- Narzisi: Djurado
-Ok, this is just bad film. It feels like whoever wrote the script went with the idea that western must have a bank robbery, stagecoach attack, saloon fight, poker playing etc and then mixed it all to make a plot which doesn’t make any sense. Even the music was bad. 3/10
4 Likes
Spagvemberfest 2025
Day 27
Pancho Villa (Martin / 1972)
Telly Savalas must have felt like he’d moved to Europe permanently in 71/72. Sonny & Jed, A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die…in fact pretty much all his films around this time were shot in Europe. Including this Eurowestern. Very similar in subject matter to Villa Rides from a few years earlier but not as good I think. The only version I have is a poor quality 4:3 DVD release which I’m sure doesn’t to Alejandro Ulloa’s cinematography justice but I’m not sure a better version would help the film too much either. It’s OK. Just.
7 Likes
Ah, gotcha,! Thanks for letting me know 
.
No.25 IL GRANDE DUELLO
To me a real great SW from a time where the genre already had turned to comedy westerns or ultra cheap ones. This one from Santi is in the vein of Leones SW with a beautiful score, a great look, perfect camera and cool action and stunts. Also great performances of LvC and Horst Frank.
Recommended stuff👍
8,5/10
German DVD ist crap therefore I have watched a fan version based on Arrow BD. Longest available print is from German TV.
5 Likes
Day 27: Cry of Death
Rewatch. Somewhere between below average middling and being a potential hidden gem, this one is. A twisty cynical take on a stock western setup, and what I find to be among Glenn Saxson and Gordon Mitchell’s most standout roles in the genre. But man that hacky Brescia direction doesn’t do it much favors.
1 Like
Death Knows No Time (Pago cara sa muerte)
Leon Klimovksy, 1968
You didn’t think just because i haven’t posted anything this month that i’d simply forgotten about it, and not simply entered it late, with the actual documentations of it coming even later? Well, here´s at last my much-belated report on the first film i watched this spagvember.
I decided to give this one a go due to the positive buzz it tends to get from people who’ve seen it, and i had a rather pleasant watch. The opening where Wayde Preston’s character rides into the picture with the striking imagery of the lone shack out on the prairie is actually a western opening scene as good as any. Then, as the Marshal catches up with Yuma and lets him tell the whole story, it actually loses a bit of its momentum, and while what follows is mostly nice viewing, it never really recovers to the standard set by the first 10 minutes. It’s surely a film that tries something else than your average action SW (well, there is a good chance to believe this when the runtime exceeds 100 minutes), and as a result, often feels more like a melodrama than a western. That’s not bad, though; had it just been about shooting and robbing it would all have been plain forgettable.
Spolletini’s performance as Martin Rojas is the centre of the film. He aims to portray a more emotionally nuanced take on the typical Mexican bandit character, and with a great deal of success. Overacting moments are very rare (Django Reinhardt could probably have counted them on his damaged hand) and when we know him well enough, we can feel his emotional distress over knowing that his kid would never live a good life with him like he does with his adoptive family. Actually, their interaction isn’t wooden or overly dramatic; It’s just purely sweet, almost reminiscent of the dynamics between Mowgli and Baloo the Bear in the Disney version of The Jungle Book, to the point where Yuma becomes something of a Bagheera analogue, whose brief prayer for Rojas at the end make you think that the latter will open his eyes, and tell him [suddenly in Phil Harris’ voice]; I wish my mother could have heard this, revealing himself to be as a alive as the bear in the animated film. Whether this is the case is not disclosed before the ending, and extremely unlikely to be the intention, but a certain childish part of me likes to think about it that way .
