Der Gefürchtete

"Sartana nella valle degli avvoltoi" (English translation: "Sartana in the Valley of Death") AKA "The Ballad of Death Valley" (1970), is one of the hordes of unofficial sequels to "If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death", directed by Gianfranco Parolini, who made the interesting "God's Gun" (1976). This offering is directed by the competent Roberto Mauri, who stages some nice action scenes, and gets the great William Berger to do some cool business with a gun. The supporting cast is fine, and the photography frequently uses some neat angles, but the real problem with the movie is the exteriors. There are repeated shots of people riding across green and moist hills, covered in grass. This is supposed to be set around the Mexican border! The only "desert" scene is the sequence in Death Valley, which looks like it was filmed in a quarry. This aspect really let the film down for me, and it's a shame, as the rest of the movie is quite good.

Ice cold outlaw William Berger frees three brothers on the verge of execution in exchange for fifty percent of their unrecovered loot. Unfortunately for him, recovering the money isn't as easy as he'd hoped for, having not accounted for the double-cross the brothers have planned.

What could have been a run-of-the-mill spaghetti western is made more watchable by an interesting performance by Berger, who plays his role with no emotion whatsoever, making the few times he shows any joy or compassion look like the mimicry of a sociopath!

As far as everything else goes, direction and production values are adequate, though it's the gun-play and seeing how the aloof Berger reacts to different situations and challenges that really makes the film fun.

This is the first entry I've watched in a long-running series of Spaghetti Westerns revolving around the titular figure, played here by William Berger; as such, he displays no particular features that would make him stand out from similar anti-heroes (such as The Man With No Name or Django) and, in fact, is never even referred to by that nickname! Incidentally, this seems to have been considerably trimmed for American export – given that the running-time is a mere 79 minutes; what remains is a thinly-plotted affair which virtually resolves itself into one long chase! Incidentally, the R2 C'Est La Vie DVD sports German credit titles and even the first spoken bits of dialogue is in that language!

Sartana springs a trio of no-good brothers from jail intending to cut in on a fortune in gold that awaits them; however, the latter soon double-cross him and he's stranded on foot and without provisions in Death Valley (hence the title) – they also get even with their former associates (including puppet-maker Luciano Pigozzi) for letting them take the rap. Eventually, of course, Sartana catches up with the gang – taking some time-out to romance a gal who aided in his convalescence…but she too turns out to be harboring ideas above her station! At the finale, the 'outlaw' is revealed to be a courier for the American cavalry entrusted with a crucial message – and his reward for the accomplishment of said mission is that he gets to keep the brothers' gold for himself! For the record, the song playing over the opening credits "King For A Day" is quite decent and is even warbled, for no good reason, by a blonde bar-room chanteuse at one point in the film.

Sartana in the Valley of Death (1970) I found was much better then most have reviewed. It was nice to see William Berger in his only SW lead role as Calloway. This is not a Sartana film as they tried to market it as to draw a larger crowd. I watched the 78 minute cut version which was not bad and most have viewed this version I am getting the original 98 minute version soon and will follow-up. The 78 minute people have to take in consideration that with 20 minutes gone we have problems like Calloway shooting in the ground and it blowing up also when Calloway meets with the one Craig brothers it was grossly edited and it rushes into Calloway going into the Sheriff's office.

The lead score "A King for a Day" by Augusto Martili at first made me laugh then it grew on me like cancer and got stuck in my head for three days. This song reminded me of a untalented Italian Elvis impersonator singing.

The main annoying problem, I had with the film one was everyone kept calling Berger's character Galloway and on the wanted poster it shows Calloway. All in all for a low budget SW it was a nice flick about Calloway, who is a gun for hire that wants 50% of the loot the Craig brothers stole and hide in order for him to break them out of jail. They decide to play cat and mouse games and double cross him in order to keep whats theirs. The opening scene of the movie shows how Calloway is worth every red cent and if you double cross him you die...

