Gli fumavano le Colt... lo chiamavano Camposanto

Written by the director of the famed Trinity comedy western films and directed by man who helmed 3 of the four official Sartana films, this outing works and doesn't at the same time.

The story of two greenhorn brothers fighting against a gang terrorizing ranchers is trite and only provides a reason to bring together the two main characters of the movie, Ace of Hearts/Cemetery (played by Garko) and Duke (played by Berger). Both are uber-cool bounty hunters who know and respect each other well and find themselves in a situation where they are working for opposite sides. Whenever these two actors are on the screen, either together or solo, the film is interesting. The direction is uneven as well, sometimes it's very stylish and well photographed, other times banal and full of gratuitous zooms. The script might have worked if the English actors who were chosen for the greenhorn brothers weren't so miscast. Bruno Nicolai's theme for the film is great but, like many of these films, it is repeated to the point of near insanity. The audio is very muffled in the English soundtrack and the print going around at this time is slightly cropped.

So it's not a complete waste of time, if a better print ever shows up I might watch it again.

A Bullet for a Stranger( or 'They call him Cementary') is a film thats howcases the best of spaghetti westerns. It's got humour, it's got awesome shootouts, and it has a great score.

The Characters are great,especially 'the guardian angel'. He is very similar to Blondie in the good the bad and the ugly. He is looking out for the two brothers, who are somewhat annoying, but eventually turn out to be admirable heroes.

The DVDs restoration is terrible quality, and should really be restored. But even with the sloppy DVD quality, the film stills holds through as epic and highly entertaining,

A bullet for a stranger is a great film and should be held up as one of the best Spagehtti westerns made.

Giuliano Carnimeo is mostly known in the spaghetti western universe for his Sartana sequels that followed in the wake of Frank Krammer's very successful original, so successful in fact that it spawned a vast number of unofficial sequels only second to Django. For They Call Him Cemetery, he takes two seasoned genre veterans and throws everything and the kitchen sink in the mix to make a damn fine, entertaining movie.

Two young greenhorns with impeccable manners arrive from Boston to see their father somewhere in the far west. Which, as they soon discover, is a lawless place, full of gun-totting and impolite people. Their father, along with every major ranch owner in the area, is being blackmailed on a regular basis by a bunch of bandits. It's up to the two youngsters to find out who's behind all the scamming, but they're not on their own.

Enter Gianni Garko as the Stranger. Garko is one of those genre actors that is probably unknown outside the spaghetti western circle, but a cult icon for fans. A regular collaborator with Carnimeo, here he practically reprises his famous Sartana role. Sure the name's different, but the gun, the look and the style all screams Sartana. Garko might be on the greenhorn's side but his antagonist, hired by the bandits to bushwack the nosy kids is none other than William Berger, another great actor and cult spaghetti western icon. Both of them are spot on in their roles and there are sparks flying in their scenes together. A big part of why They Call Him Cemetery is so successful is that it relies on the shoulders of such experienced and talented leads.

Lucky for us, the absurdly convoluted plot lines of Carnimeo's Sartana sequels are missing. Instead we get a fairly simple story, with a whodunit touch and lots of comedy, both in the form of caustic dialogues (Berger's lines about his mother are a hoot and a half) and bucketloads of slapstick. If the latter brings to mind the Trinity movies, it should be no surprise, as Enzo Barboni penned this one. There's none of the grim outlook of Corbucci's westerns to be found here. No sign of the leftist Mexican revolution trend of the late 60's either. This is a funny, badass, stylish Italo-western that concerns itself only with pure entertainment. The pacing is practically perfect, something interesting happening at every scene. There's also a great score by Bruno Nicolai, who provides nice themes for both Garko and Berger's characters. Sure there might the typical amount of unnecessary pans and fast zooms that every spaghetti boasts, but what really makes it so good is that it's crafted with genuine fascination for the old west (and the old American westerns by extension).

In that sense, it's a true spectacle in the vein of master Sergio Leone. Like the godfather of the genre used to say "it's like playing cowboys and Indians". Indeed, there's a playful quality in They Call him Cemetery that makes everything so much fun to behold. The vision of the chaotic west seen through the eyes of the two greenhorns in the first 15 minutes as they arrive in the small town is a laugh riot. Parents soothe their babies cries by giving them a bullet to chew on, old ladies demonstrate their impeccable shooting skills by chopping cacti in half, there's a huge slapstick brawl inside a saloon, people face-off in the middle of the street. Everything is tongue-in-cheek and yet done with a childlike fascination for the west that now takes the form of myth. That's where spaghetti westerns really take off. It's the old west interpreted through the eyes of impressionable Europeans. And when they succeed like They Call Him Cemetery does, it's because the people that make these movies really love their subject matter. Judging by Carnimeo's other films, I didn't think much of him. This one certainly had me reconsidering