Yuma is a really good character, too, a fitting melancholic foil to the more impulsive Martin. Yet the perhaps biggest acting credit goes to Eduardo Fajardo, whose character Trevor is sleazy as heck yet believable for every second he appears. I really begin to appreciate Fajardo as an actor and SW mainstay now in a way i guess i should have done from the first time i saw him target a mexican in Django. Unfortunately, the female characters gets marginal development at best. They (i think chiefly of Juan’s biological and adoptive mother) are well played, but hardly gets any attention despite their crucial role in the plot (imagine what improvement Corbucci possibly could have made here).
The acting is not always entirely smooth, however. The first flashback scene where Rojas and the others are driven off their land is a bit clumsy (especially as it tries do to an action gimmick with the blown-up house) and the banker isn’t exactly the best acting performance i’ve seen in my life, although there is a possibility here that the dubbing made me perceive those things in an even more negative light.
The chronological jump in the middle of the film was an odd choice, as what we see in Martin’s flashback at the saloon would have made just as much sense put in chronological order within the film, probably more so. As for the story itself, i think the event that sets everything in motion, the expelling of the mexican community from their land, is severely underutilised. It essentially gets forgotten less than 30 minutes in and never becomes relevant again, when it would have added a lot of depth to the at times slightly thin plot if it had continued to impact Martin’s struggles to recover his son. As it is, the plot occasionally rambles a bit without too much substance beyond the superficial father-son arc.
It’s however partially compensated by the nice details which turn up here and there; Like the point made about this oss new intention called the telegraph, of which Juan is much more knowledgeable than his father thanks to his education which the latter could never have given him. The small but crucial role that shack gets in the plot is another such clever detail. The ending gave me mixed feelings. It is, in one way, a good way to tie everything up, but on the other hand it feels a bit rushed and Rojas act quite stupidly during the final confrontation, just so the movie can end soon after.
It’s all in all a different but somewhat flawed genre entry, nothing i would consider putting in my top 20 or 30. Still, out of the 500-700 existing euro-westerns i find it safe to put this one in the upper 10%. I also find myself liking it more the more i think of it, be it due to poor concentration when i watched it (mostly then because i started it too late in the night), retrospective insights or the fact that you can always analyze the entirety of a film, play or book better in hindsight.
(The length of this review made me consider to change my approach of reporting movies i watch during this).
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Massacre at Grand Canyon - 6/10
Deadlock - 6/10
W Django! - 6/10
Death on High Mountain - 5/10
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Day 27: The Return of Clint the Stranger (aka. There’s A Noose Waiting for You, Trinity) (1972) Directed by Alfonso Balcazar. Starring Jorge Martin, Klaus Kinski, Marina Malfatti, Daniel Martin, Francisco Jose Huetos, Susanna Atkinson. A paella SW and sequel to Clint the Stranger. Clint “Trinity” Murrayson (Jorge Martin) learns new lessons about life and love after returning to the lives of his wife Norma (Malfatti), son Jimmy (Huetos) and young daughter Betty (Atkinson) after 6 years as a wanted outlaw. All while dodging a bounty hunter named Scott (Kinski) and trying to take on (without guns) a ruthless land-grabbing speculator and his three hired thugs. Daniel Martin (who appears to be a villain in every SW except A Fistful of Dollars) plays Slim, the alpha of the three thugs. Rating: 2/5.
5 Likes
Hola, mi amigo . I tried to find the original Clint the Stranger but to no avail 
. I could be wrong, but the red flashback scenes in There’s A Noose Waiting for You, Trinity (aka. Return of Clint the Stranger) may be scenes from the original 
. What do you think?
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One of my favorites ! The score is probably my favorite SW score. It’s so beautiful and haunting.
1 Like
SPAGVEMBER FEST 2025
Day 27
Una Pistola per Ringo (1965)
Rewatch.
My new kickoff to the holiday season is this SW classic. Never get tired of watching it. A really fun and entertaining film that mixes American and Italian tropes of the genre exquisitely.
Giuliano Gemma made his career as the titular Ringo, as well as the likable smart-ass character that kind of became his trademark.
