Dig Your Grave Friend… Sabata’s Coming (1971) (orig. Abre tu fosa, amigo… llega Sábata) - Director: Juan Bosch - 4/10.
The reason why the work comes out superior to Bosch’s other comedic westerns is that its content does not lean into comedy as heavily, opting for a more nuanced, multipronged approach, which proves a lot funnier in the end anyhow. Likewise, Sancho’s appearance here feels a lot more extensive which is additionally underpinned by some solid chemistry between him and Harrison, whose aptitude for comedy frequently seems to go unnoticed. This is not to say that the final product turns out to be some great feat, what with its predominantly low production values, gruff execution and commonplace story about Harrison’s character’s strife with the local bigwig terrorizing the region, yet it hangs together for the most part and unfolds with acceptable dispatch and cohesion, playing to its strengths by relying on its actors’ charm whilst forgoing the pitfalls of excessive mimicry bedevilling many of its analogs. Though the continuous back and forth between the two buddies and top banana’s bride makes for a droll spectacle in the midsection, the project fizzles out towards the end with the final showdown coming out especially uninspired. On the whole, the offering is a quick-and-dirty entry with not much in the way of originality or particularly satisfying plot progression, yet given how execrable the rest of subgenre’s output was in the 1970s, it certainly does not vex as much as some of those and does not overstay its welcome, largely staying true to its roots and providing oater slop of satisfactory quality.