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[b]Spagvemberfest number 22

El Puro (Mulargia / 1970)[/b]

Viewed autephex’s composite fan project version (still the best option out there as far as I know) this time around and enjoyed it as much as ever. Daring, nasty, weird and trippy in equal measure, this films flaws are more than eclipsed by its strengths. At times slavishly derivative at others completely original it is never boring and everyone (except maybe poor Rosalba Neri who gets her face bashed in) looks to be having as grand an old time making it as I do watching it. This one will probably get overtaken by a couple by the time the dust settles on this project (Bandidos being an obvious candidate) but it still remains a firm favourite.

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I’m looking forward to this on Sunday, although I always erroneously think of it as “The Phil H Version” since it was you who gave me that copy (with apologies and many thanks to autephex :slight_smile: it really is an excellent version).

SPAGVEMBERFEST 2015 - THE BIG RUNDOWN: NUMBER 21

“I’m your pallbearer.”

Ah! One of my early markers today: At #21, it’s If You Meet Sartana, Pray For Your Death (Parolini, 1968), the original and, for me, the best of the Sartana canon. If someone were to bowl up to me and proclaim, “Hey, gorgeous! The only Spaghetti Westerns I’ve ever seen or indeed heard of are the Dollars Trilogy, Django and OUaTitW. Can you recommend, say, five more? You sexy thing, you?”, If You Meet Sartana… would be a dead cert as one of those five. For my money, Gianni Garko really perfected the Sartana “look” in Have a Good Funeral My Friend… Sartana Will Pay (Carnimeo, 1970) but he’s plenty charismatic here too. The movie barely makes a lick of sense for much of the time but who cares, when it’s all this cool?

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[quote=“scherpschutter, post:68, topic:3590”]The Japanese title is indeed well-chosen. Note that the original (C’era una Volta il West) reads as Once upon a Time the West (not ‘in the west’).
The film was meant to be a meta western, so not simply a film about the West, but also about the representation of it in the movies called ‘westerns’. Both quintessential western themes are combined in the script: the revenge tale and the way the West was won (for civilisation).[/quote]

Yes the original Italian (and French) have always sounded better than the English rendition. It also worked well for the French name of “Duck, You Sucker” as “Il était une fois la révolution” which doesn’t work very well in English.

In Japan, they just went with a phonetic rendition of the name for “Once Upon a Time in America” - literally “Wansu apon a taimu in amerika”.

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Well I watched

Four Pistols For Trinity

… and what a strange film it is. I had a better print this time, but it wasn’t as good as I remembered. But I gotta say it is still well worth watching - even though I hadn’t been nibbling the same peyote as the writers this time around. I tend to agree with Phil H’s thread-comment about it seems to be “making the script up as they go along.” But that makes for some inspired pantomime. The characters are proper bonkers… and it’s jam-packed full of ‘em. We have 3 honey blonde/redheads (including Miss Italia - Daniela Giordano - her of the fantastic Find a Place to Die song); some bad guys competeing in the who’s got the thinnest mustache competition, brilliantly bad acting from the patch-eyed fellah who hasn’t got used to it and can’t work out where he’s meant to be looking; a kid (who ain’t too annoying) and his dwarf-mate that is! And some great looking cactii that arn’t the usual Fid n’ co. trio. 8)
Inspirational nonsense, and highly recommended as such… but only 3 and a bit stars this time around… 13 mad marks outa (spacey) 20.

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Find a Place to Die (1968, Giuliano Carnimeo)

Because it was discussed here a few days ago, I also re-watched this little spaghetti.
I had forgotten that it was directed by Carnimeo, the man behind four Sartanas and a few pseudo-Sartanas as well. This is definitely a different movie.

Of course I rewatched it for that one classic scene in the improvised saloon, with beautiful Daniela performing (but not singing) a song and Jeffrey Hunter growling some background vocals in the style of a grizzly bear.

I always find this movie a pleasure to watch, although I can’t say exactly why. That scene yes, and Pascale Petit isn’t ugly either, but apart from that scene & the two women it’s all pretty mediocre and unspectacular. The interminable (at least it felt interminable) shootout near the end is simply awful. But, as said, I enjoy watching this one, again and again.

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[quote=“scherpschutter, post:85, topic:3590”]Find a Place to Die (1968, Giuliano Carnimeo)

Of course I rewatched it for that one classic scene in the improvised saloon, with beautiful Daniela performing (but not singing) a song and Jeffrey Hunter growling some background vocals in the style of a grizzly bear.

