Arrivano Django e Sartana... è la fine

DJANGO AND SARTANA'S SHOWDOWN IN THE WEST is unquestionably one of the worst spaghetti westerns ever made. Directed by the infamous Demofilo Fidani on a non-existing budget, with long intervals of absolutely nothing happening and what little does happen isn't anything to write home about either. If you must, watch it for Gordon Mitchell who is genuinly funny as the crazy gang leader who is engaged in a poker play with his mirror image for the most of the film. By the way Django and Sartana doesn't even have a showdown!

Low-budgeted movie middlingly made by Miles Deem or Demofilo Fidani , nicknamed the ¨Ed Wood of Spaghetti Western¨ . A small desert town and its stark surroundings are held in a reign of terror by a nasty gang of criminals lead by the crazed Burt Keller (Gordon Mitchell who steals the show giving a hysterical overacting) . The band of vicious outlaws kidnap Jessica Colby (Simonetta Vitelli or Blondell , Demofilo Fidani's daughter and starred several films of his father) and decide to flee to Mexico and taking a golden loot . Shrewd as well as mysterious bounty hunter Django (Jack Betts or Hunt Powers) and earnest , experienced gunslinger Sartana (Chet Davis or Franco Borelli) join forces to rescue the poor lass from the group's vile clutches . Both of whom arrive to establish law and order against the ruthless Burt Keller . As astute Django and Two-Fisted Sartana unite to terminate a reign of terror carried out by a brutal band of criminals .

This below-average Ravioli Western packs thrills , go riding , action , brawls , crossfire and drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . The plot summary is plain and simple : a small desert town is besieged by a brutal band of bandits led by villain and ruthless bandits and a bounty hunter named Django helps Sartana out , along the way they free an abducted beautiful girl . As stubborn and cunning Django along with saintly roving gunslinger Sartana take on Burt Keller , and meanwhile they help two unfortunate but gorgeous girls : Jessica Brewster/Simonetta Vitelli and Cleo/Krista Nell , both of them were two Eurotrash goddesses who starred various Western/erotic/terror movies . The movie has the customary Spaghetti characters , as the violent facing , greedy antiheroes , bloody and spectacular showdowns , quick zooms , extreme baddies but being wretchedly directed . It packs an enjoyable and attractive musical score by Coriolano Gori in Morricone/spaghetti style . And an atmospheric cinematography by the famous Aristide Massaccesi or Joe D'Amato , though a perfect remastering is necessary .

Here unite forces two mysterious heroes from Spaghetti Western : the saintly roving Sartana and the brave Django , their history is the following : The first movie on Sartana as an avenger hero was by Frank Kramer (Gianfranco Parolini) interpreted by John Garco or Gianni Garco or Gary Hudson , besides it was starred by Klaus Kinski and William Berger . As always , the mythic personage appears elegant and dressed in black and with a killer look . After being continued by Alfonso Balcazar ¨Sartana non Perdona¨ or ¨Sonora¨ with Jorge Martin , Jack Elam and Gilbert Roland . Miles Deem directed two Sartanas which are considered awful . Anthony Ascott (Giuliano Carmineo) realized several movies with George Hilton who replaces to Garco . Hilton plays more natural and roguish than Garco who was cold and peculiar . Garco starred various Sartanas with Carmineo as ¨¨Sartana the gravedigger'(69) , ¨Light the fuse Sartana is coming¨(71), among others.

After successful original ¨Django¨ by Sergio Corbucci with Franco Nero , it was followed by several imitations , rip offs and cheesy copies , such as : ¨Pochi dollar per Django¨ or ¨Alambradas De Violencia¨ (1966) by Leon Klimowsky starred by Anthony Steffen , Gloria Osuna , Frank Wolff ; ¨El Mio Nome e Django¨ (1969) by Ferdinando Baldi with Terence Hill , Horst Frank , George Eastman ; ¨Django Le Bastard¨(1969) by Sergio Garrone with Anthony Steffen , Paolo Gozlino ; ¨¨Django defies Sartana¨(1969) by Pasquale Squitieri with George Ardisson and Tony Kendall ; ¨Ein Pressen Fur Django¨ or ¨Barro en Ojos¨(1971) by Edoardo Mulargia with Anthony Steffen ; and the official sequel titled ¨Il Grande Ritorno¨(1987) by Nello Rossati with Franco Nero , Christopher Connolly and Donald Pleasence .

