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Released in 1971 and directed by Juan Bosch (as John Wood), "Dig Your Grave Friend... Sabata's Coming" stars Richard Harrison as a Confederate soldier who returns home from the Civil War where he discovers his father murdered by a greedy mogul (Alejandro Ulloa). Seeking vengeance, the soldier becomes a fugitive, teaming up with a likable Mexican (Fernando Sancho), while the mogul enlists the notorious gunfighter Sabata (Raf Baldassarre) to hunt down the fugitives. Meanwhile, the shady landowner's fiancée hooks up with the lovable rogues (Tania Alvarado).

This is a Sabata-in-name-only flick, as it's not part of the original trilogy and Sabata is a secondary character; the villain, in fact. The print I saw was a crappy pan and scan, which is probably the only version widely available in English. In any case, the quality of the DVD tends to bring down my grade, but it's hard to determine if the lousy editing & sound is a problem with this particular print or if it's intrinsic to the original film.

In any case, if you can roll with the palpable flaws this is an entertaining Italo Western, hopelessly dated music and all (e.g. bad dubbing and sound effects). The protagonists are amusing and likable, and they develop a good camaraderie with the dark-haired hottie that hooks up with 'em. Production-wise, this is nowhere near the quality of Leone's Dollars trilogy, but story-wise I find it superior. The movie leaves you with a good feeling.

The film runs 88 minutes and was shot in Barcelona & Fraga, Spain, with interiors done in Rome.

GRADE: C+

Ex-Confederate Richard Harrison returns home from the war to find his father murdered by a ruthless land baron. Caught in the act of exacting revenge, he escapes with bandito Fernando Sancho and become hunted men, squaring off against the famous bounty hunter Sabata.

With the nearly non-stop exaggerated movements of it's characters, the rapid-fire dubbing and comedic elements, this bogus sequel to Sabata seems almost like a comic book come to life or a live-action cartoon. It's all pretty broad, though fun to watch, the humor being a bit easier to take than a lot of other Italian westerns. It was better than expected and quite satisfying in the revenge department.

Harrison and Sancho, who can seemingly play these type of characters in his sleep, make a good team.

The spaghetti western character of Sabata wasn't ripped off as much as Django, but it did happen several times, this western being one of them. Although Sabata is named in the title, surprisingly he is not the central character of the movie - he's a supporting character. Also, he is made to be a villain, not a heroic character. Most of the movie is focused on the characters played by Richard Harrison and Fernando Sancho. The two actors have some good chemistry together, and also manage to deliver a considerable amount of light comic relief, which is welcome. There is a significant problem with the movie, and that is that the middle section of the movie moves at a crawl, with little done to advance the story. But if you are patient, the movie ends up being an okay spaghetti western.

This is a very cheaply made spanish/italia western.very smooth ,fun, quick pace. Really enjoyed it. There IS something about this one . Just remember watching this the first time and could not stop watching it. Would love to see this on 2k or 4 k scan in English, now Spain has it on blue ray all regions with just Spanish audio and Spanish subtitles.

Steve (Richard Harrison) is chasing Miller, the man who presumably hired the murderer of his father. He finds him after 15 minutes already – but no, the movie isn't that short. The sheriff stops Steve before he can have his revenge and accuses him of murder instead. Steve has to rely on the help of the bandit Leon (Fernando Sancho) to escape from the law. Later he will return – and fall in love with the fiancée of his enemy Miller…

Revenge western with an occasional funny touch, like the same stagecoach being held up three times in a row till the coach driver goes mad, the lazy gunman who shoots the wrong men because he didn't bother to look, or Leon counting the heads of his children, but not remembering their names. Quite entertaining, though nothing extraordinary for the genre.