The film deals with a cache of gold that takes on Sartana against treacherous sibling trio. This Sabata movie gets the usual Western issues , such as greedy antiheroes, violent facing off , quick zooms , exaggerated baddies and musical score with Ennio Morricone influence , among them . The dark , elegant hero named Lee Calloway or Sartana (William Berger) helps three imprisoned brothers (Wayde Preston , Aldo Berti , Giordana) break out from prison under the condition that they give him fifty percent of the stolen gold they have hidden in the desert. The film deals with a cache of gold that have hidden turning into several hands . As freelance gunman named Sartana is double-crossed and appears to chase the nasty thieves , and settles disputes by shooting . Bemusing Spaghetti Western with Sartana as a tough and stranger protagonist , he's an efficient gunslinger acting as judge , jury , and executioner . At the beginning Sartana arrives in a small town where occurs a shootout when a bounty hunter attempts to kill him and he is subsequently betrayed by powerful Norton (Franco Ressel) . Later on , Sartana is taken prisoner by the bandit brothers and suffering hitting , knocks , punches and tortures . It follows the seemingly endless adventures of Sartana in search of a cache of stolen gold . At the end takes place the inevitable confrontation , a spectacular showdown in which Sartana contends against all .

This acceptable Western contains an interesting but twisted plot , violence , double crosses , shoot'em up and results to be quite entertaining , though drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some violence , crossfire or stunts every few minutes . SARTANA is a fundamental archetype in Spaghetti/Paella genre as well as James Bond in spy-genre , here William Berger-Sartana stars an entertaining SW with lots of action , gun-play and fun . As always , the mythic personage appears elegant and dressed in black and with a killer look . Sartana is the standard by which every spaghetti antihero is measured along with Lee Van Cleef's Sabata and Franco Nero's Django . It's a thrilling western with breathtaking confrontation between the protagonist William Berger against the heartless enemies formed by a trio of brothers led by Wayde Preston . There is a very odd implementation of shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as well as a lot of twists and turns , as the film approaches its climax , as in the final and the unusual conclusion . Austrian William Berger in this Sartana Western , is fine , as he ravages the screen , hit and run and kills . Fair-haired Austrian leading man Berger appeared in many Spaghetti westerns between 1966 and 1987 such as ¨La Grande Notte di Ringo¨, "They Call Him Cemetery" , "Fast hand" , ¨Noose for Django¨, "Jaider's Gang" , among others . He also played several Western as a secondary actor as he had got fame and fortune with his unforgettable co-starring in ¨Sabata¨ as the banjo man , ¨Face to face¨, ¨Keoma¨ , ¨California¨ and ¨Tex¨. He had a reputation for being a rebel and a vociferous anti-establishment figure . Berger's career was also at times interrupted by drug abuse . There appears usual actors from Spaghetti Western such as Franco Ressell as Norton , Federico Boido or Rick Boyd , Franco De Rosa and special mention to Luciano Pigozzi or Alan Collins nicknamed the Italian Peter Lorre as a doll maker ; furthermore two beauties as Jolanda Modio as Juanita and Pamela Tudor as Esther . Atmospheric Eastmancolor cinematography by Sandro Mancori in Technicolor , Techniscope , though being necessary a good remastering and filmed in Elios studios , as usual . Enjoyable musical score by Augusto Martelli , including catching songs performed by Betsy Bell who plays a Saloon Singer .

This Italian production is an exciting Sartana movie starred by William Berger , it is plenty of action , shootouts , double-crosses , twists and loads of violence and blood . Sartana himself is like a crossover between Clint Eastwood's The Man with no Name and ¨Django¨, a black-clad amoral anti-hero ; adding the special characteristics from James Bond , his quirky gadgets and elegance . Sartana character is in equal parts mysterious , cool and deadly ; he is not out there to chase the bandits like a simple bounty hunter , he is just out for money and blood . His quirky gadgets often bring to mind the other similar character , Sabata played by Lee Van Cleef and Yul Brynner . The first Sartana was ¨Gunfighters Die Harder" or "If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death" a trend-setting film by Gianfranco Parolini with Gianni Garco , Klaus Kinski and Fernando Sancho . The best Sartana are directed by Giuliano Carmineo , alias Anthony Ascott, he realized various with George Hilton who replaces to Garco . Hilton played more natural and roguish than Garco who was cold and peculiar . The later "Sartana" movies directed by Anthony Ascott became increasingly cartoonish and humorous . It was followed by director Alfonso Balcazar with ¨Sartana non Perdona or Sonora¨ with George Martin , Jack Elam and Gilbert Roland . Miles Deem directed two Sartanas deemed lousy and cheesy . Furthermore , a string of sequels and rip-offs with other Z-series directors. ¨Sartana in the valley of death¨ perhaps is not a Spaghetti masterpiece, but a watchable and sometimes unusual movie nonetheless .