The picture was lousily directed by Demofilo Fidani or Miles Deem , considered to be the "Ed Wood of Spaghetti Western" and husband of Mila Vitelli Valenza ,a professional costume designer and father of actress Simonetta Vitelli , both of whom worked in various films of Demofilo . Fidani directed all kind of genres in low budget and exploitation pictures . He eventually had more pseudonyms than any working director in the world , similarly to Bruno Mattei . He followed shooting these taboo-breaking films with excursions into porno film , adventure , as ¨Karzan, Jungle Lord" and specially , Spaghetti as ¨Django and Sartana's Showdown in the West" , ¨Giù la Testa¨, "Sartana, the Invincible Gunman" , ¨El Sartana... l'Ombre Ta Mort¨, among others .

This is directed by the infamous Demofilo Fidani (aka Miles Deem, Dick Spitfire, etc.). I have seen a couple of his westerns, and haven't found them to be as bad as their reputation. Of course, if you're expecting Sergio Leone you are not going to get it here. This is a simple good guys vs. bad guys story that in some ways hearkens back to the old westerns of the 1930's and 40's, yet it still has the unmistakable flavor of a spaghetti western. Think of it as The Lone Ranger meets Fistful of Dollars.

The acting isn't the greatest, but I've seen much worse. There are some funny moments which may or may not have been intentional but they are entertaining nevertheless. The character of Burt Kelley is pretty amusing. He is an insane babbling idiot who plays cards with his mirror image and is not very bright, yet he manages to have control of an outlaw gang the size of a small army.

Unlike so many other "Django" movies that weren't originally intended to be Django movies, this one seems to have been originally written to have Django and Sartana in it. The guy who plays Sartana even has a bit of resemblance to Johnny Garko. In this movie, Sartana is a vigilante hero much like the Lone Ranger, while Django is more like the usual spaghetti western hero whose reasons for doing good are a bit more selfish.

The score is great. It's probably the best thing about the movie. It's very spaghetti western-ish and fun to listen to. I especially like the organ and trumpet part when Django first appears in the film, and the organ music played when Django appears in other parts. The theme song is very cool too.

If you are into the more obscure spaghetti westerns, give this one a try and decide for yourself.

There is a whole lot of riding in this Demofilo Fidani western starring Hunt Powers (Jack Betts) as Django and Chet Davis as Sartana. Also on view is Gordon Mitchell as a deliciously insane bandit leader who spends a lot of time talking to himself in the mirror. Also playing poker against himself in the mirror... Shots of horsemen riding along the horizon take up screen time and build the slim story up to ninety minutes or so of questionable action. Fidani has been compared to Ed Wood, but this one is pretty well done, with a top-notch score, plenty of extras milling about in the backgrounds, some nice town sets, a few gorgeous ladies, and an incredible stunt team who flop and twitch when they're shot; no slumping to the ground for them, they usually fly from twelve to fifteen feet when shot. Fans of the genre just might have a good time with this one; others beware!

The Italians sure made a lot of westerns featuring the characters Django and Sartana. They didn't usually feature in the same film mind you, although I have seen at least one or two others where this pair do share screen-time. It was clearly a marketing ploy really, as the characterisations on offer are so vague that they could effectively go out under any names but I guess 'Buck and Hank Take the Town' was a title that just didn't cut the mustard. Needless to say in this reincarnation our there is no attempt whatsoever to have our friend Django drag a coffin around with him and both gun-men are no more than standard spaghetti loners with highly developed weapons skills. The story has bandits abduct a girl after massacring all others in a ranch. Django and Sartana are soon on the case and set out to rescue her and administer a bit of a pasting to the nefarious good-for-nothing bounders.

The synopsis, and above paragraph in general, should hopefully make it clear that there is absolutely nothing in this movie that stands out from the crowd at all. Its highly generic fare which will offer no surprises to anyone who has seen a number of Italian westerns. Having said that, it's not precisely a bad example of the sub-genre either and I thought it did go about its business in an efficient and entertaining enough manner. But, at the same time, it was undeniably pretty forgettable stuff and one which was definitely no better than a time-filler.