Deux fois traître

TWICE A JUDAS is a well-shot but rather routine spaghetti western enlivened by colourful cinematography and a slightly left-of-centre plot. The main character is a man who wakes up in the searing desert heat alongside a corpse. The problem is, his memory has gone, so suffering from amnesia he enters a local township and discovers problems with corrupt officials.

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with that Bourne-style plotting but it's the indifferent execution that lets this film down. The action scenes in particular are rather limited in scope and execution and nothing the viewer hasn't seen before. In addition, Antonio Sabato gives an exceptionally wooden turn as the protagonist, a guy you neither care about nor have any sympathy with despite his plight.

As is usual for this type of film, the best thing about TWICE A JUDAS is the dual role for Klaus Kinski. Kinski is reliably eccentric and/or nasty in his part(s) here and lifts things whenever he appears, so it's just a pity that's not all that often. Watch out for Cristina Galbo (THE LIVING DEAD AT THE MANCHESTER MORGUE) as the love interest. As an aside, Sabato's dog steals all of his scenes.

I respect the other comment but feel as though this movie had a great story idea about a main character Luke Barrett having amnesia (Antonio Sabato). The first spaghetti western to use amnesia. I believe the camera work was great by well known Aristide Masaccesi. Victor Barrett played by (Klaus Kinski) gives a great performance as Luke's brother of course he's not he is only playing with Luke's amnesia which finally clears as the story unfolds he is actually Dingus half Indian who sets out to destroy the Barrett family. Dingus/v. Barrett plays a land baron stealing poor farmers land and using illegal Mexicans from the border to work the land.

This story could have been great if the script was changed in a few parts to catch the audience more with the unraveling amnesia mystery..

Nando Cicero's "Due Volte Giuda" aka. "Twice A Judas" of 1971 starring Antonio Sabato and the great Klaus Kinski, may not be a Spaghetti Western masterpiece, but it is certainly an entertaining and suspenseful and vastly underrated film.One aspect that makes this movie special is the amnesia story. This is one of the few Spaghetti Westerns to include amnesia, and the only one I've seen in which the topic of amnesia is actually one of the primary aspects of the plot, which follows a man (Antonio Sabato), who wakes up with a grazing gunshot wound to his head, next to a corpse in the middle of the desert, and has no clue who he is. The first half hour of the movie is quite confusing, and that's what maintains the suspense.

Kinski delivers an excellent performance as always, and Sabato fits in his role very well. José Calvo is furthermore convincing as an alcoholic doctor. The rest of the performances are OK too, but I couldn't say that any of them were particularly worth mentioning. The film is nicely (though in no way outstandingly)photographed, and the score is also quite good (although certainly not brilliant).

"Twice A Judas" is an original and suspenseful Spaghetti Western, and although it looses some of its quality towards the end, which is, in my opinion, a bit cheesy and too fast-paced compared to the film's beginning, it is certainly worth watching and way underrated. If you're a fan of Spaghetti Westerns and/or Klaus Kinski, I recommend to give this a try. 6/10

An amnesic called Luke Barrett (Antonio Sábato) is swindled and regains his consciousness and finds himself laying in the desert dust next to a dead man . In addition , next to him is a rifle with the word 'Dingus' carved on its stock . Luke decides to investigate in order to find out more about himself . Luke wants to get even , even though he can't remember who anyone is . Through conversations with a Saloon girl (Cristina Galbó) and other townsfolk who seem to know a lot about him , Luke begins solving his past life and learning his family was killed by a ruthless renegade . That's how he finds out that he turns out to be ¨Luke Barrett¨ , and along with a rare hired killer (Franco Leo) were contacted by a stranger clad in black clothing to murder Victor Barrett (Klaus Kinski) , a wealthy land baron . But Victor results to be his brother and is holding a vote among the farmers who must decide whether to sell their lands . While Luke attempting to resolve the man who tried to murder him , he will discover he is a paid gunman too . Luke helped by Doctor Russell (José Calvo) will start recovering his memory which will prove to be both a good thing and a bad one .

