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A Man Called Amen
Release Date: June 1968
Finished with this, and that’s a relief. Made a note not to go anywhere near it again.
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Its on my ‘To do list’ … so I shouldn’t expect too much ? 
Expect nothing and you might find something. And instead of turning it off after ten minutes, you might go directly to the last ten.
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I rewatched two of Rafael Romero Marchent’s Westerns yesterday: ¿Quién grita venganza? (“who cries ‘vengeance’?”), released on December 11, 4 AL, and Garringo, released on August 28, 5 AL. Again, as in his two preceding Westerns, we get two ant-/protagonists, played by Mark Damon and Anthony Steffen in ¿Q. g. v.? and by the latter and Peter Lee Lawrence in Garringo. RRM at the top of his game, maybe his best work up to that point (even my sectarian buddy Nick Beat and my two super-critical cats, Cool and Hep, liked those films).
“Dead Sun Rising” – Garringo’s opponent Johnny suffers from a severe form of negative heliosis.
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DAY 19
Today I’m checking in on maybe the most frustrating spag of them all (for me, at least): Django the Bastard (Garrone, 1969). How can a spaghetti western about a vengeful entity from beyond the grave possibly miss? It can’t, can it? Django the Bastard begins about as well as any spag I’ve ever seen - Hell, about as well as any movie I’ve ever seen, period - and just as Arnold Schwarzenegger was perfect as the Terminator, Anthony Steffen’s stiff-as-a-board performance is absolutely ideal for the character here. So why does it frustrate me? Well, it undermines its own premise by alternating between Steffen being a supernatural force and, when the need arises to inject a bit of peril, being a regular, mortal guy. Seems a weird complaint to make I suppose given that most of our more prominent spag anti-heroes seem supernaturally talented whenever the plot requires them to be but, still. DtB goes further than most to establish that our man is definitely not of this world. And then he is. And then he’s not. And then he is.
Oh well. The thing is, I want to love Django the Bastard so much I’ll probably always be able to find the time to give it another try. And another. And another.
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Day 17
Django Kill…If You Live, Shoot! (Questi / 1967)
Thought I’d treat myself and watch the 88 Films Bluray I’ve had sitting around of this unwatched for a while. Still bonkers after all these years but still fantastic in my book. I just love it.
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Day 18
Professionals for a Massacre (Cicero / 1967)
Recorded this one off Movies 4 Men ages ago and this is a perfect excuse to watch and delete it. A film which always feels like a Castellari to me with constant action but this one stars George Martin’s wig and 3 other people. Entertaining enough although I did watch it very early in the morning so struggled to stay awake at times with all the shooting, explosions and brawling.
Here’s a question…Who would win a wig-off between George Martin in this one, Burt Reynolds in Navajo Joe and Tomas Milian in Face to Face? That’s a contest I’d pay cash money to see.
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Bury Them Deep
Release Date: 18.7.1968
Watched the Koch BR, runtime 88 min. 4/10.
Sparse on parts for women, this film. Even more sparse on lines. The female lead has four lines, that is up till the moment she is shot and dying at the end of the film. They go like this: “Why?” “You?” “Aaugh!” “Nooo!” Whoever did that part, she must have been quite pissed about it.
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The George Martin is the silliest, because I think he was losing his hair and thought he looked cool wearing this ‘Syrup’
I’ve seen the other two so much, they no longer shock the way they did … but here’s my fav bad hair day from Benito Stefanelli in ‘Night of the Serpent’
WTF ??? 
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Lee Van Cleef. One wig to rule them all.
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Yes, that is a cracker
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DAY 20
Urgh, another one I’ve not yet seen. Today, it’s Dig Your Grave Friend, Sabata’s Coming (Bosch, 1971), and I have to say that, already, these as-yet-unseen lesser lights are turning this year’s challenge into a bloody brutal test of faith, endurance and sanity. Still, that’s Spagvember for you. It wouldn’t be a challenge without a challenging day or two (or three. Or six). It would be Wondervember, or Spagfabulous. Oh well. The SWDB review suggests it’s not too bad so maybe it’ll be okay. Here’s hoping.
