Django the Bastard (1974)

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Captivating movie !

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

All in all, this is a pretty good example of the spaghetti western genre. Aside from a few brief instances in my youth, I haven't really seen that many spaghetti westerns yet (apart from the more popular Clint Eastwood ones), so this was a good introductory experience for me. DJANGO THE BASTARD has the right look and feel about it, with crisp photography capturing the barren desert land and the isolated town just right. The director Sergio Garrone was an old hand at these type of films and his solid direction proves this, providing plenty of interesting camera angles (most notably in the excellent opening scene, showing a stranger walking into town via P.O.V. shots) and good editing. An excellent music score also helps, utilising the classic guitar string music associated with the genre and changing mood when needed to make things more exciting, whenever the situation calls for it.For me, the cast is totally full of unknowns, yet all cast members are fine in their respective roles. The baddies are typically repulsive, although Paolo Gozlino lends just the right touch of class as the boss. Lu Kanante, on the other hand, is a snivelling psychopath who shoots up a street full of men and women while laughing manically. His sudden death is well deserved and a welcome end for this repulsive weirdo. The woman playing his wife (didn't get her name) is also very good, and thankfully her character is a well-rounded one, a woman out for her own benefits. Anthony Steffen takes the role of Django, and while he doesn't have the same screen presence as Clint Eastwood - or, indeed, Franco Nero - he's more than adequate at carrying the film when needed and invests his role with a likability towards the end which really gets us rooting for him.There are plenty of shootouts to enjoy, although a few are poorly edited and therefore lack the necessary thrills. One gun battle between gangs of men is particularly well choreographed. The final twenty minutes are basically a protracted cat and mouse game between Django and the hired hands out to kill him, and is pretty tense. While the film isn't very violent (there's hardly a drop of blood on show), there's a neat trick involving an unfortunate victim getting impaled on a cleaver sticking through a door - you'd have to see it to understand. I also welcomed the addition of a few macabre horror elements into the brew, such as Django placing crosses in front of his victims before killing them, or a few scenes set in cemeteries. There's also an ambiguity surrounding the character of Django, who may or may not be a ghost. This makes things even better in my opinion. DJANGO THE BASTARD may not be a particularly original film, taking too much from what has come before it and relying on a strict revenge theme rather than branching out in new directions, but the execution is fine, making this an easy and enjoyable film to watch.

