Light the Fuse... Sartana Is Coming

Now that Netflix are putting on some Italian stuff I found this one in the depth of their catalog.

Pure spaghetti western with the typical macho hero smoking cigares when killing people. Okay, it do reminds you sometimes towards the Clint eastwood westerns but this is on lower profile. A lot of shootings but never a drip of blood, weird.

But hey, the story was good, the extreme close-ups are there and the score is procent western,.

If you don't expect that much you're in for a nice ride.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 0/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5.

The fifth, and final if I'm not horribly mistaken, official entry in the Sartana series, sees director Giuliano Carnimeo (Anthony Ascott I'm looking at you) and regular Gianni Garko teaming for yet another spaghetti western mystery-cum-action extravaganza.

The plot is crafted in typical Carnimeo fashion, occasionally makes no sense, but is fun to watch as it unfolds its twists and turns, with a myriad of people trying to get ahold of 500,000$ dollars and $2 million counterfeit money. The whole cast puts in a good performance, the gorgeous Nieves Navarro (aka Susan Scott, known from A Pistol for Ringo and giallo efforts) easily standing out, not necessarily for her acting abilities though.

The final showdown in the empty streets of a town is as close to offering a monumental spaghetti western moment, the Sartana series will ever come. After Parolini's insurmountable original from 1968 that is. It's obviously, strongly influenced by Corbucci's Django (1966), but that doesn't detract from its psychotronic charm. Watch it and find out. Bruno Nicolai's score is like a second grade Morricone, but given Il Maestro's genius, even a second grade Morricone is a good thing. Combined with plenty of gunfights, greasy villains, conniving women and enough quirks and tricks to keep fans happy, this is a worthwhile second tier spaghetti western entry and Carnimeo's best in the Sartana series. Great for a Sunday afternoon...

There have been quite a lot of "spaghetti" western and taking notes from other succesful ones was not being considered a bad thing. Now one of the stranger things is the dubbing thing. Most of those movies had actors from all over Europe (sometimes all over the world, this has an East meets West vibe) and everyone was talking their own language on set. That means there is not one language track that would satisfy everyone - you'd have German, Italian, English, Spanish and other languages intermingled.

Puritst will not get a track like that as I understand, so you have to be ok with dubbing. I hope I didn't bore you with my explanation, but I think it is important to know. Having said that, this gives you everything you need (gun fights/shootouts) and then some. A neat entry into the Sartana saga ...

From early scenes of sadism to light hearted duplicity this movie is the entire genre's trajectory of tone and attitude. (Excepting the political phase) Supercool hero, good soundtrack, epic body count in a fantasy American west . Silly genre exercise but entertaining. Lets partner up!

Half a million dollars in gold and twenty million dollars in counterfeit money are enough reason for Sartana to be relaxed with the gun. His opponents are gangs, a fake general with an army, a sheriff and the seductive widow of an accomplice. According to the motto "It's better to stink than die early", he delivers a fight that is second to none with the help of his robot Alphine and his bulletproof death organ.

Just reading the above and you know what you are in for: double twists, triple twists, deception, greed, endless gunfights and a high body count. From the opening to the end "Light the fuse ... Sartana is here" is one fun ride. It has a standard spaghetti western premise but done with panache and energy. The plot moves along as Sartana gets into one trouble to the next. He's like Sabata with his array of gadgets ( such as the big piano where he lets out a tune with gunfire). It's wacky, sometimes bizarre (robot) but it's imaginative and its OTT approach is part of its charm. I reckon this is the second best Sartana western, the first best is "I Am Sartana, Your Angel of Death."