SpagvemberFest!

It was okay. That said, it may have been the least of the Spagvember movies I hadn’t yet seen. Richard Harrison definitely elevates the picture (for me) but, ultimately, I imagine Dig Your Grave Friend, Sabata’s Coming will join the likes of Hallelujah For Django or Go With God, Gringo on my big pile of “Meh”.

I was supposed to pick better films and what did I really do? Watched Franco & Ciccio. :laughing:

Spagvember#21 Simonelli: Two Mafiamen in the Far West
-Franco and Ciccio have triple roles in this early italo-western as sicilian idiots, their grandfathers and indian girls. Fernando Sancho makes his usual bandit role. There’s few good gags here and there but it’s mostly annoying film and also some 20 minutes overlong. 2/10

Day 19

Kitosch, the Man Who Came From the North (Merino / 1967)

I’m making this a bit of a George Hilton week and taking advantage of what’s available on Amazon Prime so I can watch while commuting to work.

The 4:3 print of this they have didn’t help my enjoyment of a pretty unimpressive film anyway. Lots of scenes where I could only see the noses of the two characters talking from either side of the screen. I’m sure a better print would have helped but in truth it probably wouldn’t have that much difference. Hilton and Lulli are both fine but compared to Merino’s better westerns (Requiem for a Gringo and More Dollars for the McGregors) this one doesn’t come close.

1 Like

And since most of the film is set in Canada, Kitosch, the man who came from the North, must be a polar bear

1 Like

Un par de asesinos (“a pair/couple of murderers”), Rafael Romero Marchent’s ninth and penultimate Western, released on September 11, 6 AL, nonchalantly revisits Spaghetti Western stock-characters, -situations and -constellations. Episodic in structure, static in spirit, the film’s not bad but generic to the point of déjà-vu (it was indeed a rewatch for me). Good part for María Silva. – The end is nigh, only two more Ro-Ma bros Westerns to watch.

2 Likes

Day 20

One More to Hell (Fago / 1968)

image

A re-viewing of this didn’t really change my mind since last time.

It does have some good elements but the jokiness of the first third loses me a bit I’m afraid.

Also, noticed that for some reason Scherp’s review wasn’t linked to the film’s page so have fixed that now. :slightly_smiling_face:

2 Likes

Day 21

The Moment to Kill (Carnimeo / 1968)

image

Very solid '68 style spag this one with Hilton and Barnes making a good double act and Horst Frank being…well…Horst Frank. Nice photography and nice score, plenty of action and some intrigue as well. I like it although wouldn’t go as far as this fella.

:crazy_face:

3 Likes

DAY 22
Another lower-league effort I’ve not previously seen today: Django Defies Sartana (Squitieri, 1970), described by this site as “a lame quarrel… clumsy… a cheap affair… with 2 leading actors which are not able to walk in Nero’s and Garko’s boots and lots of dialogues which are only a stiff and shallow rendering of SW cliches.” So that sounds like a fat pile of fun, right there.

1 Like

Can’t abide the voice ‘dubber’ for Hilton on this one … I’ve heard the same voice actor many times, and it makes me cringe - It’s kinda smug and sleazy, and simply really distracting and unsuitable.

Anyone know who this bastard is / was ? :thinking: He’s as bad as the infamous anonymous English Django dub … might even be the same dude ?

Grazie

Apropos déjà-vu: Rafael Romero Marchent’s last Western, Un dólar de recompensa (“one dollar reward,” released in April 8 AL, censura: November 11, 7 AL), recycles older footage galore, from RRM’s own films, e.g. Dos cruces en Danger Pass, and from other directors’ Westerns, e.g. Mario Caiano’s Una bara per lo sceriffo (1 AL). The Revenge of the Resurrected, as U. d. d. r. was titled in English-speaking countries, tells an impossibly naïve story: Daniel O’Hara (P. L. Lawrence), a young man whose draftsmanship is outdone only by his marksmanship, seeks revenge for the death of his father (Luis Induni), who has been killed by a band of stagecoach robbers. His vengeful endeavors lead Danny to a hamlet called Blackpoint, among whose honorable (non-)burghers he clandestinely exposes the culprits one after the other.

The fun side of the movie is that we get to watch some RRM regulars in unusual roles: Lorenzo Robledo as a barber (named Mathathy [sic]); Raf Baldassarre as Blackpoint’s blacksmith; Carlos Romero Marchent as a hypocritical oligarch who wants to make Blackpoint great again; and Frank Braña as a judge. However and unfortunately, Un dólar de recompensa feels more like Rafael Romero Marchent’s last whimper than a proud, cheerful final goodbye to his genre of choice.

2 Likes

Spagvember#22 Mulargia: W Django!
-After watching Apocalypse Joe this felt almost like watching the sequel, there’s some plot there I guess but it’s mostly just gunfight after another with some silly tricks again. Steffen’s fake arm trick was like out of the Benny Hill. As a 70’s western there’s some other silly comedy stuff too and the mandatory car. The very last scene is very good though. 5/10

1 Like

DAY 23
From up in the more comedic, parodic end of things comes today’s movie: Trinity and Sartana, Those Dirty Sons of Bitches (Siciliano, 1972). I’ve never seen it, I won’t pretend I’m looking forward to it (this doesn’t strike me as my sort of spag at all), but on the other hand it surely can’t be as craptastic as yesterday’s picture. So there’s that.

The first two thirds of SpagvemberFest raced past like it was nothing. This final third has slowed to a crawl. Note to self: When planning your Spagvember, remember to mix some quality into the crap! For God’s sake!

3 Likes

wishful thinking…

1 Like

:weary: No, don’t say that! Say something like, “You’re in for a treat” or “Underrated classic” or something. Lie to me, Bill!

2 Likes

Spagvember#23 Bianchini:I Want Him Dead
-Many seem to rate this one quite high. Personally I’ve never really liked it apart from great soundtrack. I have to say though that earlier I used to watch very worn out vhs-rip. Watching the dvd quality made me notice that film actually looks good often. 5/10

2 Likes
  1. The Moment of Killing
    Release Date: 4.8.1968

PNG

Great opening, including “Walk By My Side” sung by Raoul, later to be used in Vendetta at Dawn. Overall not a bad film this, and with a good De Masi Score. 6/10.

Lagging behind because of the Chess World Championship going on in London. I’ll pull myself together.

2 Likes

Day 22

Last of the Badmen (Cicero / 1967)

image

Is this a sequel to Kitosch, Man from the North? Hilton has the same name and the same jacket and the same weakness for other people’s women so maybe so but it is such a different story in such a different setting it is difficult to accept the connection. Also, Kitosch in this one is also something of a crook whereas in the original he was an upstanding Mountie bound by his honour. Who know? Who cares really?

What I can say is this film is far better than the other one and is helped by the inclusion of Frank Wolff as the psycho epileptic villain. What was it with epilepsy in these films. Always seems to go hand in hand with psychosis. Anyhoo, one of the better Hiltons for me although Fajardo’s sudden change of character at the end didn’t quite fit.

2 Likes
  1. One Dollar Too Many
    Release Date: 12.8.1968

PNG

Picked this one only because it is directed by Castellari. Really had trouble paying attention to this nonsense. Seems to me, although I watched a shitty copy, that in good picture quality this film must be quite good looking, at least some of the time. The directing and the acting is not bad, but everything else is. 4/10.

1 Like

The Italian DVD looks very nice - it’s a silly movie, but I wouldn’t enjoy watching a VHS pan scan version, if that’s what you endured ?

1 Like