I always find this movie a pleasure to watch, although I can’t say exactly why. …But, as said, I enjoy watching this one, again and again.[/quote]

I can’t put my finger on it either. It shouldn’t be troubling my top 20, but it is. I’m just so fond of it. If the final shootout, and the too easy Chaco takeover, had been better conceived, then this would just about have everything I want from a spag.

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[quote=“Reverend Danite, post:30, topic:3590”]Requiescant - Kill and Pray

… Luisa Baratto who won me over in KK plays the smokingly hot maid with the candlesticks here - in the great drunken shooty game.[/quote]

Looks like she’s won me over as I’ll be ‘double-dipping’ with her again - as a mate’s just rang about this…
http://www.leedsfilm.com/films/requiescant/
:slight_smile:

Gonna start my proper Top 20 in reverse order tomorrow - although I have seen a couple quite recently (Face to Face; CWC… and FAFDM is gonna get a by in) so I’ve got the opportunity to slip a few others in as I see fit.

So - tomorrow it’s A Man Called Sledge, a film that some say ain’t a spag, but it’s consistently been in my list up til now. But I feel it future (as with the old man) may lie in the cards.

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10: Guerrieri: Johnny Yuma (1966)
It was already 10 years I saw this for the last time. Good film but also sadly flawed, it really takes its time to get going and with stupid saloon fight you might lose your interest before the good stuff. I don’t have a problem with Damon but then again Gemma would have been better choice for the lead. The mexican sidekick on the other hand is almost unnecessary character. But there’s lots of good stuff in it, first of all: the theme song is one of my biggest favorites, something that stays in your head for days. Like all the others, I was also fascinated by Rosalba Neri. Film is also memorable for the violence, kicking the kid to death is a nasty scene, something you rarely see in any movie. Killing of a bad guy in the end in sadistic manner is also very brutal (and makes you wanna cheer, guy gets what he deserves).

7/10

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[quote=“Bill san Antonio, post:88, topic:3590”]10. Guerrieri: Johnny Yuma[url]http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Johnny_Yuma[/url] (1966)
It was already 10 years I saw this for the last time. Good film but also sadly flawed, it really takes its time to get going and with stupid saloon fight you might lose your interest before the good stuff. I don’t have a problem with Damon but then again Gemma would have been better choice for the lead. The mexican sidekick on the other hand is almost unnecessary character. But there’s lots of good stuff in it, first of all: the theme song is one of my biggest favorites, something that stays in your head for days. Like all the others, I was also fascinated by Rosalba Neri. Film is also memorable for the violence, kicking the kid to death is a nasty scene, something you rarely see in any movie. Killing of a bad guy in the end in sadistic manner is also very brutal (and makes you wanna cheer, guy gets what he deserves).

7/10[/quote]

By some strange alignment of the planets, or possibly just parallel deviant minds, my Spagvemberfest number 21 was the same as Bill’s; Johnny Yuma (Guerrieri / 1966) and I would mirror his comments on the film.

It is Neri’s perfect role I think. The ultimate femme fatale; irresistible but deadly. Even the parrot gets hot under the collar watching her strip. (One day I will properly discuss the recurring feature of parrots in Spaghetti westerns) For me, it is her film and Damon’s character is only there to provide her come uppance. Even the emotionally tortured killer, Carradine, has more depth and interest. But it is an odd mix of semi light hearted stuff interspersed with brutal violence; the graphic arm breaking of the brother before cold heartedly shooting him while he is still squirming in pain stands out as an obvious example. It is a film which I have gone back to many times though and stands up to repeated viewings without ever reaching classic status. This time around it struck me that it is a film containing excellent elements, in fact some of my absolute favourites, but not the consistency it needs to push it up in my list past some others. Essentially, still a firm favourite but probably never going to regain its Top 20 status due to its unevenness. But that song is damn catchy though…(sings) “Johnny Yuma don’t go…Johnny Yuma stay here…”

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Speaking of catchy songs…

SPAGVEMBERFEST 2015 - THE BIG RUNDOWN: NUMBER 20

[size=12pt]#Something something, something about sombreeeeeerooooooos,
Bangabangabang, bangabangabang, Companeeerooooooooos!
(La la laa-la, la laaa-la, la-laaaaaaaa!)
Something something, mint chocolate Aeeerooooooooos,
Bangabangabang, bangabangabang, Companeeerooooooooos!
(La la laa-la, la laaa-la, la-laaaaaaaa!)#[/size]

YES!

Propping up my Big 20, it is, of course… Cut Throats Nine. Nah, not really, it’s Companeros (Corbucci, 1970) aka “The Mercenary (Light Comedy Remix)”, in which the swarthy ultra-Italian Franco Nero once again kids absolutely nobody that he’s a Northern European, this time Yodlaf “The Swede” Peterson. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Companeros is one of those films I never particularly relish until I’m actually watching it, at which point I find that, yet again, I enjoyed it more than I thought I was going to. Will it retain its place in my 20 this time though? It’s under a lot of pressure from a couple of the films I’ve re-watched in Spagvember so far.

