I just picked up this box set at Best Buy for $12.99 and while I’m not one to advocate shopping at chain stores, it’s significantly cheaper than I’ve seen it anywhere else (literally the best buy) so I thought I’d spread the word. Plus, the sell-through DVD industry really needs all the help it can get right now- so if you like buying movie, go buy some DVDs, someone has to. I’m sure the quality of the films isn’t great, but they’re spread out over 11 DVDs (2 per side), there’s a booklet with synopses of all the films in the set, and (you cheap bastard) it comes to less than $0.30 per movie so you can’t really complain.

The DVD case does the usual 1 star per movie listing on the outside (with 3 actors per movie in the booklet) with no mention of the crew, so for those who are interested here’s some of the behind-the-camera talent included in this set: Sergio Corbucci (Minnesota Clay), Sergio Martino (Mannaja [my review]), Lucio Fulci (Four of the Apocalypse and Challenge to White Fang), Enzo G. Castellari (Keoma [aka Django Rides Again]), Antonio Margheriti (And God Said to Cain), 4 films written by Ernesto Gastaldi (Man from Nowhere, It Can Be Done Amigo, The Price of Power, and Grand Duel), 2 scored by Ennio Morricone (Run, Man, Run and Death Rides a Horse), and one by Stelvio Cipriani (Cry of the Wolf). Plus you also get a lot of films starring Klaus Kinski, Lee Van Cleef, Gianni Garko, and George Hilton, and a bunch of characters named Django and Sartana (including If You Meet Sartana, Pray for Your Death [my review]).

With Tarantino announcing his next project is a “spaghetti western,” I’m sure sets like this will start appearing everywhere- maybe, if the DVD industry isn’t dead by then (fingers crossed).

At my current review-posting rate, this set should give me enough stuff to write about for the next decade.

George Lazenby plays Franco. Franco’s daughter comes to visit him in Venice, goes missing, and is eventually found dead in a canal. Franco’s wife, Elizabeth (Anita Strindburg), rushes into town. They’re both sad. They have sex. Then Franco decides he needs to find his daughter’s killer. This is where the title comes in- sort of, he never actually asks “who saw her die?” and really I think he’s more concerned with, you know, “who made her die” or whatever- I mean he never specifically asks that question either, but you know it’s probably what he’s thinking…

Ennio Morricone’s score is fantastic- bat-shit crazy, but fantastic. He uses the same technique he used in The Smile of the Great Temptress. It’s basically a child’s choir looped, over and over, with a nice groove underneath, it sets a great mood.

Oh, so there’s this scene where Franco leaves Elizabeth alone, all the sudden we see a ‘mysterious person’ running a hot bath. The music gets very tense. I took this to be a reference to the bathtub murder in Deep Red, EXCEPT this came out 3 years before Deep Red. So then why the hell would someone running a bath be scary?

The only complaint I have about the film is that it isn’t really the “giallo-meets-revenge-film” I wanted it to be. Franco really functions like any other protagonist in a giallo, he’s trying to solve a mystery, but things keep getting in his way.  There are no “this time it’s personal” moments. Really once the mystery gets going the girl being his daughter is sort of a moot point.

Director: Aldo Lado Writers: Francesco Barilli, Massimo D’Avak, Aldo Lado, Ruediger von Spiess Producers: Ovidio G. Assonitis, Enzo Doria, Giorgio Carlo Rossi, Pietro Sagliocco Cinematographer: Franco Di Giacomo Editor: Angelo Curi Music: Ennio Morricone

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Director: Sergio Corbucci

Writers: Fernando Di Leo, Ugo Pirro, Piero Regnoli

Producer: Luigi Carpentieri, Ermanno Donati

Cinematographer: Silvano Ippoliti

Editor: Alberto Gallitti

Music: Ennio Morricone (as Leo Nichols)

Dino de Laurentiis + Sergio Corbucci = okay, I guess…

It’s not a bad film, it’s entertaining enough, but it doesn’t really live up to the expectations I had from this pairing.

Burt Reynolds plays Navajo Joe (yeah, well…), a Native American who is fighting the bounty-hunters that have been making a living by selling Indian scalps to the local townspeople. Add in a train full of money and a corrupt town resident and you’ve pretty much got the story.

