Matalo! (Kill Him)

This one emerges an outstanding, if eccentric, Spaghetti Western which certainly gives that notorious genre effort DJANGO, KILL...IF YOU LIVE, SHOOT! (1967) a run for its money in the weirdness stakes!

Though simply enough plotted - with the script itself admirably laconic - and effectively set (for the most part) in a ghost town, it's essentially a mood-piece: stylized to a fault, the film features virtuoso camera-work and bold editing throughout; still, the general tone - buoyed by the remarkable experimental electro-rock sounds created by one Mario Migliardi - is effortlessly hypnotic.

The cast is equally interesting: Spaghetti Western regular Lou Castel as the unlikely hero (who, admitting to be unskilled at handling guns, utilizes boomerangs for weaponry during the body-strewn climax!); Corrado Pani - surely one of the genre's most idiosyncratic villains - brings a topical, i.e. late 1960s, touch of hippiedom to the Old West (the film is, however, thankfully free of the politics which informed many latter-day similar efforts)! Incidentally, both these top-billed stars are off-screen for an inordinate length of time - thus allowing Claudia Gravy, the luscious female lead, to take centre-stage (no complaints there!).

Pani's sidekicks, then, are equally colorful: one is Gravy's current lover, who assumes leadership of the gang after Pani's untimely 'exit' early on, and the other a sadist who covets the girl (though she continually rejects his advances). In fact, for a film of its type, there's an unusual emphasis on sex here - as much to the fore, I'd say, as the violence...which is present in quite graphic fashion (the sadistic outlaw beats Castel repeatedly with a chain, but he later has his own hand trampled by horse's hooves!).

Regrettably, the film is only available on DVD in an English-dubbed version through Wild East; the fact that the original language is not included would normally be enough to dissuade me from acquiring it (in spite of an accompanying Lou Castel interview which ought to be interesting) - but my recent unhappy experience with Wild East's edition of another Spaghetti Western title, THE MAN FROM NOWHERE (1966), certainly doesn't help make a case for it...

Six years after Sergio Leone's A Fist Full of Dollars created the term "spaghetti western" and the passing of the San Fransisco acid wave of the 60's, someone thought it would be a good idea to combine the two. It would be a showcase for the international talents of Bolivian born actor Lou Castel, Argentinian actor Luis Davila (a.k.a - Luis Devil), Zaire born actress Claudia Gravy, the Italian Corrado Pani and directed by Cesare Canevari. For those familiar with the sultry naiveté of Emmanuelle, Canevari was the director of the first. If you haven't guessed so far, this is all a recipe for disaster.

Speaking with "J" (a friend and I don't mean the John Malkovich currently residing inside of Will Smith) about my reviews, he suggested I should make them my own somehow. I thought I had already done that, but it got me to thinking. I'm not sure if anyone has used this concept before, but here goes. I could rate movies based on a "shot scale". That would be the amount of shots required to enjoy or completely forget about the movie in question. It would only be in use for what I consider to be bad movies (also includes the "good-bad"). So for example, Matalo would require me to down 7 shots of Jagermeister, SoCo (minus lime) or Gentleman Jim D (or a combination of all 3 that would total 7 shots still). So the higher the "shot count", the worse the movie (inverse order to the normal scale). Now back to Matalo.

The whole plot of the movie revolves loosely around the heist of a United States official luggage from a stagecoach in the middle of the desert. We don't get to this point until about 1/2 way through the movie, however. The main character loves the smell of gunpowder, money and women. From the predictable "gore" introduction, I was getting an uneasy feeling in my gut and it wasn't because of the two shots I had quickly guzzled. The "gore" is quite light (even by 1970 standards) and seems almost melodramatically over-theatrical. For an action western, the action is as lively as the ghost town backdrop ; squeaky, rundown, dusty, but with lots of water. I have never seen the desert and water concept/metaphor driven this much into the ground, yet with as little emotion (or sweat) as possible. The director was obviously very influenced by Chappaqua and other "psychedelic" films, as he over uses their effects ad nauseam (literally sometimes). I mean how many times can we show spinning, Outer Limit's tilted framings, and close-ups of thespians with goofy expressions? This is a poor, drunk, blind and deaf man's version of El Topo. It's an Italian import, but definitely not a Ferrari.

90 minutes of that, mixed in with bare-bones dialog and acting (the dialog and acting in this movie share a border with pantomime) is too long I think. The plot could help, right? Not really. Characters coming out of the desert can't help this one, either. The acid rock soundtrack is actually not too bad, however, it is metaphorically alone in the desert with no water. I felt like I was watching Sergio Leone's evil hack clone remaking Tell Your Children (Reefer Madness) for posterity. It's really a smelly, decaying carcass that one million boomerangs cannot save, but it is still in the desert. If you're going to go there, bring the essentials (drugs/alcohol and a gun to shoot yourself afterwards). If you heed my advice, seek Django.

