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The Stranger (Tomas Milian) arrives in the town known by the local Indian tribes as "The Unhappy Place" to see the bodies of his recent partners in crime hanging in front of him. Flashbacks have already revealed that he had been betrayed and left for dead by the gang, led by Oats (Piero Lulli), following a theft of gold from the army.

The two most prominent townsfolk, Tembler (Quesada) and Hagerman (Sanz) have split the stolen gold between them, and are keeping it hidden from Sorrow (Camardiel), a larger than life bandit whose "muchachos" dress all in black and, lets say, presumably enjoy the pleasures of men. Throw into the pot the mysterious figure of Hagerman's imprisoned wife, who beckons the Stranger from her cell window, and you have a very strange, yet apt, setting for this highly entertaining and frankly bizarre movie.

In fact, this film is straight out of horror territory, from the Stranger's first screen appearance - clawing his way out of an open grave - until its bitter ending. The mood is ably assisted by Ivan Vandor's score, which adds suitable suspense and tension, particularly during the scenes portraying Hagerman, his wife and her relationship with the Stranger.

The cast is quite superb, particularly Sanz in the part of the treacherous Hagerman. Milian meanwhile plays the Stranger role competently but fairly static without the mysterious charisma of a Nero or Eastwood. I am a huge fan of Milian, but much prefer to see his characters portray a little more humour (as he does so brilliantly in Face to Face and the Big Gundown, to name just two performances).

At times graphic (like the notorious scalping scene, or the sight of Oaks' body being torn apart by the locals desperately clawing at the gold bullets within his barely alive body), at times obviously low budget (such as the scene in which the Stranger is tortured, by being subjected to blood sucking bats and other creatures), but captivating throughout. One of the "must view" euro-westerns, in my view.

"If You Live, Shoot!" offers an intense diversion for fans of the Spaghetti Western. It goes on for quite a long time, and gets dull on occasion, but it's also noteworthy for its content. It's on record as one of the most utterly nasty of all SWs, with plenty of bright red movie blood and depictions of sadism.

It's actually not particularly surreal most of the time, telling a rather linear story of The Stranger (Tomas Milian), who was double crossed by his partners in a heist, and shot & left for dead. The opening credits see him emerge from his grave, and two Indians (Miguel Serrano and Angel Silva) witness this. They vow to stay at his side and assist him, under the condition that he tell them what it's like on the "other side".

However, this isn't really what you would call a revenge saga. Soon, The Stranger is getting caught up in greed and corruption in a small town known to Indians either as "The Field of Anguish" or "The Unhappy Place" (depending on which version you're watching). He gets involved as a few warring factions try desperately to lay their mitts on the gold snatched by The Stranger & gang.

Co-writer / director Giulio Questi ("Death Laid an Egg") takes his time telling the story, but does populate it with some enjoyably despicable villains, such as Oaks (Piero Lulli), Hagerman (Francisco Sanz), Sorrow (Roberto Camardiel), and Bill Templer (Milo Quesada). There's an especially fun comeuppance for one of them. Add to that an atmospheric score by Ivan Vandor, two beauties (Patrizia Valturri and Marilu Tolo), and a sense of mysticism, and the results are generally agreeable. The handsome young Milian has charisma sufficient enough for one to remain invested in his character. Ray Lovelock of "The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue" fame also appears.

Good entertainment overall, and worth a look for any SW completist.

Seven out of 10.

Kill, if you live shoot! (1967) is a crazy western. I've never seen such a weird film (besides El Topo). Tomas Milian plays a double crossed man who is saved by two indians. They make him gold bullets so he can avenge his dead friends and punish those that did him wrong. That's just the beginning! I heard stories about this film but I never believed them until after I saw the movie. I was surprised by the authenticity in some of the situations that the characters were put through, but others were so out of placed. This is a strange hybrid of action, horror, comedy and drama. I loved this movie, It'll grow on you after repeat viewings. I strongly recommend this film.

A+

P.S.

Unlike Django, the English and Italian soundtracks are nearly identical, no loss in the translation.

Italian/Spanish production full of action , excessive characters , shootouts and lots of violence . For money, for pleasure, for revenge, he doesn't care why he kills or how . Mexican outlaw Django (Tomas Milian) is part of a gang of robbers that steal a cargo of gold from an army stagecoach . However, the Americans led by Oaks (Piero Lulli) in the group betray him, and shoot all the Mexicans . Mestizo Django is not completely dead though, and crawls his way out of his shallow grave , being saved by some Indians , going on his chase of the gold, and exacting a bloody vendetta . The stranger teams up with two Indians and head west for vengeance . The Stranger or Django is on the trail of some renegade outlaws and en route he arrives in a little town . There are various factions including a Mexican Bandit , a gang of Homosexual Cowboys (Sancho Gracia , among others) led by Mr Sorrow (Robert Camardiel) , a saloon owner (Milo Quesada) , a preacher (Francisco Sanz) feud over stolen gold in the surreal town . Django goes out to avenge his former colleagues , battling murderous and saved from an impromptu hanging . The stranger executes a single-handedly revenge , as he shoots , ravages and kills each person involved in the treason.