Fernando Sancho offers some fine bombastic laughing villainy as main bad guy Sancho.
Nieves Navarro delivers one of the finest and earliest strong woman roles as Dolores, a lady both beautiful and deadly who learned to survive in a male dominated gang. Her transformation from hardened bandit woman to sultry tough woman is gradual and well played out.
(My only complaint with the film has been when Dolores is killed, Sancho didn’t kill the gang member knifed her in the back before blaming the Major for it. I know Western baddies, whether American or European, aren’t rational at times, but any bandit leader who doesn’t punish an underling for that kind of act is a fool.)
Jorge “George” Martin, Jose Manuel Martin, Antonio Casas, Lorella de Luca, and Manuel “Pajarito” Muniz offer up fine supporting roles.
5/5
This is where I bow out of the Fest to enjoy the Christmas season. Watched some really good films overall this Fest.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING to anyone who celebrates
7 Likes
- Baldanello: Black Jack
-Baldanello’s best western (or only good one). Not as great film as I remembered but at times it’s really something remarkable. Really dark stuff. Israel locations on the desert scene look good and distinct from other similar scenes in sw’s. 7/10
4 Likes
Spagvemberfest 2025
Day 28
Charge! (Rosati / 1973)
By 1973 the overall quality of spaghetti westerns was not great so this one is a nice surprise and apart from an unnecessary and overlong fistfight and the poor decision to make the chief villain a buffoon it’s pretty solid stuff. Garko and Boyd both do a good job and even the theme tune is catchy. For ‘73 this is a pretty decent effort.
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- Corbucci: Hellbenders
- I got the bluray just on time to include on spagvember list. Another good one 7/10
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Day 28: Per un Pugno di Dollari (aka. A Fistful of Dollars; Joe, The Magnificent Stranger) (1964) Directed by Sergio Leone. Starring Clint Eastwood, Jose Calvo, Gian Maria Volonte, Marianne Koch, Daniel Martin, Sieghardt Rupp, Benito Stefanelli, Mario Brega, Aldo Sambrell, and Joseph Egger. This movie requires no introduction from me.
I regret not having seen Leone’s other Dollar Trilogy movies (FAFDM, TGTBATU) or his masterpiece Once Upon a Time in the West until I started my deep-dive into watching SW’s in 2015. A Fistful of Dollars is now my least favorite of Leone’s westerns. However, it’s still in my Top 10 list. Rating: 5/5.
4 Likes
1971 - Hannie Caulder
Sure, it is a British-American western filmed in Spain, but since it opened up the thread, I decided to give it another watch. It really has stunning cinematography throughout and fun, an energetic score by Ken Throne, and a really strong cast of characters. I agree with Sir Chris Frayling that Quentin must have been influenced by it, and Raquel is badass, though I wish her character had a little more depth.
I’m ok with the surreal man in black not being explained… what if he is the same unnamed man in black from Hammer’s Karnstein films, and he’s about to turn Hannie into an avenging gunslinger vampire? I’d watch it!
4/5
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In my head canon, that’s what I’m going to believe. The footage in the flashbacks did seem rougher, so there’s ground to surmise they used an old film element. It is a little fun to have it out there, waiting for it to surface. Thanks for looking! 
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Day 28: Hate for Hate
Rewatch.
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No. 26 REQUIESCANT
What can I say? To me definitely one of the most interesting and best SW. Top 25 stuff.
Incredible cool performance from Lou Castel and demonic Mark Damon like a vampyre. I especially like the Drink and Shot Game🤠
9/10
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Especially Mr Ferguson 
36 No Room To Die/Hanging For Django/A Noose For Django (Sergio Garrone) music Vasili Kojucharov and Elsio Mancuso 1969
37 Requiescant/ Kill And Pray (Carlo Lizzani) 1967
38 A Hole In The ForeHead/ A Hole Between The Eyes (Giuseppe Vari) music Roberto Pregadio 1968
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