Buon funerale amigos!... paga Sartana

The first Sartana (1968), by Gianfranco Parolini, is such a dark and brooding spaghetti western gem, that I can't help but wonder what could have happened to the rest of the Sartana entries in his, admittedly, more skillful hands.

Gianni Garko returns for the fourth time to play the titular black-clad anti-hero, after being replaced by the suave George Hilton for A Fistful of Lead. Garko is typically good as the amoral Sartana, in a plot that combines in typical Carnimeo fashion, mystery and action. After old prospector Benson is killed, several people try to get their hands on his land. Nuggets of gold, discovered in his burnt down shackle, suggest that the old prospector hit a motherlode. A corrupt banker and a Chinese saloon owner each will try to convince Benson's niece, now the sole heir of the property, that the land is nothing but acres of sand and therefore worth nothing. Sartana, as usual, is out for himself and will try to play everyone. Of course, things are not always what they seem. There are enough twists and turns to keep things adequately interesting plot-wise.

But plot is barely the reason I love spags. It's the pure style that I look forward, those little moments of pure cinematic gold scattered in the form of stylish shootouts, off-beat characters, weird angles and close-ups, and style-wise, there isn't enough to go around here. The production seems kind of rushed, which probably was, given the low production values. With this being the 4th Sartana entry, everyone seems to be on autopilot by now, and Carnimeo just gets things over in a workmanlinke way. Which is why I wish Parolini would have worked on the sequels. Carnimeo, never an A-list name even by spaghetti standards, seems to be more of an employee instead of an artist, just getting things on budget and on schedule for the producers.

Anyhow, suffice to say there are lots of better spaghettis out there. If you're a seasoned veteran, and need a quick spaghetti fix for a Sunday afternoon, Have a Good Funeral Amigo will do just fine. Just don't expect anything mind-blowing.

Gianni Garko is back as Sartana, and this time he's sporting a thick blonde Swedish- style moustache! I'm also beginning to think he's some sort of jinx, as yet again he witnesses the massacre of a bunch of miners by some bad guys and gets mixed up in some sort of land grab treachery involving crooked bank managers we've all seen a million times by now.

But who cares? It's Sartana, and it seems the longer the series goes on, the more ridiculous (and therefore enjoyable) the films get! He's still dressing in goth fashion and he still has his four chambered Derringer, but this time round he's also got a pack of cards with sharpened edges! You tell me if a film is meant to be taken seriously when Sartana flicks a card across a room into a bible, at the exact page he wants the bad guy to read!

The crooked bank manager (and his many crooked employees) is pretty good too, sending wave after wave of hired killers after Sartana, only for Sartana to waste them, then pay for their funeral, only for the bad guys to use that funeral to try and kill Sartana. Sartana also acts like some sort of ghost in this one, seemingly teleporting anywhere he wants to, which just adds to the strangeness. Plus he can light fireworks by firing a gun at them, at night.

No Mexicans in the one strangely, but we do have George Wang as some mystic casino owner who spends the entire film in a chair only to reveal he's not crippled, he's 'just very lazy'.

I might have to track down Sartana The Gravedigger, Light the Fuse...Sartana is Coming and any other I've missed.

This entertaining installment in the 'Sartana' series suffers from some bad pacing and not nearly enough action to sustain my ADD-addled brain. However, the action it does have is wonderfully realized...including an expertly handled horse chase where the bad guys all find their way to their graves (you'll see what I mean). The plot has to do with a land dispute between Sartana, some lady and a Chinese saloon owner...but who gives a sh!t? Unfortunately, the director thinks we do because he spends an unholy amount of time on plot when we just want to see Sartana shoot people. The Chinese dude's constant quoting of Confucius gets old fast (and is it me or do most Chinese people in Spaghettis quote Confucius?). Slightly recommended.

Gianna Garko returns as Sartana in the fourth film in the series and its standard stuff; there's some good shootouts, a suspenseful scene in the mine and the cute Miss Giordono, however I didn't find this as engaging as the others and I felt the scenes were tacked on together. The story elements were more baffling than usual. Garko isn't as engaging as he was in the 2nd Sartana film. But it passes the time well enough, but it doesn't stand out too much.

2 Sartanas in one year? One can only imagine how excited people must have been back then. This may have more story than the previous entry but I reckon it also marked the funural of Sartana - or at least the series itself really satisfied as many viewers as it could. There comes a point where you reach an end. Is it a high note? Probably not the best, but still a decent effort and entry I reckon.

The shootouts are there, the Sartanisms are there to a degree (though as I've said before, you could argue they are borrowed from other Spaghetti Westerns) ... if you are a fan, flaws will not come into account and you'll just enjoy. If you just like the genre, you could worse, on the other hand, there are so many other movies out there ... which to watch first?