I was asked recently about 'underrated' spaghetti westerns
and I struggled to come up with one. The reason is that the best of the genre
are very well known and even the lesser known exceptional examples have
penetrated into the broader knowledge base of western fans after thirty-five
years of home video releases. After all - most aficionados of the horse operas
are ravenous seekers that can't wait to watch the latest obscure discovery and
with that being the norm, it becomes pretty difficult to locate a spaghetti
western of real quality that isn't known to some degree - but it can be done.
For instance....
10,000 DOLLARS FOR A MASSACRE (1967) turned up in a cheap
four pack DVD set of spaghettis and its title prompted me to try it first.
Bingo! This turns out to be a very well directed little western focused on a
bounty killer (Gianni Garko) of dubious moral character (surprise!) and
impressive skills (shock!). He has a helpful sidekick (Fidel Gonzáles) who
earns a living as a portrait photographer when not wielding a rifle to aid his
buddy. Adding greatly to the proceedings is Claudio Camaso as the main villain who
is a familiar face from Bava's BAY
OF BLOOD
Oh- and did I mention that the main bounty hunter character
is named Django? I am not kidding - this is one of the earliest of the
unofficial sequels to the classic DJANGO (1966) and I was stunned to discover that it is not
better known under an alternate title like DJANGO KILLS EVERYONE or DJANGO AND
THE DUSTY TRAIL or even DJANGO ORDERS BRUNCH. ( I'd love to see a film called
Django Orders Brunch.)
But this film does seem to qualify as an underrated entry in
the genre. I was very impressed with it from beginning to end. It weaves its
plot elements together very well; it has a couple of shocking turns; its
villains are well drawn and somewhat sympathetic; the dark character of Django
has a bit if an arc and the pace is good. If you have watched a lot of westerns
you may have seen parts of this film in various forms over the years, but this
movie is a step or two above average. I need to check out a few more of
director Romolo Guerrieri's films - he's a stylish storyteller.
3 comments:
I have this one in a box set and have to rewatch it this weekend. In your Rojo Sangre podcast you mentioned that The Unholy Four was on your list of movies to check out. That's one film I put down as an underrated sw. Check that one out along with Forgotten Pistolelro. I'd like to know what you think of them.
Have you seen VENGEANCE IS MINE? It's apparently a really similar spag-western made a year later with basically the same cast, including Garko as a bounty hunter. It was also re-titled as a DJANGO-ripoff movie. I've been trying to find a copy of it for a while to compare the two.
No- I haven't seen VENGEANCE IS MINE but I have seen it around and often listed as a solid effort. I'll have to track it down.
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