Django, o Bastardo

Sergio Garrone's "Django Il Bastardo" aka. "Django The Bastard" of 1969 is referred to by many as a great, creepy and particularly original Spaghetti Western. I am a Spaghetti Western enthusiast, and although "Django The Bastard" is certainly not a bad film, it is in my opinion overrated by many of my fellow fans of the Italian Western. Furthermore it is neither the only, nor the first, nor the best Spaghetti Western with Horror elements. This film also has the reputation of being the inspiration to Clint Eastwood's great "High Plain's Drifter" of 1973, and it might be true that parts of this movie inspired Eastwood, but "Django the Bastard" does in no way reach the quality and style of Eastwood's film.

First of all - "Django The Bastard" (such as most of the other unofficial 'sequels') has nothing at all to do with Sergio Corbucci's 1966 masterpiece "Django" with Franco Nero in the lead. While the original Django is a former Union soldier, the central character of the same name in this movie, which plays in 1882, has formerly served in the confederate army. "Django The Bastard" is a movie that has its highs an lows. There are some excellent, stylish and creepy moments, one of my favorite scenes in the film is right in the beginning, when Django sticks a cross with a name on it in the muddy ground of a Western town. However, the movie sometimes just gets too boring in the middle. Most of the dialogue is not too refreshing either. There is one character i loved, that is the character of Luke Murdoch (played by Luciano Rossi), the hideous and utterly insane younger brother of the local crime boss and rich landowner Rod Murdoch (Paolo Gozlino). Luke, who is desperately in love and obsessed with a woman named Alethea (Rada Rassimov) and often has a fit of extreme rage and insanity, can only be calmed down by Alethea, which is the reason why his brother keeps her locked in his mansion.

Anthony Steffen (Antonio De Teffe) fits pretty well in his leading role of the creepy silent stranger, although his performance is a little too stiff. As I mentioned above, Luciano Rossi also does a great job as the crazy villain. Rada Rassimov (whom you might recognize for her small role in "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly") also plays her role pretty well.

"Django The Bastard" is certainly an entertaining little Spaghetti Western, but nonetheless I think it is overpraised by some of my fellow Spaghetti Western fans. Fans of the genre will certainly have a good time watching "Django The Bastard" but, in my opinion, it is not a must-see. If you want to watch a truly great Spaghetti Western with horror elements and topics like resurrection in it, I recommend Giulio Questi's surreal and excellent "Se Sei Vivo Spara" aka. "Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot!" of 1967, with Tomas Milian in the lead, before watching this. Still, "Django The Bastard" is certainly not a bad film. It does have some very stylish, and some pretty creepy moments, and it is certainly worth the time. Recommended to enthusiastic Spaghetti Western fans.

Ever since Bengt Enkerot approached Max von Sydow in THE SEVENTH SEAL and said the immortal words, "I am Death", it appeared as though cinema and its movie-goers had admired a new formula involving the supernatural...DJANGO THE BASTARD may not be in the same league as the mentioned Ingmar Bergman classic, but it may be responsible for elevating the "Avenging stranger" genre to new heights. In this Sergio Garrone-directed flick, Anthony Steffen bears the Django name (No relation to Franco Nero's DJANGO) and has a score to settle with some old Confederates that are responsible for many deaths, including...Django?? Did he survive? Or is he "A devil from hell"?

As I stated up above in the one-line-summary, yes there is some crude filmaking here, but there is also some effective stuff as well. Just watch the opening minutes involving a Grim Reaper-esque, Django, walking into town, camera angles panning from above and below. Stopping at his feet, then to have a man-made cross suddenly emerge from his cloak. The cross bearing the name of his first victim, planted into the earth with one stroke! Also kudos goes to the actor who played the demented, Luke Murdock. I got a kick out of that guy!

"DJANGO THE BASTARD" is a real odd horror flick. Usually in horror movies they take place in modern day. The setting for this movie is in 1880's southern states. During the civil war, Army officers sold their entire regiment to the enemy, who brutally massacred them. One survived, (or did he?) and his name is Django. 13 years later he comes back to get revenge on the Officers and kill ANYONE who gets in his way. Some people think Django is supernatural, is he? See the movie to find out. When Django plants the first cross in the ground, at the start, it really freaked me out. He places a cross in the ground with the name of the officer he wants dead, while they're still alive. When ever Django appears it scares me, because he looks like a cold killer who doesnt care if anyone lives or dies. He kills the officers with a gun most of the time or he beats them to death in some gory fashion. In one scene he's kneeling by a campfire, talking to gangsters. When he walks away an explosion occurs killing the gangsters...really scared me because I didn't expect it. This whole movie really gives me the creeps, call me crazy, but it does, it really scares me!, and the horror classic "HALLOWEEN" didnt give me a fright at all. This film is more Horror than spaghetti western, so don't knock becuase it takes place 100 years ago. Definatley on my top 10 Horror List. I give it an 8/10.

"Wait a minute stranger, please...tell me who you are anyway"... a baddie asks Django, who replies, "A devil from hell"!! So yes...this movie certainly plays like a typical Italian horrorfilm.You know, one that takes place in an old remote castle where various people are destined to die horroble deaths. Technically this Sergio Garrone film is a much more skillful production than some of his "women in kz-lager" efforts of which he is so "famous"!!! The first 30-45 mins are visually very stimulating and this bears the film through. But after an hour or so, with lots'a style, thrills, atmosphere,moods etc, it just becomes too much(for me at least!!). Django appears everywhere never showing any facial expressions shooting down tons of baddies.Quite frankly, it borders on the tediously boring!!

The ghostly happenings does set the film apart from most other entries in this fine genre and for this I praise and recommend it.

Django il bastardo directed by Sergio Garrone is a good intersting take on the mutitude of Django movies I have seen. The best are still the original with Franco Nero & the one Terence Hill did. I really feel that the biggest weakness of Django il bastardo was Antonio De Teffè (AKA Anthony Steffen) as Django. He had a great coldness about him but it almost goes a bit too stiff at times. A rather traditional revenge plot that is always ok by me & with a bit of a supernatural tone to it.. Which is both creepy & makes for a good weird western. There are some great scenes in this movie.. The flashback scenes were well done in the sense that you as the viewer are not treated with the "in case you didn't get the hints we dropped.. This is what happened" that I see in other westerns from this era. I would have liked a less rigid Django but Antonio De Teffè did create a different character for Django that I did enjoy. Is he a ghost? Is he real? The crosses bearing the names of the victims, the soon-to-be victims faces reading the crosses with their names on them.. Great stuff. There are some really great scenes, good acting, and a twist on a character I have always enjoyed. I love the soundtrack, again with the usual chants of Django which never get old to me. Worth checking out for sure.