Willkommen in der Hölle

Spaghetti westerns are known for their absence of well defined good and evil, a familiar element of most earlier Hollywood westerns, and this moral ambiguity is one of the key hallmarks of 60's and 70's pop culture. With a title like Matalo! (a term which is roughly translated as 'kill 'em all!') this 1970 film certainly has the cynical morals and body count of typical spaghettis, but director Cesare Canevari takes this all a step 'further' by adding superficially entertaining gimmicks of the era, like hippie fashions, druggy cinematography, and especially Mario Migliardi's preposterously enjoyable prog-rock soundtrack, which sounds like a melting Ash Ra Temple LP played through a phase shifter. The central character is a hoot; a smiling trigger-happy psychopath named Bart, played by Corrado Pani, who cheerfully shoots everybody in sight. This is a uniquely odd specimen of the spaghetti western genre, which makes it essential. Worth your time as long as you don't take it seriously.

i LIKE MOVIES THAT MAKE ME STRANGE SENSATION!According to Mereghetti's dictionary of movies, this western is "as a Leone at last in mescalina" and with some moments that reminds Monte Hellman's movies for the use of the empty moments. This movie seems to me an august nightmare, with the hot, the desolation and the wonderful state of madness that characterized the end of the summer. Also notable is the score of Mario Mingardi, a mix of Jimi Hendrix and Luciano Berio, with electronics that supplies dialogues. I think that in western there is nothing like the duel of Matalo, a pistol against boomerangs! Recommended for all who like strange movies in the heart of the night with a little drop of alcohol or something else!

Six years after Sergio Leone's A Fist Full of Dollars created the term "spaghetti western" and the passing of the San Fransisco acid wave of the 60's, someone thought it would be a good idea to combine the two. It would be a showcase for the international talents of Bolivian born actor Lou Castel, Argentinian actor Luis Davila (a.k.a - Luis Devil), Zaire born actress Claudia Gravy, the Italian Corrado Pani and directed by Cesare Canevari. For those familiar with the sultry naiveté of Emmanuelle, Canevari was the director of the first. If you haven't guessed so far, this is all a recipe for disaster.

Speaking with "J" (a friend and I don't mean the John Malkovich currently residing inside of Will Smith) about my reviews, he suggested I should make them my own somehow. I thought I had already done that, but it got me to thinking. I'm not sure if anyone has used this concept before, but here goes. I could rate movies based on a "shot scale". That would be the amount of shots required to enjoy or completely forget about the movie in question. It would only be in use for what I consider to be bad movies (also includes the "good-bad"). So for example, Matalo would require me to down 7 shots of Jagermeister, SoCo (minus lime) or Gentleman Jim D (or a combination of all 3 that would total 7 shots still). So the higher the "shot count", the worse the movie (inverse order to the normal scale). Now back to Matalo.

The whole plot of the movie revolves loosely around the heist of a United States official luggage from a stagecoach in the middle of the desert. We don't get to this point until about 1/2 way through the movie, however. The main character loves the smell of gunpowder, money and women. From the predictable "gore" introduction, I was getting an uneasy feeling in my gut and it wasn't because of the two shots I had quickly guzzled. The "gore" is quite light (even by 1970 standards) and seems almost melodramatically over-theatrical. For an action western, the action is as lively as the ghost town backdrop ; squeaky, rundown, dusty, but with lots of water. I have never seen the desert and water concept/metaphor driven this much into the ground, yet with as little emotion (or sweat) as possible. The director was obviously very influenced by Chappaqua and other "psychedelic" films, as he over uses their effects ad nauseam (literally sometimes). I mean how many times can we show spinning, Outer Limit's tilted framings, and close-ups of thespians with goofy expressions? This is a poor, drunk, blind and deaf man's version of El Topo. It's an Italian import, but definitely not a Ferrari.

