Sono Sartana, il vostro becchino

Nothing short of great stuff here with an excellent cast and a well written script punctuated by some great little moments of humor. Garko is better than usual as the eagle-eyed, razor toungued and lightning fast Sartana and has a wealth of great character actors to support him, including the vastly underrated Frank Wolff. The direction is exceptionally stylish, with numerous POV shots and expressionist angles that add loads of atmosphere to what, in lesser hands, could have been a rather average outing. Great stuff, that may not convert the heathens, but will definitely please the spag aficionados.

This is the third Sartana played by Garko film I have seen and while I found the first two to be mediocre at best this one hit me positively. Sartana is falsely accused and is searching for the real bank robbers. The evolving story consists of many little entertaining episodes and whenever you think that the real bad guy is already revealed there is one more twist. In his quest Sartana is assisted only by Buddy Ben who is well played by Frank Wolff, the rest of the characters is hunting the bounty put on his head. No problem for Sartana who kills them all, most of them with his Derringer pistol. Kinski with more screen time than usual shines in his role as an addicted gambler.

The lead characters are having their own and nice scores. Cinematography is above average but I've seen already better. The German budget DVD is OK and has even the original Italian soundtrack.

7 / 10 (**1/2)

Plenty of gunplay, and bodies are piled up as Sartana, played by a charismatic and stylish Gianna Garko, encounters trouble as he tries to find out who impersonated him at a bank robbery, hence getting every bounty Hunter on his tail to collect a reward. The gunplay is pretty crazy, there's an OTT element to the action, just like Sabata. Matter of fact, Sartana is like Sabata, using every trick in the book via gadgets and superior gun skills to overcome the bad hombres. Great Adrenalin-drenched western

Forget all American westerns when you've been watching Spaghetti westerns, they are utterly opposite, "Sono Sartana, il Vostro Becchino" was a second entry Sartana, it's has a stylized concept, as dark and obscure characters, fancy clothes, skillful handling cards, unusual guns, also when someone falling down by a deadly shot they made it in humbling scene, the moving camera work is extremely well-done for several angles, anyway a different genre, the plot is about a fake Sartana who stolen 300.000 dollars of a bank, henceforth Sartana's (Gianni Garko) head has a fabulous reward 10.000 bucks, then he starts to clean his name, meanwhile has to struggles against countless bounty hunters that are willing lost his skin for this such large amount of money, each one was a proper grave at his path, until reach on lawless gambling city, there is the hideout of phony Sartana, but who is him anyway? Usually spaghetti has pretty girls around, in this just few ordinary girls was introduces at casino, also the casting are great names as Frank Wolff, Ettori Manni, Klaus Kinski, Renato Bladini and Gordon Mitchell in just two sequence, what a waste, enjoyable spaghetti!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

The second film in the popular Sartana series is, on the whole, pretty entertaining ..well spun in Carnimeo's typical "Sartana" style....combining a whodunit...w/ elements of a smokey good mystery...with Spaghetti Western action & humor. More than a bit tongue in cheek...yet straining for credibility & often (but not always) hitting the mark.

"Sono Sartana......" hits the ground running...in a snappy opening...as Sartana is implicated in a bank robbery. A $10000 reward on his head insures that he's pursued by bounty hunters....many of whom are known to him already as friends, allies, competitors. There's a good amount of tension & unpredictability as Sartana tries to get to the bottom of it all, as he follows the trail of clues as to who framed him.. as well as the wherabouts of the $$$$$...all the while being stalked by bounty hunters and people trying to get their own grubby little hands on the $$$$$. Unfortunately...those remaining who can shed any light on the issue are knocked off before he can get to them.

The trail takes him to Poker Flats...a gambling town where everybody's a cheat...out for themselves...& can't be trusted. A shady saloon owner...corrupt judge...dishonest sheriff....are but 3 of the slightly twisted characters we meet in this quirky corner of 'Spaghettiville'.

Frank Wolff puts in a nice turn as Buddy Ben...although willing to lend his assistance, you never know exactly where his loyalties or motivations lie............& it's a nice performance.

Kinski delivers one of his most sane Spaghetti Western roles as the unlucky gambler/bounty hunter...........Hot Dead.

Mancuso's music/score has some nice moments...and some lesser ones. Sartana's theme is good..but tends to be overplayed...over & over & over (and over)...........Kinski's theme --> a little banjo tune --> is recognizable as "Santa Claus is coming to town." Interesting choice of melody...to say the least.

All in all...an enjoyable romp.......with enough twists & turns to keep you guessing....... Within a genre filled w / copycats & overused plots...I appreciate any Spaghetti Western that has a different style...w/ at least an attempt at an original plot. "Sono" manages to be intelligent...funny ..pretty brutal w/ a lot of action...& an entirely satisfying conclusion.

Sprinkled throughout are some great names ..Slim Shotgun...Shadow...DeGuello......some great dialogue...the bounty hunter who announces his arrival with "I am death"...& of course Sartana's quip "I'm your gravedigger".

My cherished little copy used for this review is in Italian w/ English subs..so I can't comment on the English dubbed version...nor can I be aware of any changes or differences in the English translation (and there always are differences). Spaghetti Western w/ a definite twinkle.