I Am Sartana, Your Angel of Death

This is the third Sartana played by Garko film I have seen and while I found the first two to be mediocre at best this one hit me positively. Sartana is falsely accused and is searching for the real bank robbers. The evolving story consists of many little entertaining episodes and whenever you think that the real bad guy is already revealed there is one more twist. In his quest Sartana is assisted only by Buddy Ben who is well played by Frank Wolff, the rest of the characters is hunting the bounty put on his head. No problem for Sartana who kills them all, most of them with his Derringer pistol. Kinski with more screen time than usual shines in his role as an addicted gambler.

The lead characters are having their own and nice scores. Cinematography is above average but I've seen already better. The German budget DVD is OK and has even the original Italian soundtrack.

7 / 10 (**1/2)

"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

Garko displays true stellar charisma in this film, the second film in the Sartana series. Although this film borrows some plot elements from the first Sartana film, the script, acting, and direction is far superior to the first film. The plot has Sartana framed for a bank robbery; the price on his head results in countless bounty killers seeking to claim the reward, while he strives to discover the true criminal. Sartana, supremely cool, never loses his excellent sense of humor, and is always in control of every situation. Klaus Kinski gives another of his deliciously weird characterizations as a bounty killer addicted to gambling. The biggest action sequence in the film has Sartana taking on two dozen opponents in sequence (and he doesn't use a gatling gun, either). And there is a nice musical theme. If you are a Spaghetti Western fan, don't miss this excellent one.

It's true that the spaghetti western genre isn't one to brag about originality. Movies from it often borrow thematic elements from one another and most of the time that results in one very unsuccessful imitation of the real thing. But sometimes a director is able to look past the genre's obvious limitations and instead of just trying to blindly emulate he focuses on creating something that stands good on it's own. Such is the case of Giuliano Carnimeo's "Sartana the Gravedigger".

The whole movie revolves around it's main star and character, namely Gianni Garko as the crafty, nearly legendary gunslinger, Sartana. Whom soon after the opening scene finds himself framed for a bank robbery and chased by a never-ending wave of bounty hunters. This of course prompts him to track down the people who were actually involved in the robbery and have wrongfully framed him for it. From then on this becomes a fast ride, never slowing it's pace. It doesn't try to be anything more than entertainment and it works. Garko's character is an obvious Eastwood look alike both in physical looks and in terms of behavior, but then again this has already become an accepted feature to most Spaghetti westerns and for all the good it does, Garko has captured (if only partially) that mysterious "man with no name" persona that made Eastwood famous. The support cast is equally good in their respective roles with Klaus Kinsky playing a down on his luck bounty hunter and Frank Wolf as the comedic sidekick to Garko's Sartana.

Giuliano Carnimeo directs with a strong emphasis on action rather than simply trying to copy Sergio Leone. "Sartana the Gravedigger" is indeed a fast moving picture. With a large body-count and countless firefights it doesn't stop to entertain even for just a minute. Some of the action scenes are particularly well done, with the battle in the church making the biggest impression. It is by far one of the most unique showdowns I've seen in an Italian western. There Carnimeo employs, complete darkness with the only visible light coming from aimless fire of dozens of guns that are trying to hit Sartana while he himself silently kills them off one by one. The battle is accompanied with an atmospheric musical piece by composer Vasco Mancuso that further helps in establishing a claustrophobic no escape feel of the scene.

The movie does have it's share of problems and it, as a lot of others in the genre suffer from low production values. Typical example would be the not so good costume designs, especially in the opening bank robbery where we saw guards wearing some very un-western like clothing.

All in all "Sartana the Gravedigger" is a very good spaghetti western that is sure to please fans of the genre, with it's non-stop action, good music and characters

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.