The film deals with a mysterious stranger who loses his memory after a bullet grazed his head in a shoot'em up in the wild West , and he to be aware , subsequently , to be become an avenger , who vows to take down a killer who massacred his family . This Spaghetti movie gets the usual Western issues , such as greedy antiheroes , violent facing off , quick zooms , and exaggerated baddies . It packs thrills , shoot-outs , violence , and results to be quite entertaining , though drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . There is enough action in the movie , guaranteeing some pursuits , crossfire or stunts every few minutes . It is an acceptable , passable Western with several titles as ¨Due Volte Giuda" , "Twice a Judas", "Shoot Twice" , They Were Called Graveyard", "Peor que Judas" that contains an interesting and violent plot about a young amnesic called Luke who starts piecing together the facts and finds out a terrible truth about his family , and , subsequently seeking vendetta . It's a thrilling western with breathtaking confrontation between the protagonist against the heartless enemies formed by a brutal contender , Klaus Kinski , and his henchmen . The main starring is played by Antonio Sábato as a man who has temporary amnesia . Sábato played various thrillers as ¨Thundersquad¨ , ¨High Voltage¨, ¨Crime busters¨, ¨war of robots¨, ¨New Mafia boss¨ , ¨Black Lemons¨ and Westerns as ¨Beyond the law¨. And the popular Klaus Kinski as a suspicious owner who decides to face his brother for a gunfight , he shows up elegantly dressed and with a brilliant look , gaining a reputation for his ferocious talent and equally ferocious temper ; Kinski plays as a strange land-owner businessman who occasionally joins in on the action with his deadly guns and who also happens to be Luke's brother . Here he plays with lots of gesticulation and excessive gestures . As he is fine , as he ravages the screen with his peculiar face and using suddenly his weapons . This Spaghetti is made during his Italian period when Klaus starred a lot of Westerns , later he collaborated with Werner Herzog with whom played several prestigious films . They later collaborated on five movies : Aguirre (1972), Woyzeck (1979), Nosferatu, (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982) and Cobra Verde (1987). As Kinski starred numerous Spaghetti such as : Pray to Kill and Return Alive , Black Killer , If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death , Bullet King , Shangai Joe , Clint the solitary , The Ruthless Four , Nevada Kid , The return of Clint , and specially famous resulted to be his acting in ¨For a fistful of dollars more¨ .

Evocative and atmospheric cinematography Francisco Marín , shot on location in Spain , Almeria , desert Tabernas , as usual . Adequate and thrilling musical score by Carlos Pes . Twisted and complex screenplay by Juan José Balcázar , being efficiently produced by his brother , Alfonso Balcázar , who financed and directed a lot of Westerns . The motion picture was professionally directed by Nando Cícero who made other westerns as ¨Il Tempo Degli Avvoltoi¨ and ¨Professionals for a Massacre¨ and several Italian Sex comedies as La Dottoressa Del Distretto Militare , W La Foca , L'assistant Sociale Tutto Pepe , La Liceale Il Diavolo E L'Acquasanta , Il Gatto Mammone , among others .

Despite the presence of Klaus Kinski, "Twice a Judas" is a somewhat dull spaghetti western. It does start off well, with the hero waking up in the middle of an expanse of bodies and not knowing who he is or how he got there. For the next half hour or so the movie remains engaging, as the hero tries to figure out who he is and whether he should be cautious about any of the various people he encounters. However, after that first half hour, things soon fall apart. It turns into a pretty dull mystery, with the hero for some reason afraid to ask questions that might have solved his mystery much quicker. There is also very little action, with a lot of dull talk. And Kinski, compared to many of his other movies, seems surprisingly restrained here. Far from the worst spaghetti western I've seen, but there's not much here to make it worth ninety minutes of your time.