A lot of people consider this one of the essentials of spaghetti oaters, but I'm sorry to say that I'm not one of them. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly not a bad film for the genre, but I wouldn't exactly go out of my way and buy the Anchor Bay DVD of it, either. I found the action kind of weak. It lacks that punch and wit that I've found from other oaters by the likes of Giulio Petroni, Lucio Fulci or even Corbucci's later westerns, imo.
Django spends a lot of the time trudging through the mud hauling a coffin carrying a 'surprise' that he will later use against both the Mexicans who pillage the town, and Col. Jackson's men who impose stiff taxes and levies for 'protection'.
He sees a woman getting flogged by some of the Mexicans, and then Col. Jackson's men after they've just killed the Mexicans from a distance. Django then takes the woman back to town where he confronts Jackson after Jackson's learned that Django's just killed five of his men.
The scene where Django kills the rest of Jackson's men on the muddy street looks sloppy and unconvincing. Even the 'machine gun' looks like a studio prop with no recoil as he mows down Jackson's men. Poor.
There are a couple of brutal scenes where the Mexicans cut off one of Jackson's men's ears, or when they stomp and crush Django's hands towards the end of the film, but that's not enough to put this in the 'classic' category, either. The ending scene in the graveyard is almost anti-climatic as Django, hiding behind a cross marker with his broken hands holding a pistol, does...well... you'll have to see for yourself.
The opening and closing title theme song by Bacalov is essential for Spaghetti western music collectors, but too bad I can't say the same for the rest of the film. There are better out there. Check out Franco Nero in TEMPO DI MASSACRO (1966) for example and you'll see what I mean. Now I wish someone would release *that* one on DVD.
5 out of 10
Django spends a lot of the time trudging through the mud hauling a coffin carrying a 'surprise' that he will later use against both the Mexicans who pillage the town, and Col. Jackson's men who impose stiff taxes and levies for 'protection'.
He sees a woman getting flogged by some of the Mexicans, and then Col. Jackson's men after they've just killed the Mexicans from a distance. Django then takes the woman back to town where he confronts Jackson after Jackson's learned that Django's just killed five of his men.
The scene where Django kills the rest of Jackson's men on the muddy street looks sloppy and unconvincing. Even the 'machine gun' looks like a studio prop with no recoil as he mows down Jackson's men. Poor.
There are a couple of brutal scenes where the Mexicans cut off one of Jackson's men's ears, or when they stomp and crush Django's hands towards the end of the film, but that's not enough to put this in the 'classic' category, either. The ending scene in the graveyard is almost anti-climatic as Django, hiding behind a cross marker with his broken hands holding a pistol, does...well... you'll have to see for yourself.
The opening and closing title theme song by Bacalov is essential for Spaghetti western music collectors, but too bad I can't say the same for the rest of the film. There are better out there. Check out Franco Nero in TEMPO DI MASSACRO (1966) for example and you'll see what I mean. Now I wish someone would release *that* one on DVD.
5 out of 10