At the beginning of the movie, Bart (Corrado Pani) is about to be hanged. With a grin, he sticks his head through the noose. Soon we see the reason for his happiness: bandits attack the town and rescue him. Bart watches a widow (probably of his latest victim) shoot herself after he kissed her, but he doesn't care at all. Later he murders his rescuers in cold blood and teams up with Theo (Antonio Salines) and Philip (Luis Davila). They arrive in Benson City, a ghost town, and meet Philip's love interest Mary (Claudia Gravy). They steal a box full of gold from a stagecoach - Bart, the protagonist so far, is casually shot there - and hide in the deserted town again for a couple of days. But Theo, Philip and Mary are not alone. The last inhabitant, the old Mrs Benson, still lives there, and Ray (Lou Castel), a boyish stranger, arrives with a woman who survived an accident in the desert. When Mrs Benson offers Ray a gun to fight against the bandits, he tells her he never fired a gun before... but he's got boomerangs.

"Matalo" is not just a movie - it's an unforgettable experience. Directed by Cesare Canevari, Mario Migliardi had the freedom to experiment with the soundtrack which has many distorted strange noises and a psychedelic guitar playing which is obviously contemporary to Jimi Hendrix. You can count the dialog scenes in the movie by the fingers of one hand. Even if people talk, it is often not a convenient exchange of information for the audience, but a meaningless distraction, for example in the scene when Mary teases Theo by showing her leg, while Philip boasts about all the gold they stole.

Bart says: "It is easier to love God than your next one, because God doesn't cheat" (in the original: "E più facile amare Dio che il prossimo perché Dio non ti frega mai"). Bart is often laughing to himself, as if he told a secret joke to himself - more likely, he is amused at the absurdity of his existence.

If somebody shoots, it's not the aim, it's the sensuality of the action that matters. Bart loves to smell the smoke of his gun after he fired. Before the stagecoach robbery, Bart and Philip don't discuss their plan like they would do in an ordinary movie. Often it is not important what is shown, but what is not shown, because that questions your habits as a viewer. After Julio Ortas' camera turned in circles, we see bodies on the ground. Who killed whom? Never mind. We all must die. God doesn't cheat.

I watched this movie for the second time and really enjoyed it. I see there is allot of mixed feelings about Matalo. Too me this movie had very surreal tones and eerie sounds giving the Benson Town that Ghost Town feel with a touch of Horror film suspense to it. I know the costumes had a hippie look to them but the opening scene of the movie of Bart out of focus walking to be hanged was brilliant camera work and direction. Corrado Pani (Bart)in his first and only SW he ever played in was fantastic as the lead bad guy role. I am shocked to see him not in any SW after this for the genre was alive still in 1970 and slowly fizzing out till 1978. It shows Bart and his ultimate drive in life is money and it does not matter who you walk over or hurt to get it. I loved allot of scenes in the movie like Bart doing a sort of flashback thought of his father and how important money is and the old Benson lady in denial who believed that the money would revive the great Benson name and life back in the town. The boomerang slinging stranger a different type of hero who is tormented by Bart's gang and to be saved by his horse with a strange supernatural touch to the scene. What, I disliked was the final scene with the gunfire between Bart and his gang and the repetition of the camera spinning over and over was too much. It was great to see Bart show his sole purpose in life as the only one going after the donkey with all the money even though to no avail being mortally wounded.

When someone gets a credit for providing electroacoustic special effects, you know you're in for something different. Matalo is a very different type of Western. The hero doesn't even carry a gun. He carries boomerangs.

This whole heap of weirdness doesn't have much of a plot by the way. What we get is a dodgy character called Bart get saved from hanging by a bunch of laughing Mexicans. He then proceeds to steal a bunch of gold and after Bart and the Mexicans get out of town (to a soundtrack of psych-rock), Bart shoots every single one of them and ends up meeting his two friends. They all end up at a creepy ghost town where every grave has the name Benson, and every shot front also sports the name Benson. While a fourth bandit turns up in the form of sexy Claudia Gravy, the movie starts flashing subliminal shots of an eyeball while we realise that someone else is creeping about town. Plus, Claudia seems to be playing mind games with every one of these guys.

This is all told to the sound of howling wind and strange effects, whirling camera shots, acid rock, trippy editing and bizarre acting. When Bart is seemingly shot dead during another robbery, the other three start conspiring against each other while waiting to head to Mexico.

The hero take shapes in the form of Lou Castel and his boomerangs and he spends most of the film being held captive and getting tortured, especially by Claudia Gravy (she sits on a rope swing while threatening him with a knife in one of many strange scenes). There's also a scene where a horse decides to join a fight, and those boomerangs make for some groovy camera shots when we finally get to the weird showdown at the end.

Although not as satisfying as the similar Django Kill! If you live...shoot! or as goofy as Get Mean, this is still one weird-ass Western that should be tracked down. Just don't expect much action. Claudia Gravy has a great second name, doesn't she?