90 minutes of that, mixed in with bare-bones dialog and acting (the dialog and acting in this movie share a border with pantomime) is too long I think. The plot could help, right? Not really. Characters coming out of the desert can't help this one, either. The acid rock soundtrack is actually not too bad, however, it is metaphorically alone in the desert with no water. I felt like I was watching Sergio Leone's evil hack clone remaking Tell Your Children (Reefer Madness) for posterity. It's really a smelly, decaying carcass that one million boomerangs cannot save, but it is still in the desert. If you're going to go there, bring the essentials (drugs/alcohol and a gun to shoot yourself afterwards). If you heed my advice, seek Django.

This one emerges an outstanding, if eccentric, Spaghetti Western which certainly gives that notorious genre effort DJANGO, KILL...IF YOU LIVE, SHOOT! (1967) a run for its money in the weirdness stakes!

Though simply enough plotted - with the script itself admirably laconic - and effectively set (for the most part) in a ghost town, it's essentially a mood-piece: stylized to a fault, the film features virtuoso camera-work and bold editing throughout; still, the general tone - buoyed by the remarkable experimental electro-rock sounds created by one Mario Migliardi - is effortlessly hypnotic.

The cast is equally interesting: Spaghetti Western regular Lou Castel as the unlikely hero (who, admitting to be unskilled at handling guns, utilizes boomerangs for weaponry during the body-strewn climax!); Corrado Pani - surely one of the genre's most idiosyncratic villains - brings a topical, i.e. late 1960s, touch of hippiedom to the Old West (the film is, however, thankfully free of the politics which informed many latter-day similar efforts)! Incidentally, both these top-billed stars are off-screen for an inordinate length of time - thus allowing Claudia Gravy, the luscious female lead, to take centre-stage (no complaints there!).

Pani's sidekicks, then, are equally colorful: one is Gravy's current lover, who assumes leadership of the gang after Pani's untimely 'exit' early on, and the other a sadist who covets the girl (though she continually rejects his advances). In fact, for a film of its type, there's an unusual emphasis on sex here - as much to the fore, I'd say, as the violence...which is present in quite graphic fashion (the sadistic outlaw beats Castel repeatedly with a chain, but he later has his own hand trampled by horse's hooves!).

Regrettably, the film is only available on DVD in an English-dubbed version through Wild East; the fact that the original language is not included would normally be enough to dissuade me from acquiring it (in spite of an accompanying Lou Castel interview which ought to be interesting) - but my recent unhappy experience with Wild East's edition of another Spaghetti Western title, THE MAN FROM NOWHERE (1966), certainly doesn't help make a case for it...

Outlandish as well as violent Chorizo/Pasta Western that packs emotion , crossfire , rare events , twists , action-filled with fierce fights , twists and turns with exciting final . For money, for pleasure, for revenge, he doesn't care why he kills or how . A band formed by Phil (Luis Dávila) , Ted (Antonio Salines), and Mary (Claudia Gravy) rescues an outlaw called Bart (Corrado Pani) from the gallows to join them and carry out robbing and crimes . Later on , they execute a stagecoach assault with a stash full of gold . When they get the loot , doublé-cross him and leave him dying in the middle of the sunny desert . Shortly after , the bunch arrives in a scrawny village called Benson town , where they perceive that there is something weird about . Soon after , the band finds out that there only lives a suspicious old woman called Constance Benson (Ana María Noé) , the authentic owner of the mysterious ghost town where dangers lurk and strange shadows show up . But then , there appears a mysterious drifter who wields boomerangs , Ray (Lou Castel) , and things go wrong .

