Sartana, o Matador

The second film in the popular Sartana series is, on the whole, pretty entertaining ..well spun in Carnimeo's typical "Sartana" style....combining a whodunit...w/ elements of a smokey good mystery...with Spaghetti Western action & humor. More than a bit tongue in cheek...yet straining for credibility & often (but not always) hitting the mark.

"Sono Sartana......" hits the ground running...in a snappy opening...as Sartana is implicated in a bank robbery. A $10000 reward on his head insures that he's pursued by bounty hunters....many of whom are known to him already as friends, allies, competitors. There's a good amount of tension & unpredictability as Sartana tries to get to the bottom of it all, as he follows the trail of clues as to who framed him.. as well as the wherabouts of the $$$$$...all the while being stalked by bounty hunters and people trying to get their own grubby little hands on the $$$$$. Unfortunately...those remaining who can shed any light on the issue are knocked off before he can get to them.

The trail takes him to Poker Flats...a gambling town where everybody's a cheat...out for themselves...& can't be trusted. A shady saloon owner...corrupt judge...dishonest sheriff....are but 3 of the slightly twisted characters we meet in this quirky corner of 'Spaghettiville'.

Frank Wolff puts in a nice turn as Buddy Ben...although willing to lend his assistance, you never know exactly where his loyalties or motivations lie............& it's a nice performance.

Kinski delivers one of his most sane Spaghetti Western roles as the unlucky gambler/bounty hunter...........Hot Dead.

Mancuso's music/score has some nice moments...and some lesser ones. Sartana's theme is good..but tends to be overplayed...over & over & over (and over)...........Kinski's theme --> a little banjo tune --> is recognizable as "Santa Claus is coming to town." Interesting choice of melody...to say the least.

All in all...an enjoyable romp.......with enough twists & turns to keep you guessing....... Within a genre filled w / copycats & overused plots...I appreciate any Spaghetti Western that has a different style...w/ at least an attempt at an original plot. "Sono" manages to be intelligent...funny ..pretty brutal w/ a lot of action...& an entirely satisfying conclusion.

Sprinkled throughout are some great names ..Slim Shotgun...Shadow...DeGuello......some great dialogue...the bounty hunter who announces his arrival with "I am death"...& of course Sartana's quip "I'm your gravedigger".

My cherished little copy used for this review is in Italian w/ English subs..so I can't comment on the English dubbed version...nor can I be aware of any changes or differences in the English translation (and there always are differences). Spaghetti Western w/ a definite twinkle.

Nothing short of great stuff here with an excellent cast and a well written script punctuated by some great little moments of humor. Garko is better than usual as the eagle-eyed, razor toungued and lightning fast Sartana and has a wealth of great character actors to support him, including the vastly underrated Frank Wolff. The direction is exceptionally stylish, with numerous POV shots and expressionist angles that add loads of atmosphere to what, in lesser hands, could have been a rather average outing. Great stuff, that may not convert the heathens, but will definitely please the spag aficionados.

"Sono Sartana, Il Vostro Becchino" aka. "Sartana The Gravedigger" aka, "I Am Sartana Your Angel Of Death" is a quite humorous Spaghetti Western with a Great Cast.

Like in all the original "Sartana" movies he stars in, Gianni Garko is once again very cool as Sartana, the genre's most well-dressed (anti-)hero. This time, bounty hunter Sartana needs to clear his name after someone robbed a bank dressed up as Sartana and he is blamed and hunted by his fellow bounty hunters. Accompanied by a fellow bounty hunter, the not so well-dressed Buddy Ben (Frank Wolff), Sartana is out to seek those who dared to blame him for their crime.

"Sartana The Gravedigger" is not exactly a 'Comedy' Spaghetti Western, but it's certainly a very funny one. Hot Dead, a bounty killer, fast shot and very unlucky gambler, played by the great Klaus Kinski is one of the ironical characters who make this film so funny. Another funny character is villainous and slightly insane bounty killer Deguejo (played by B-Movie star and regular Spaghetti Western actor Gordon Mitchell), who is, as most of the characters played by Mitchell, very exaggerated, but exaggerated in a good, funny way. The great Frank Wolff is funny in his role, and Gianni Garko is great and epitomizes coolness (as in the other Sartana movies).

The movie's score is pretty good, although the composers actually just plagiarized the work of Ennio Morricone (Kinski's theme in this movie is basically a lesser version of Cheyenne's theme in "Once Upon A Time In The West" and the rest of the film's soundtrack also resembles various Morricone compositions). It's okay to learn from the master, however.

All things considered, "Sartana the Gravedigger" is a good Spaghetti Western with great actors (especially Kinski, Wolff and Garko). Highly recommended to every fan of Spaghetti Westerns. 7/10

This Sartana movie gets the usual Western issues , such as greedy antiheroes , quick zooms , exaggerated baddies and musical score with Morricone influence , among them . When a bank is secured with the help of group of bounty hunters , it takes a special man to rob it : Sartana (Garco) . The gang members wear the same clothes as the bounty hunters contracted to defend it . Their leader pretends to enter the bank to collect the reward of a bandit he has murdered . Is the leader really Sartana ? . Of course , he isn't , he is only dressed like him , but the hoax is so effective that a reward is put on his head and he is soon pursued by some of his earlier colleagues bounty hunters , among them : Shadow (José Torres) , Deguejo (Cameron Mitchell) and Hot Dead (Kinski) . Then Sartana is falsely accused of robbing a bank , and must find the real robbers and clear his name . Alarmed , the dark , elegant hero named Sartana begins investigating with the help of a friend , a dubious and ragged man called Buddy Ben (Wolff) . The trail leads them to the town of Poker Falls , where the gambling flourishing and crime is rampant . The expert card player Sartana arrives in a small city where various bounty hunters attempt to kill him . It follows the seemingly endless adventures of Sartana in search of the true guilty . At the end takes place the inevitable confrontation , a showdown in which Sartana contends against all .

