Clayton l'implacable

I really like Craig Hill in the role of Django (character's name in the German dubbed version) because he plays him tough and down-to-earth. Django wants to avenge his sister's death, but unfortunately he kills a guy in a tavern brawl first - who turns out to be the sheriff's brother. Understandably, Django has got no help to expect from the law afterwards and must do the revenge job on his own. Well, lone rangers always made great heroes, while hunting parties didn't! Rough genre movie without flaws worth mentioning, voted 7/10.

Handsome Craig Hill stars as Clayton, a horse trader who sets out to avenge the rape and murder of his sister by tracking the pair responsible to the lair of Charles Malleck, a wealthy Southern arms dealer who doesn't want the Civil War to end until he can squeeze every last drop of profit from it. With help from one of Malleck's women, Clayton infiltrates the gang and finds that their plans to hijack a Confederate gold shipment pales in comparison to a daring double assassination plot set to occur at a summit meeting between generals from both sides...

Released in Germany as a "Django" movie, this spaghetti/paella (Italo- Spanish) co-production has a fairly ambitious storyline that moves along at a fast clip and contains enough shootouts, fist fights, and other assorted brutality to satisfy most genre fans. The cinematography and sweeping vistas aren't bad, either, and there's an appropriately fitting end. Craig Hill does a credible job trying to channel Clint Eastwood and lissome Lea Massari (L'AVVENTURA) is always a welcome presence, especially here as a feisty gal out to better her lot.

I became aware of this Italian Spaghetti Western only recently; it turned up both on late-night Cable TV (which is how I watched the film, though the English-dubbed German print bore no title or credits whatsoever apart from the concluding "Ende"!) and online. I had been impressed with the same director's subsequent effort in the same vein i.e. GATLING GUN (1968) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064013/usercomments-3 which, likewise, dealt with the American Civil War.

A far-fetched subplot here, in fact, sees unscrupulous weapons manufacturer Andrea Bosic attempt to thwart the Peace Treaty signing between Confederates and Unionists because in that way his otherwise lucrative business would plummet! This is tied in with the central narrative which, typically, has a young man go after the villains who callously raped and murdered his sister – these happen to be members of Bosic's gang who ultimately first turn on their boss and then, out of greed, kill each other off!; along the way, our hero also saves nominal heroine Lea Massari and her younger companion from much the same fate!

As played by Craig Hill (from the recently-watched ASSIGNMENT TERROR [1970]), he evokes John Philip Law in the popular – and obviously superior – DEATH RIDES A HORSE (1967), proving an adept gunman but also getting a beating every so often (since he even has to contend with a corrupt sheriff, whose brash younger brother he had killed in self-defense, and his associates). The result, then, is a minor (and pretty forgettable) genre effort – but one that serves its purpose in the entertainment stakes; as is to be expected, the score (courtesy of Nico Fidenco) emerges as its main asset.

"Who cares about the death of your sister, I want my drink!". This is what the brother of the sheriff tells Clayton in a bar. Clayton doesn't really like to hear this, starts a brawl and when the other draws the gun he shoots and kills. Then he goes to the sheriff to complain about the murder of his sister and the sheriff who doesn't care starts the next brawl. Clayton escapes and hunts the murderers by himself. Not much killing but many fistfights. Everything (and everyone) is simple and somewhat solid but neither the story nor the film ever excel. The three actresses in this sometimes misogynistic story are handsome and particularly Lea Massari does a good job.

There's a typical scene in LO VOGLIO MORTO (I WANT HIM DEAD) where Clayton (Craig Hill) who is stalking the men who raped and killed his sister stands on a hill and watches five horsemen riding in the distance. The shot is low to the ground, all we see are his legs and boots and the riders in the distance as they approach a villa. Cut to the five bandits riding one by one; I was reminded of the samurai running to the village in Kurosawa's SEVEN SAMURAI. Any spaghetti western which evokes this masterpiece is okay with me! Director Paolo Bianchini does a good job throughout; here and there may be a hole in the plot, but the style, music (by the great Nico Fidenco), and gritty performances by the actors carry this fine Eurowestern to another level. Any fan of the genre will be in ecstasy watching this one!