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Once upon a Time there was a Wig called Invincible
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Spagvember#17 Barboni: They Call me Trinity
-Revisiting classics for a while, I’ve always preferred the sequel but this one has it’s moments too. 7/10
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Spagvember#18 Savona:Apocalypse Joe
-This must be in one way one of the craziest spaghetti westerns, just endless shoot-outs, roll-and-shoots and dive-and-shoots, tricks after even crazier tricks. Body count must be somewhere around 100 which makes you wonder where did Fajardo get this small army of villains. Over-the-top spaghetti madness. 6/10
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I was home alone last weekend, so I put myself on a spaghetti diet, eating as many dishes by chef Castellari as possible
Professionista per un Massacro (1967, Cicero)
**
Not a Castellari movie, but looking like one. An incredibly noisy pudding of a movie, there something in it for everybody, silly jokes, explosions, fistfights (even a few good scenes), but on the whole a very average entry. Phil H already said something about George Martin’s wig
Sette Winchester per un Massacro (1966, Castellari)
**
Officially Castellari’s first western and also his first (of two) starring Edd ‘Kookie’ Byrness. Actually this was the movie that I wanted to watch when I ended up with Cicero’s Professionisti, etc. Massacre here, Massacre there, Massacre titles everywhere. Not among Castellari’s most memorable movies, to put it mildly. The script is a bizarre hodge podge of violence and comedy. The violence works better than the comedy, but unfortunately there’s more comedy than action.
Uno Scerifo tutto d’Oro / A golden Sheriff (1967, Civirani)
**½
Another one that easily could have been a Castellari, with a story about several persons vying for a load of gold (“that little stone that glows in the sand”), lots of double-crossings and a twist-ending. The comedy is slightly less prominent here and the movie is also slightly better than the two Massacres, but that isn’t saying too much.
I tre che sconvolsero il West / I came I saw, I Shot (1968, Castellari)
**
An unofficial sequel to the much better Vado L’Ammazzo e Torno / Any Gun can Play. The cast is fine and the first half of the movie is quite enjoyable, but halfway through Castellari doesn’t know where to go with his story and throws in everything he can think of, silly jokes, unfunny jokes, fistfights, more fistfights and probably even a kitchen sink. Luckily it also stars Agatha Flori and Pilar Velsquez
Vado L’ammazzo e Torno / Any Gun can Play (1967, Castellari)
***½
I ended the fun parade with this old favorite, probably my favorite Castellari movie. First half pretty violent, second half pretty funny, plus a classic tongue-in-cheek opening scene. Even the silly jokes work, probably with the exception of some ugly-looking underwear action
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Another good RRM/PLL collaboration: Manos torpes (“clumsy hands,” released in May 6 AL) – a Mediterranean melodrama, a sort of coming-of-age story, a revenge tale and a morality play, all in one film, sometimes with a slightly surreal flavor, almost Jodorowskian avant la lettre.
“What’ve they done with our lives?” – Peter’s clumsy hands have become the devil’s playthings.
What a strange name: Peter Cushmich. It looks like there is a thin space between CUSH and MICH. Maybe an interlingual in-joke, referring to the German phrase “Küss mich!” (“Kiss me!”)?
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Hate Thy Neighbor
Release Date: 26.7.1968
When the hero wears green trousers, it’s usually not a good sign. Another 4/10.
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Spagvember#19 Esteba & Mollica: 20 Paces to Death
-Dean Reed is not so convincing half-breed with blond hair and fake tan in this melodramatic spanish western. 4/10
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DAY 21
Oh, thank God! It’s a good 'un today. Going back to my Sartana box for the fourth time this month, for Light the Fuse… Sartana is Coming (Carnimeo, 1970). Not my favourite Sartana pic by any means but it’s a hugely welcome Spagvember entry nonetheless as we move into the final third of the month.
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