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Reading this thread has given me a real hankering to revisit Bandidos (Dallamano, 1967), a movie which I haven’t seen in maybe a year and which presently sits outside my personal Big 40, and to try Find a Place to Die (Carnimeo, 1968), a movie I’ve owned (via that 44-film box set) for nigh on two-and-a-half years now but which I’ve still never seen. I’m loving Spagvemberfest but it leaves you with precious little room for additional spag-viewing, doesn’t it? Especially with a wife who I suspect is ready at this point to murder me, gut me like a fish and then stuff my corpse with my own spag DVD collection.

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The next walk on Sartana Memory Lane took me to Carnimeo’s second, Garko’s third Sartana:

HAVE A GOOD FUNERAL MY FRIEND, SARTANA WILL PAY !

http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Have_a_Good_Funeral,_My_Friend_…Sartana_Will_Pay_Review(Scherpschutter)

Some will notice that I borrowed a line from a post by Last.Caress about the ‘Sartana look’ being perfected by Garko in this movie. The opening scene, set at night, shows us the Sartana we all like to think of, thinking about the character: a dark angel of death, with a glacial look in his eyes, as if hell is freezin’ over.

It’s a better movie than Carnimeo’s first entry, I am Sartana, your Angel of Death, but I’m not sure that it’s superior to the Carnimeo/Hilton movie. Okay, Sartana is really badass here, but only in some of the movie’s best scenes (luckily there are quite a few), in other scenes he just seems to be there, because it’s a Sartana movie, entering rooms by the window, blacking out candles with his playing cards. The silly things look sillier here because the good things are better than in the Hilton movie, so let the good things decide.

My Top 3 so far (2 to go):

… …

  1. Buon Funerale Amigos, Paga Sartana! (Carnimeo-Garko)
  2. C’è Sartana vendi la pistola e comprati la bara (Carnimeo-Hilton)
  3. Sono Sartana il vostro becchino (Carnimeo-Garko)
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11: Malasomma: 15 Scaffolds for a Killer (1967)
-Another one I had seen but didn’t remember a thing about. It’s a pretty good one with potential to be one of the better ones but it has some flaws. What makes the film interesting is that there’s no real hero in it, Craig Hill is the main character but he’s anti-hero, bandit and not very likable. Absence of hero is also a problem for the story because the idea is that Hill’s and Martin’s group is chased for the crime they didn’t commit but since they’re bandits and killers you don’t really care if they get hanged anyway. Stupidity of the villagers posse was unbelievable at times.

5/10

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[quote=“Bill san Antonio, post:92, topic:3590”]11. Malasomma: 15 Scaffolds for a Killer[url]http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Quindici_forche_per_un_assassino[/url] (1967)
What makes the film interesting is that there’s no real hero in it, Craig Hill is the main character but he’s anti-hero, bandit and not very likable. Absence of hero is also a problem for the story because the idea is that Hill’s and Martin’s group is chased for the crime they didn’t commit but since they’re bandits and killers you don’t really care if they get hanged anyway. [/quote]

A Man Called Sledge seen now.

Sledge is a bit like this as well. The films starts with him robbing a stage where a couple of innocents are killed (albeit accidentally). He’s an outlaw and should get little sympathy, but you do end up rooting for him especially against some of the low-life scum he hangs out with (particularly the umbrella carrying character played by Corazzari, and the “old man”). Also he’s not very good at keeping friends (alive), and his love interest (the beautiful Laura Antonelli) deserves him to survive for her sake… ::slight_smile: The difference, as compared to Hill’s character I suppose is, after all this, Sledge is quite likable.

I wasn’t thinking it would stand up quite as well as it did, as the story is pretty straight forward (and even I could remember what happened since last seen in 2007). But it’s a well acted and good looking film, with great locations, that still entertains well. Real cactii to boot!

16.75 this time around.

I’m thrilled to find that it’s… Dead Men Don’t Make Shadows next up. 8)

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12: Lucidi: Greatest Robbery in the West (1967)
-Mix of comedy and violent serious stuff that doesn’t really work. I didn’t get all of the plot like what was the motivation for Hunt Powers’ actions but then again I saw the 85 minute version. With almost 25 minutes cuts the film is hard to follow at times. As a torso I don’t really know what to think of it. 5/10

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[b]Spagvemberfest 2015 number 20

Django Kill, If You Live Shoot! (Questi / 1967)[/b]

And so into my current top 20 and a revisit to what is still the most unique of all spaghetti westerns for me. Part art film, part bloodfest, its editing style and bleak themes make this a standout statement from one of Italian cinema’s great individualists. As Milian says in the extra features interview, this is the cult film of a cult film sect. Still as effective today as it was the first time I saw it and with some truly standout elements that are once seen, never forgotten. Plus another parrot!
Gotta love this film.