Italian/Spanish production full of noisy action , excessive characters , shootouts and lots of violence . Director Cesare Canevari achieved in "Matalo¡" or "Kill Him!" possibly his best work of a modest career , with some memorable scenes and shaky camera movement as the initial prologue and during the successive confrontations . Surreal Spaghetti mayhem at its finest , this meaty Western contains an interesting but twisted plot , violence , shoot'em up and results to be quite entertaining , though drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . It turns out to be a strange spaghetti Western , as you can bone up on the bloodier side of that genre ; including bloody , grisly killings in cold blood , nightmares , rape attempt and many other things . It relies heavily on a complex narrative , modern narration full of flashbacks , stop-frames , zooms , and an uneven screenplay . A good example of Latino western genre from Italy and Spain ; it is a daring , surreal and notoriously exciting Spaghetti , so extreme in every way , it is one of the handful of great Italian/Spain Westerns that characterize for its peculiarity , rareness and offbeat events , such as : "Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot!" (67) by Giulio Questi or "And God Said to Cain" (70) by Antonio Margheritti or "Cut-Throats Nine" (72) by Joaquin Romero Marchernt , most of them including eerie and terrifying elements .

The motion picture was written and produced by Eduardo Manzanos Brochero who was the real creator of this complex Western , he started producing ¨Il Coyote¨ and ¨The Jiusticia De Coyote¨ by Joaquin Romero Marchent with Abel Salazar and Gloria Marin . After that , he produced with his company Copercines ¨Vengeance of Zorro¨ and ¨L'Ombra Di Zorro¨ (1962) by Joaquin Romero Marchent with Frank Latimore . Eduardo Manzanos built a Western town in Hoyo De Manzanares (Madrid) with sets by Cubero and Jose Luis Galicia , today sadly disappeared , called ¨Golden City¨ where filmed several Western as ¨Welcome Padre Murray¨ , ¨Brandy¨ , various Zorros and this one . He produced various films for Marchent brothers as Joaquin Romero Marchent : ¨Cabalgando Hacia Muerte¨ , ¨Three good men¨; and Rafael Marchent : ¨Quien Grita vengeance¨, ¨Two crosses in Danger Pass¨ ; and for Italian directors as ¨Sabor Odio¨ by Umberto Lenzi¨ . In 1962 , Eduardo Manzanos created -near Hoyo de Manzanares (Madrid)- the first Western scenario of the notorious Spaghetti/Paella sub-genre . This original initiative corresponded to this prestigious writer /producer/director Eduardo Brochero who saw the potential of European Westerns and commissioned to the production designers Jaime Pérez Cubero and José Luis Galicia (Construcine) the task of raising the set , as in 1962 the first ¨Paella¨ set in Spain was built . Then , the first filming there was made : ¨The terrible sheriff (62) by Antonio Momplet and Alberto De Martino . A year later , there came Sergio Leone to shoot the iconic ¨A fistful of Dollars¨ with which the boom of Spaghetti/Chorizo Western was burst . More than 50 Spaghetti Westerns were filmed here from 1962 to 73 . Since early 70s the shooting began to be less frequent due to the progressive decline of the genre and the producers preferred to shoot in Almeria . With the decline in the number of shootings , revenue also fell and the sets started slowly to deteriorate as it can be seen , for example , in this Western ¨Matalo¡¨ and ¨Fast Hand¨ (73) by Mario Bianchi . As a result Manzanos decided in 1975 not to renew the contract , leaving a large debts . The remains of the set remained a few years , until the mid-80s or so to disappear later .

The picture was strangely directed by Cesare Canevari , including good camera movement ; as he creates an offbeat Western that manages to be both scary , tragic and skilfully made , he even attempted to combine western elements with horror elements . Furthermore , adding a peculiar electric guitar music score in Jimmy Hendrix style , and evocative cinematography by Julio Ortas . Cesare directed a few films of all kinds of genres as Giallo : ¨Delitto Carnale¨ 1969 , ¨Una Iena in Cassaforte¨ 1968 ; Erotic : ¨The naked princess¨ 1976 , ¨Io, Emmanuelle¨ 1969 ; Porno Nazi : "The Gestapo's Last Orgy" and Western : "Die for a Dollar in Tucson" (1964) and this ¨Matalo¡¨ .