Django kennt kein Erbarmen

This is said to be Enzo Castellari's debut film and it's for that reason I tracked it down. Sadly, it doesn't quite become a great film, but does have it's saving graces.

There's a town in Montana where ranchers and farmers are having a land dispute which about to become all out war, and while on his way there bounty hunter Regan (Antony Steffen) happens across the murdered body of the town's sheriff. Adopting his persona, Steffen breezes into a town that has got a whole heap of warring factions going on...and he's caught right in the middle.

On one side are the farmers, reluctantly led by Frank Wolff, who believes he can settle the business peacefully. Frank's problems are plentiful - his daughter is getting harrassed in town by ranchers, his land is being threatened by ranchers, the farmers want to go to war and there's the slight problem that Frank may well be a hunted criminal with a bounty on his head who is impersonating his own twin brother. That's what Steffen thinks is going on, but then he's impersonating a sheriff so it's a case of pot calling the kettle black.

The head of the ranchers just wants to wipe the farmers off the face of the Earth and get on with, so he brings in some outlaws who reckon that the fake Frank might be the real Frank too, and after a lot of talky bits, we do get an all out gun battle at the end, but is it too little too late?

Possibly. The film is almost devoid of Enzo's patented crazy camera angles, so the dramatic scenes (where Steffen falls in love with Frank's daughter, and there's a lot of talk about taking land, people threatening each other, that sort of thing) drag on a bit, but then there's a good chemistry between Steffen and Wolff, because you're not quite sure if Frank is impersonating his own brother, or if he is, whether or not he's a reformed character or still a violent outlaw.

Things do kick into gear when the action arrives. Maybe it just took a film or two to realise where his strengths lay.

Enzo himself turns up as a gunman who gets a cap popped in his ass. I wouldn't put this anywhere near the top of a 'must-see' list.

The first Django sequel has very little Django in it. While the main character is mostly called Regan, he is sometimes credited as Regan/Django due to the movie's title, and the fact that the actor plays Django in many sequels. But this film is much worse than the first, because it is very cliche and there's very little interesting about it. Regan/Django lacks the cool yet intense personality he donned in the first film back when he was played by Franco Nero. It's not a terrible film, but it pales in comparison to the original and there just isn't anything memorable about it.

The film takes a standard western plot in a very boring and uninteresting direction. There are hints of entertaining moments, but they are sadly overcome by the overall mediocrity of the movie. Not worth watching unless you are a fan of Django.

This bravura, bullet-blasted B-Western's Euro-cult credentials are impeccable, co-directed by Argentinian Horror master León Klimovsky, and Euro-crime tzar Enzo G. Castellari, with a darkly charismatic performance by urbane Giallo gent Anthony Steffen as the enigmatic outlaw Django turned hardline Sheriff! Plus a Bobby Dazzler of a score by maestro Carlo Savina! The quick-draw savagery in 'Few Dollars For Django' is served up hotter than spaghetti all'assassina! When this tall, cheroot chewing coffin filler rides into town, beware the distracting gleam of sheriff Regan's Golden Star which is no less dazzling than this iconic gunslinger's deadly facility with a six-shooter!

Steffen's stoical Django is a swarthy, skull-perforating Pistolero of few words, but his fast-talkin' Colt proves to be a most eloquent companion! So, you better PRAY you never meet this bloodthirsty bounty killer on the business end of his lightning-fast pistol, as a duel with Django is a date with your own death!!!! In the misbegotten, deeply corrupted town of Mile City Django is the new law, and with a lawman like that who needs enemies!!! This rewardingly rumbustious Spanish-Italian co-production makes good use of the dynamically versatile character actor Frank Wolff who is on epic, twin-fisted form as burly, sharp-shooting farmer big Jim Norton, with his beautiful daughter enticingly played by dusky Spanish beauty Gloria Osuna. With long-fulminating tensions rising to fever pitch between murderous Amos Brownsberg (Alfonso Rojas), Jim Norton, and sheriff Regan, 'A Few Dollars For Django' delivers a barnstorming barrage of ballistic mayhem, climaxing energetically in an enjoyably explosive six-gun showdown!

Sent to Montana to hunt down bank robbers, bounty killer Anthony Steffen takes the star off a replacement sheriff who didn't reach his destination and steps right into a range war between farmers and cattlemen that has turned a small town into a tinderbox, with suspected fugitive Frank Wolff trying (not hard enough) to stay on the right side of the law.

One thing this has going for it is the lack of comic relief, which sort of overtook a lot of European westerns in the years following this one's release. Other than that, it's rather ordinary, though always watchable and never boring, with story and execution more resembling a typical Hollywood western than the usual spaghetti offering. Some good action and locations are a plus.

Fans of Anthony Steffen and his hard-edged performances probably won't be disappointed.

Though officially credited to Spanish director Leon Klimovsky, the prolific Enzo G. Castellari claims to be the real director. I tend to believe him, as his style fits the proceedings more so than Klimovsky.

"A Few Dollars for Django" is an okay spaghetti western. The story is fine and the cast all do a passable job. Spaghetti westerns can be hit or miss but they do make a very interesting genre. "A Few Dollars for Django" does the genre right but it isn't that memorable. It's an okay way to spent a hot July afternoon.