Navajo Joe does a lot of cool things but the character is never really fleshed out enough to really be the great bad-ass I want him to be. However, I could see how “being Burt Reynolds” might bring a lot of weight in the irony/nostalgia department for a lot of people- and if you’re one of those people, you’ll probably love this movie.

Ennio Morricone’s score (which is credited to Leo Nichols) is fine but incorporating the main characters name into the refrain feels kind of goofy here- especially when it plays during scenes that don’t involve Navajo Joe.

According to the IMDB “This picture in film history is considered a cult movie” (Wow! Thanks IMDB!) but, personally, I liked Corbucci’s The Great Silence, Django, and Companeros more…

Director: Sergio Corbucci

Writers: Mario Amendola, Bruno Corbucci, Sergio Corbucci, Vittoriano Petrilli

Cinematographer: Silvano Ippoliti

Editor: [Uncredited]

Music: Ennio Morricone, Bruno Nicolai

“…All according to the law…”

This is one of those films where the ending knocks you on your ass with so much force that you forgive any problems you might have had with the first 2.5 acts- but this is also a really solid film throughout- so I guess I would say that it’s actually just a really good movie.

I don’t want to ruin anything for those who haven’t seen it so I’ll avoid spoilers here- but- damn! Nihilistic and genuinely moving in a way that most exploitation films simply can’t touch.

Okay, so, the plot: Silence (played by Jean-Louis Trintignant) is a mute vigilante-for-hire (not a bounty-hunter- or a ‘bounty-killer’ as they’re called in this film) who is hired by a widow (Beyoncé Vonetta McGee) to hunt down the psychotic ‘bounty killer’ (see why I made the distinction) who shot her husband. Wait for it. The psychotic ‘bounty killer’ is played by Klaus Kinski. So, essentially, the film is a show-down between two bounty-hunters both operating by their own interpretation of the law.

The film’s snow-covered scenery combined with Morricone’s haunting score (Hey! Look!) give the film a very distinct feel. Corbucci’s love of cinematic violence is on display here with a lot of really great set-pieces (example: a man is shot-dead while surrounded by panicked prostitutes) and, Corbucci’s Luis Buñuel-influence (noted in Fantoma’s liner notes) is also seen here (example: the satirical handling of the ‘rules of etiquette’ that murderers-for-hire must follow).

I’m going to stop talking about this film because I seriously don’t want to ruin anything for you. I will say this though, Fantoma’s DVD contains an ‘alternate ending’ that I definitely suggest checking out.

So to summarize: I liked it. A lot. I think you’ll like it. And I think you should watch it.

Director: Sergio Corbucci

Writers: Sergio Corbucci, Massimo De Rita, Fritz Ebert, José Frade, Dino Maiuri

Cinematographer: Alejandro Ulloa

Editor: Eugenio Alabiso

Music: Ennio Morricone, Bruno Nicolai

Full disclosure: my favorite Spaghetti Western is Django, which means I had pretty high expectations going into this other Nero/Corbucci pairing. Was I totally disappointed or only mildly disappointed? Surprisingly- neither.

The basic plot is pretty straight-forward, General Mongo (José Bódalo from Django) sends money-hungry Sweedish arms dealer Yodlaf Peterson (Frano Nero) and Mexican Bandit El Vasco (Tomas Milian) to Texas to retrieve Professor Xantos (Fernando Rey). As expected, complications arise along the way mostly in the form of one-handed, pot-smoking, grudge-holding John (Jack Palance). Also a group of revolutionaries, lead by Lola (Iris Berben), are followers of Xantos, and want to make sure Mongo doesn’t get his hands on him.

It’s clear that Sergio Corbucci has more money at his disposal here than he did in Django, which results in a much more polished, stylish film, and a fantastic Morricone/Nicolai score (though I do have to say I think the main theme may have been used one or two times too many).

The violence isn’t as gristly as it is in Django, but Franco Nero gets his hand on a gattlin gun on two separate occasions. There are some jokes through out the film and while none of them are laugh-out-loud funny they help to give the film a really nice, fun mood that keeps everything entertaining.

The DVD from Blue Underground includes (the more and more common) “portions of this film not dubbed in English,” but fortunately this restored, extended cut doesn’t ever drag. The DVD also includes the trailer and a 17-minute featurette interviewing Nero and Milian.

I really enjoyed this film.