A GUN FOR 100 GRAVES (1968)
Umberto Lenzi is (in)famous for making some of the more violent and sleazy films in the Italian cult movie canon, so naturally when I discovered that he'd entered my beloved spaghetti western genre I just had to see what it looked like. Lenzi plus spaghetti westerns equals A GUN FOR 100 GRAVES. It's a great name, if nothing else.
Aside from the title, the cast certainly showed promise too, being positively bursting with Eurocult talent. Eduardo Fajardo, Piero Lulli, Peter Lee Lawrence and John Ireland all show up, along with many other faces familiar to regular spaghetti western viewers.
It's not a good sign for those hoping to catch some full-on Lenzi mayhem then when it turns out that the lead character Jim Slade (Lawrence) turns out to be not just a pacifist but also some kind of Jehovah's witness, albeit not a particularly convincing one. That's a bit odd for a spaghetti western, which I guess makes it stand out from the crowd a little, however we can thank Lenzi that this unusual approach to characters does extend to the villains too.
We are treated therefore to a band of escaped lunatics whose numbers include a pyromaniac, a rabid sex fiend, an amnesiac and a good old psycho (Fajardo). Thank you Lenzi!
Alas that's pretty much the most memorable contribution to the film as far as Lenzi-esque mayhem goes. Most of the particularly brutal moments happen off screen, but there is still a fairly high body count and we are treated to a final twenty minutes during which there are plenty of shootouts, twists and casual violence. On top of all that, there's a gloriously cynical ending worthy of Sergio Corbucci (DJANGO, THE GREAT SILENCE) himself.
The film isn't completely without humour though - I particularly like the gravestone in the cemetery which is marked simply "bearded Mexican".
I watched this on a German DVD. There are some audio hiccups on the English soundtrack, some minor print damage and the colours are slightly faded but it's probably the best presentation around at the moment. It doesn't deliver the sort of OTT violence you'd want from a Lenzi western but it's enough fun for me to recommend it.
Aside from the title, the cast certainly showed promise too, being positively bursting with Eurocult talent. Eduardo Fajardo, Piero Lulli, Peter Lee Lawrence and John Ireland all show up, along with many other faces familiar to regular spaghetti western viewers.
It's not a good sign for those hoping to catch some full-on Lenzi mayhem then when it turns out that the lead character Jim Slade (Lawrence) turns out to be not just a pacifist but also some kind of Jehovah's witness, albeit not a particularly convincing one. That's a bit odd for a spaghetti western, which I guess makes it stand out from the crowd a little, however we can thank Lenzi that this unusual approach to characters does extend to the villains too.
We are treated therefore to a band of escaped lunatics whose numbers include a pyromaniac, a rabid sex fiend, an amnesiac and a good old psycho (Fajardo). Thank you Lenzi!
Alas that's pretty much the most memorable contribution to the film as far as Lenzi-esque mayhem goes. Most of the particularly brutal moments happen off screen, but there is still a fairly high body count and we are treated to a final twenty minutes during which there are plenty of shootouts, twists and casual violence. On top of all that, there's a gloriously cynical ending worthy of Sergio Corbucci (DJANGO, THE GREAT SILENCE) himself.
The film isn't completely without humour though - I particularly like the gravestone in the cemetery which is marked simply "bearded Mexican".
I watched this on a German DVD. There are some audio hiccups on the English soundtrack, some minor print damage and the colours are slightly faded but it's probably the best presentation around at the moment. It doesn't deliver the sort of OTT violence you'd want from a Lenzi western but it's enough fun for me to recommend it.
Labels: Eurocult, spaghetti westerns, Umberto Lenzi
posted by Alan at 8:03 pm
0 comments