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 . A good example of Latino western genre from Italy and Spain ; it is daring , surreal and notoriously violent Spaghetti , so extreme in every way , it is one of the handful of great Italian Western . This moving Spaghetti packs noisy action , thrills , crossfire , rare events , twists and turns with exciting final . Offbeat Spaghetti Western and it is proceeded in violent style and unusual narration . The film packs violence , gunplay and high body-count ; it's fast moving and quite entertaining . It's a thrilling western with breathtaking confrontation between the protagonist Tomas Milian against the heartless Milo Quesada , Francisco Sanz , Robert Camardiel and his underlings as Sancho Gracia . Tomas Milian is fine , he ravages the screen , hit and run and kills . The Cuban Tomas Milian plays splendidly , he had got fame and fortune with his character ¨Cuchillo¨ from the trilogy directed by Sergio Sollima . Tomas created his own image and propelled himself to stardom in likewise fashion with such important Spaghetti as ¨The Bounty Killer¨ (1966) ¨The Big Gundown¨ (1967) with Lee Van Cleef, ¨Face to Face¨ (1967), ¨Django Kill!¨ (1967) and ¨Run, Man, Run¨ (1968) , ¨Sonny and Jed¨, ¨Tepepa ¨ and ¨Compañeros¨ , getting maxim popularity with his hippie cop character , Nico Giraldi , from ¨Cop in Blue Jeans¨ ,"Squadra Antimafia" ¨Squadra Antigangsters¨ and sequels . He nowadays continues acting in secondary as well as prestigious roles such as in ¨Traffic¨, ¨ The Yards ¨, ¨Amistad¨, ¨The burning season¨, ¨Nails¨, ¨JFK¨, ¨Havana¨, among others . Strange and twisted screenplay from an idea by Maria Carmen Martinez Roman , a notorious writer who wrote a lot of Spaghetti such as ¨Requiem for a gringo¨, ¨Winchester Bill¨ , ¨fury of Johnny Kid¨ , "In a Colt's Shadow" , ¨Dynamite Joe¨ and "Sheriff Won't Shoot" . The screenplay is filled with outlandish issues as suicide , gays , non-sense hanging , a closed woman and many other things . According to the actors and director, the producers decided to release the movie in countries outside Italy as "Django, Kill!" as a way to take advantage of the success of a prior release, Django (1966) starring Franco Nero. In reality, "Django" had nothing to do with "Se sei Vivo Spara." This is predominantly an Italian film rather than a Spanish one , but the Spaniard participation is important , as here appears a lot of Spanish secondaries , ordinary players in Spaghetti/Chorizo or Paella Western such as : Roberto Camardiel , Milo Quesada , Francisco Sanz or Sancho Gracia (800 bullets) . Furthermore , being produced by Hispamer , Sergio Newman and Alex Rascal, who produced many Spaghetti . Well set in a little town in Hoyo De Manzanares (Madrid) with sets by Jaime Perez Cubero and Jose Luis Galicia , today sadly disappeared ; the village was called ¨Golden City¨ where filmed several Western as the classic ¨Fistful of dollars¨ and ¨For a fistful of dollars more¨ ; furthermore there was shot : ¨Welcome Padre Murray¨ , ¨Brandy¨ , ¨Cabalgando Hacia Muerte¨ , ¨Three good men¨, ¨Quien Grita vengeance¨, ¨Two crosses in Danger Pass¨, among others .

There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some violence , shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes. There is a very odd implementation of shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as the film approaches its climax , as in the final and the unusual conclusion . The movie gets the usual Western issues, such as avenger antiheroes , violent facing off , exaggerated baddies, soundtrack with Morricone influence , among them . The sense of pacing is such that his film can be counted on to move quickly and smoothly . Good production design creating an excellent scenario with luminous outdoors, dirty , deserts under a shinning sun and fine sets . Good cinematography by Franco Delli Colli , including a nice remastering . Great musical score by Ivan Vandor , furthermore a catching and emotive leitmotif . The motion picture was originally directed by Giulio Questi in his directorial debut . He is a director and writer, known for "Death Laid an Egg" , ¨Arcana¨and especially this ¨Django kills¨ .

It first seems it's going to be a standard "hunt-down-for-revenge" western, but then half an hour in it takes a surprising turn. In fact, at first you don't know where it's going, and it's a lot of fun trying to figure it out. There's certainly a lot going on (various subplots), and it's directed in a slightly surreal style that keeps you interested. In the end, the movie bites off more than it chews - some things seem unresolved at the end (where did Django's Indian friends go, for example?), though since I saw the 110 minute version instead of the 117 minute version, maybe some things got lost in the cut. Though it's not perfect, spaghetti western fans will find enough to make it worth their while.