Prolific Spaghetti western leading man Anthony Steffan, who imitates Clint Eastwood right down to slinging his serape over his shoulder before he whips out his six-shooter, stars as a mysterious gunslinger who rides into Desert City looking to kill three of the town's most prominent citizens. Thirteen years ago, it seems, during the American Civil War, a trio of Confederate officers sold out their men and let the Union Army overrun their camp and massacre them. One of those dead men reappears to settle the score with these wicked villains. In director Sergio Garrone's atmospheric but often crudely helmed oater, Django (co-scripter Steffan) shows up in town and draws attention to himself when he sticks a graveyard cross in the dirt with his victim's name on it. Indeed, this is a rather distinctive way to garner attention and it works for the most part. The chief heavy, Rod Murdok (Paolo Gozlino of "Son of Cleopatra"), has his gunmen run everybody out of town and then makes these trigger-happy gunmen hunt down the elusive Django. These hombres don't have much luck and most of them wind up biting the dust in this 107-minute western. Ironically, Murdok's younger brother, sickly-looking Jack (Luciano Rossi of "A Man Called Sledge"), manages to disarm Django by using a woman and money to lure him into a church.Throughout "Stranger's Gundown," a.k.a. "Django the Bastard," the idea is that our protagonist is an apparition who returns to exact revenge on the elder Murdok and his two conspirators, Howard Ross (Jean Louis of "The Treasure of San Gennaro") and Williams (Teodoro Corrà of "Roy Colt and Winchester Jack"), for their treacherous act of betrayal. Jack proclaims that Django isn't a ghost because he makes him bleed. Mind you, we see our tortured hero bleed and nearly strangle from being hanged by Jack in a church. Nevertheless, throughout this oater, Django has a way of showing up with a minimum of fanfare and behaves like a specter. Occasionally, the dialogue refers to him as 'a devil out of hell,' but he relies on his long-barreled Colt's revolver to lay his adversaries to rest. "Stranger's Gundown" is pretty predictable as revenge westerns go. The villains are a slimy bunch and they earn their comeuppance. Near the end, Django casts such a spooky spell on matters that some of Rod's hired gunmen turn against him and they blast it out between each other on main street. Inevitably, after our hero kills Jack in the church, he faces off with Rod in main street with unsurprising results.Although he acts like Clint Eastwood, Anthony Steffan makes a memorable hero and it is his uncanny ability to imitate Clint that lends so much power and authority to his character. He dispatches the villains much as Clint might, fanning his six-gun and sending them spinning. "Stranger's Gundown" boasts enough shoot-outs to assuage the appetite of any Spaghetti western aficionado. One of the more unusual scenes occurs early in the plot. Two men toss a sizzling stick of dynamite between each other while the spectators make wagers about who will win. This is probably of the more interesting scenes that has nothing to do with the revenge plot. The scenery isn't as stunning as in most Spaghettis, but the hardware looks authentic. Everybody sports either a Colt's revolver or a Winchester repeating rifle. One character brandishes a Derringer. The Civil War scenes are okay with the soldiers toting Springfield muskets with bayonets. Garrone isn't the most polished of directors, but "Blood at Sundown" lenser Gino Santini and he create some evocative shoots. The most memorable occurs at night as horsemen plunge out of nowhere with light behind them. Early in the action as Django saunters through a town, Santini places his camera inside a barrel and uses the curvature of the barrel to frame a shot of our hero's moving boots. During a shoot-out in a house, Santini and Garrone do a good job of thrusting us into the midst of the action, particularly when a gunfighter impales himself on a machete protruding through a door. Rada Rassimov appears as a money hungry woman who wants to hit the trail with our hero at fade out. When she tries to join him, Django vanishes into thin air."Stranger's Gundown" is neither the first supernatural western nor the best, but there is considerable reason to believe that it may have inspired the highly superior "High Plains Drifter." No, "Stranger's Gundown" doesn't surpass "High Plains Drifter." Produced on an obviously low-budget, this western isn't one of the best Spaghetti westerns. It qualifies more as an imaginative, but B-rated sagebrusher, not of the quality of the Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci westerns. It is also obvious that the filmmakers appropriated the name of the Corbucci hero. This Django is a rebel and he doesn't drag a coffin behind him with a machine gun in it. Altogether, "Stranger's Gun" looks like an exploitative hybrid of the two Sergios, but it is worth a look.

I've read alot about "Django The Bastard" and comparisons between it and Eastwood's "High Plains Drifter". I think it's safe to say that "HPD" is not a remake of "DTB" but is is also safe to say that it at least served as the inspiration for Clint's 1972 film IMHO.I had high expectations for "Django The Bastard" and I was definitely NOT let down. It's an at times crude and low budget affair but it has enough action, tension and chills to make it a terrific little film that just may be one of the trendsetters in the Euro Gothic Western sub-genre. The atmosphere is thick in this creepy movie and Director Sergio Garrone goes all out showing us some unique camera angles which run the full spectrum from overhead shots to close-ups to fade-in's to handheld. Very effective as is the score which at certain times is eerie enough to raise a goosebump or two. Some remarkable scenes as mentioned in other reviews including a creepy opening that is almost completely silent except for the howling wind and the memorable scene in the graveyard.Really wonderful stuff from the little SW that could. The performances are fine and I think that anyone who is a fan of Eastwood's "High Plains Drifter" owes it to himself or herself to check this one out. It's available on DVD from VCI under it's U.S. title of "The Strangers Gundown". Easily one of my favorite Westerns.

This is a cheap, lackluster Spaghetti western that never manages to develop any suspense. The director has no style, the acting is stiff, and the action scenes are poorly shot. In fact, the photography is bad overall. Some say this is an influence on "High Plains Drifter", but in fact it is yet another rip off of Leone's films and "Django".I say skip this film and go rent "The Great Silence". That's a much more interesting Spaghetti Western from about the same time. Better yet, rent "Keoma". "Django the Bastard" has some of the right elements, but it is just too derivative.