This exciting picture displays Western noisy action , gun-play , fun situations and bits of humor. The film gets the comic remarks from Western parody united the features of typical Spaghetti . ¨Camposanto¨ is an entertaining SW with lots of mayhem , crossfire and funny incidents and fun ; however , being slightly mediocre . This time the new hero is named Camposanto o Cemetery (John Garco) who looks exactly like Sartana , he is a tidy and rapid gunfighter . Camposanto protects a young pair of brothers , sons of a baron land whom is blackmailing some hoodlums (Ivano Staccioli) . Cemetery join forces with Duke (Austrian actor resident in Italy named William Berger who played several Westerns and unforgettable co-starring in ¨Sabata¨ as the banjo man) , another blond and long-haired gunslinger against nasties who are suborning cattlemen . The dark , elegant hero , a freelance gunman , named Camposanto (Gianni Garco or John Garco) appears to chase the nasty gunfighter and discovers the rackets and killings . The confrontation will be inevitable between the town's despots , a cruel murderous , and , of course , Sartana .

This first movie on Camposanto character starred by Gianni Garco is plenty of action , shootouts , tongue in cheek , double-crosses, twists and loads of violence . This bewildering picture gets the humorous remarks from Western parody combined to features of Spaghetti . Camposanto is another hero of second class in the S.W. genre as Sabata (Lee Van Cleef) , Sartana (Gianni Garco) or Cuchillo (Tomas Milian) . Cemetery character bears remarkable resemblance to Sartana . ¨Cemetery¨ or ¨Camposanto¨ is a two-fisted and tough gunfighter with technical weaponry (like a Western James Bond) and a lot of tricks similarly to previous Sabata . Giuliano Carmineo , alias Anthony Ascott, directed various Sartana with George Hilton who replaces Gianni Garco , as Hilton played more natural and roguish than Garco who was cold and peculiar . This entertaining picture gets the humorous remarks from Western parody combined to features of Spaghetti . The movie gets the usual Italian Western issues , such as : greedy antiheroes , violent facing off , quick zooms , exaggerated baddies , among them . It appears secondary actors who are habitual in Italian Western and Peplum genre , such as : Nello Pazzafini , Ivano Staccioli and Rick Boyd . Special mention to androgynous Franco Ressel , Spaghetti's customary as a powerful tyrant . Enjoyable musical score by Bruno Nicolai , Ennio Morricone's usual collaborator , full of guttural sounds and whistles . Average cinematography by habitual Stelvio Massi and atmospheric set decoration by Carlo Leva .

The picture was regularly directed by Giuliano Carmineo or Anthony Scott , subsequently he directed another Spaghetti-hero named Sabata with Gianni Garco in the title role . Giuliano Carmineo realized several Spaghettis , most of them featuring mainly the same cast again , such as "Di Tresette Ce N'è Uno, Tutti Gli Altri son Nessuno" ,"Lo Chiamavano Tresette... Giocava Sempre Col Morto" that actually was the last time George Hilton/Chris Huerta and Carnimeo worked on such a western comedy together , ¨The moment to kill¨, ¨Find a place to die¨ , ¨Uomo Avvisato Mezzo Ammazzato... Parola Di Spirito Santo¨ (original title) or "His Name Was Holy Ghost" , ¨They call me Hallaluya¨ , and the Sartana movies : "Have a Good Funeral, My Friend, Sartana Will Pay" , ¨Sartana the gravedigger'(69) ,"Sartana's Coming, Get Your Coffins Ready" , ¨Light the fuse Sartana is coming¨(1971) , among others . Giuliano also directed other kinds of genres , as Sci-Fi : ¨Exterminators of the year 3000¨, ¨Computron¨, Giallo : ¨The case of the bloody iris¨ , Crime thriller : ¨Secrets of a Call Girl¨ , Buddy movie films : ¨Convoy Buddies" or "Kid Stuff" , "The Diamond Peddlers" . This "They call him Cemetery¨ is clearly inferior to his entries in Sartana series . Rating : 5.5/10 . Acceptable and passable .

This isn't a profound movie and doesn't try to be. It's a low budget action comedy (with a little bit of parody) which is great fun to watch, but doesn't try at all to be a classic.

Film scholars are gonna have nothing to go on here, but will inevitably compare it to Leone and Kurosawa just like they do to every other Spaghetti Western (or Samurai film in the case of Kurosawa specifically). Here's a hint: Just because it's a Western made in Italy doesn't mean the movie was trying to accomplish what Leone was.

The movie itself? As a fun movie I'd give it a ten out of ten, because it's perfect for what it is. If you have some spare time or if you see it in a bargain bin or whatever, go for it. It's a funny, quirky little movie. It's not a great film, but if movies like this didn't exist, I'd go freaking nuts. As much as I appreciate Citizen Kane, I'll never enjoy it like I enjoy these kinds of movies.