This is a Western all'Italiana post-Sergio Leone era , this period received a big boost with Sergio Corbucci's very influential Django . However in the following years use of irony and cunning became more prominent . This was seen in ulterior Westerns with their emphasis on unstable partnerships . In the last phase of the SW with the Trinity movies , the Leone legacy had been transformed almost beyond recognition , as terror and deadly violence gave way to harmless brawling and low comedy . It contains an interesting but twisted plot , double crosses , shoot'em up and results to be quite entertaining , though drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . At the beginning takes place an outrageous and ambiguous opening scene in which we witness the robbery of a bank that is thought to be impenetrable . There is plenty of action , guaranteeing thrills , decent body-count or stunts every few minutes . SARTANA is a fundamental archetype in Spaghetti/Paella genre as well as James Bond in spy-genre , here Gianni Garco-Sartana stars an entertaining SW with lots of action , gun-play and fun . As always , the mythic personage appears elegant and dressed in black and with a killer look . Sartana is the standard by which every spaghetti antihero is measured along with Lee Van Cleef's Sabata and Franco Nero's Django . It's a thrilling western with breathtaking confrontation between the protagonist Gianni Garco against the heartless enemies formed by various bounty hunters , judge , sheriff and bankers . There is a very odd implementation of shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as well as a lot of twists and turns , as the film approaches its climax , as in the final and the unusual conclusion . German Gianni Garco or Gary Hudson is good in this Sartana Western , he is fine ; as he ravages the screen , brawls , shoots , run and kills . The cast is standard with lots of Italian b-movie heroes , there appears usual actors from Spaghetti such as John Bartha , Federico Boido or Rick Boyd , Samson Burke as Judge's right hand , Ettore Manni , Renato Baldini , Sal Borghese ; of course , the great Kinski and special mention to Frank Wolff who early committed suicide . Atmospheric Eastmancolor cinematography by Giovanni Bergamini though being necessary a remastering and filmed in Elios studios , as usual . Enjoyable musical score by Vasco and Mancuso , including catching leitmotif .

Sartana himself is like a crossover between Clint Eastwood's The Man with no Name and ¨Django¨, a black-clad amoral anti-hero ; adding the special characteristics from James Bond , his quirky gadgets , elegance and dressed in cloak . Sartana character is in equal parts mysterious , cool and deadly ; he is not out there to chase the bandits like a simple bounty hunter , he is just out for money and blood . His quirky gadgets often bring to mind the other similar character , Sabata played by Lee Van Cleef and Yul Brynner . The first Sartana was ¨Gunfighters Die Harder" or "If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death" a trend-setting film by Gianfranco Parolini with Garco , Kinski and Fernando Sancho . The best Sartana are directed by Giuliano Carmineo , alias Anthony Ascott, he realized various with George Hilton who replaces to Garco . Hilton played more natural and roguish than Garco who was cold and peculiar . They cooperated in some Westerns in the late 60s/early 70s, most remarkable is the "Sartana"-Series. The later "Sartana" movies directed by Anthony Ascott became increasingly cartoonish and humorous . It was followed by director Alfonso Balcazar with ¨Sartana non Perdona or Sonora¨ with George Martin and Gilbert Roland . Miles Deem directed two Sartanas deemed lousy and cheesy . Furthermore , a string of sequels and rip-offs with other Z-series directors. This ¨Sartana¨ movie perhaps is not a Spaghetti masterpiece , but a watchable and sometimes unusual movie nonetheless .This is definitely one of the best Sartana-Movies ; tough, cynical and with a lot of humor, seasoned with all herbs of a cool Spaghetti. I had a lot of fun with this one and it's worthwhile it more than one time .

Forget all American westerns when you've been watching Spaghetti westerns, they are utterly opposite, "Sono Sartana, il Vostro Becchino" was a second entry Sartana, it's has a stylized concept, as dark and obscure characters, fancy clothes, skillful handling cards, unusual guns, also when someone falling down by a deadly shot they made it in humbling scene, the moving camera work is extremely well-done for several angles, anyway a different genre, the plot is about a fake Sartana who stolen 300.000 dollars of a bank, henceforth Sartana's (Gianni Garko) head has a fabulous reward 10.000 bucks, then he starts to clean his name, meanwhile has to struggles against countless bounty hunters that are willing lost his skin for this such large amount of money, each one was a proper grave at his path, until reach on lawless gambling city, there is the hideout of phony Sartana, but who is him anyway? Usually spaghetti has pretty girls around, in this just few ordinary girls was introduces at casino, also the casting are great names as Frank Wolff, Ettori Manni, Klaus Kinski, Renato Bladini and Gordon Mitchell in just two sequence, what a waste, enjoyable spaghetti!!!

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First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7