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SPAGVEMBERFEST 2015 - THE BIG RUNDOWN: NUMBER 19

Wow, almost forgot to check in today! :-[ Later tonight I shall be tucking into The Forgotten Pistolero (Baldi, 1969), one of those “Based-on-An-Older-Classic-Story” pics which gained momentum in that no-man’s-land period twixt the grittier mid '60s and the parody-laden '70s. This time, it’s a reworking of… um… (checks the SWDB)… ah yes! The Greek legend of Orestes! Of course! Yes, well, be that as it may, The Forgotten Pistolero is a corker.

-Knock Knock!
-Who’s there?
-Orestes!
-Orestes who?
-Orestes you, in the name of the law!

I just made that joke up! Can you tell?

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Dead men Don’t Make Shadows probably don’t make it into my new toptwenty despite being great fun.

I’m gonna back up my previous 4 star rating, as a spagfest 16 outa 20, which means it at least it may get a chance to fight it out in what will now be a 3-way face-off GBU-stylee against Black Jack and Requiescant, should it come to it.

I noticed this time around that Simone got her own leitmotif - a wonky glokenspiel rendition of Perry Como’s Catch a Falling Star.

On a side note, the database synopsis is a slight rewrite of Weisser-wank. Although for the most part it’s correct :o he gets the names mixed up. Ettore Manni plays Barrett (not Sir Gordon) and the ol’ scrote is Eugenio Gladini (not Manni) and it’s $30,000 offered (altho’ Lazar wants $50,000) not the $100,000 mentioned. The (Cast and Crew bit has got is correct. Maybe one of you deputies could correct it?

Today’s film is another that could face the drop, Five Giants From Texas - we’ll see…

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[b]Spagvemberfest 2015 number 19

And God Said to Cain (Margheriti / 1969)[/b]

A man gets out of jail and goes home to take revenge on those that put him there for a crime he didn’t commit. That’s not just a brief outline of the plot, it’s the whole damn thing. What’s more, our avenger goes about his business whilst saying practically bugger all to anyone. So, light on plot and light on dialogue but that is the only lightness in the entire picture as Margheriti manages to turn the whole thing into a brooding, gothic bag of tension and blood-letting with Kinski getting possibly his only turn as a lead / hero character and yet still managing to turn it into a masterclass in looking sinister. As much a gothic horror as a western in many ways but all very enjoyable any way you slice it.

One thing that has struck me so far in this little top 30 re-visit is that I’m struggling to genuinely separate them in terms of order. There have been a few that I can see rising or falling a bit but for the most part they are all just falling into the ‘damn fine’ category and places 19 to 29 are pretty much interchangeable. Not sure how I’m going to go on actually reforming my list. But hey ho, it’ll be fun trying I guess.

Coming up is a long weekend of Corbucci with Companeros, The Mercenary and Django all bunched together. The wife’ll be thrilled.

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13: Pupillo: Django Kills Silently (1967)
-I watched this in few parts and I wasn’t that concentrated all the time but the film just ain’t so good. Best thing is the cast with Rossi and Boyd as villains and there’s some nice looking scenes but the plot is uninteresting, film is very cheaply made and the big fight in the end is badly directed. And what was that about when Eastman faces his enemies in duel? Why can’t anyone get shot at him at close range? I read from Scherp’s review that Pupillo made few horror films prior to this, it’s no wonder then that the best scene in Django Kills Silently is the shoot out during stormy night. 4/10

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Yesterday I have seen Five Giants From Texas and I’ll Sell My Skin Dearly: in my opinion Five for Revenge - visually uncommon SW populated by characters of few words - is certainly the better between the two.

Previously I saw Find a Place to Die and the unusual and very interesting Fifth: You shall not murder, another good one from the Argentinian director of Challenge Of The McKennas.

And now, albeit reluctantly, Wanted Johnny Texas! :smiley:

  1. Fifth: You shall not murder
  2. Vengeance Is My Forgiveness
  3. This Man Can’t Die
  4. Five Giants From Texas
  5. Twenty Paces to Death a.k.a. Saranda
  6. Find a Place to Die
  7. Revenge of the Resurrected
  8. I’ll Sell My Skin Dearly
  9. Chapagua’s Gold