés of the era, film’s writing generally turns out so good it doesn’t constitute much of an impediment, culminating in a fittingly tragic coda.
SPAGVEMBERFEST: DAYS 13 & 14
Pair of Spags tonight which I’ve always felt were both representative of the genre yet very different pictures (thus illustrating the range of the spaghetti western): The high-energy, acrobatic, all-or-nothing Sabata (Parolini, 1969), and the grimy, downbeat twilight classic Four of the Apocalypse (Fulci, 1975). For me neither movie quite delivers on its’ promise but both come so bloody close they have me coming back to them over and again as though, this time, they’re going to make it. Well, maybe this time.
No.14:
T`AMMAZZO!-RACCOMANDATI A DIO
(DEAD FOR A DOLLAR)
Thanks, Grinder 
! I’ll let you know 
Day 14–Garringo (1969) D: Rafael Romero Marchent. Starring Anthony Steffen, Peter Lee Lawrence, Jose Bodalo, Solvi Stubing and Maria Solerno. To my dismay, this year I’ve found it difficult to keep a daily SW intake like I have in years past. So, I’m watching and posting when I can. (Steffen) is an Army officer who is released from prison by top brass to kill Johnny (Lawrence) for the murder of a military officer. My viewing of Garringo the festival was the first time. Havng watched it for the first time I thought it better than I initially thought. Although Steffen can sometimes come across as too stoical for my taste, I thought he was great did a great job as the movie namesake. Peter Lee Lawrence was fantastic as Johnny, a young man haunted by the death of his father, but identifies on a subconscious level with his father’s murderers. Johnny’@ murder of an Army officer with a couple of his friends quickly gets the attention of the US Army. Jose Bodalo cleaned up so well as Johnny’s adoptive uncle Klaus (he’s also the sheriff) that I didn’t realize it was him at first.
Rating: 4/5
