Django Kills Softly (1967)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Simply Perfect

Beautiful, moving film.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Sergio Corbucci's original classic spaghetti western Django (1966) sure has a lot to answer for. In fairness, it's hardly Corbucci's movie's fault that countless Italian westerns that followed in its wake decided to simply name the lead loner/drifter after the main man and pretend that it was somehow a sort of follow-up. I've seen a few of them now and the one thing I have noticed is that there is nothing that sets them apart from other spaghetti westerns whatsoever! For what it's worth, this one went out under the name Django Kills Softly, which aside from being a somewhat strange name, seems to have been an English language title – in the original the lead character seems to have been called Bill. So it appears that Italian producers must have quickly noticed that if they stuck 'Django' or 'Sartana' in their film's title then they would increase admissions by a few percentage points. Needless to say, this is another very pedestrian and not memorable at all Italian western. In it Django's seeks vengeance after his friend is murdered by a bandit leader who controls a town through violence. To be honest, with a lot of these ultra-generic spaghetti westerns, you almost feel the writers simply randomly selected staple elements from a special 'spaghetti-western-generator' (a cardboard box with a hole in the side full of bits of paper with Italian western clichés written on them) and wrote bits of exposition to join the pieces together. Even the titles sound like they have been randomly created by this high-tech machine! Whatever the case, this particular example of the genre is deeply unremarkable, yet professional enough to never fall below the level of mediocre. The one thing that does set it apart from others is in it having Django played by George Eastman (aka Luigi Montefiori), who is an actor who became known for playing very threatening villains in later 70's and 80's crime films, horrors and exploitation fare in general. He was quite well suited to these types of movie roles, so it was strange seeing him playing a western hero when he was a young guy. It's not really that much of a distinctive angle for this film to boast in fairness but it is at least something.

Ravioli¨ Western with ordinary ¨Macaroni¨ players as George Eastman , Luciano Rossi , Rick Boyd and Spartaco Conversi . Italian production full of action , exaggerated characters , shootouts and lots of violence . A good example of Latino western genre from Italy . For money , for pleasure , for revenge , he doesn't care why he kills or how . This moving Spaghetti contains noisy action , thrills , gun-play with exciting final . Django (George Eastman or Luigi Montefiori) is a stranger who arrives in a Mexican-border town of Santa Anna at the behest of a man named Sanders who'd been attempting to buy safe passage for his cargo from a Mexican bandit named El Santo . Django finds that Sanders has been murdered and that his nemesis is a gunfighter named Thompson (Luciano Rossi) , a powerful bandit who threatens and coerces townsfolk and is now attempting to deal with El Santo (Mimmo) about weapons smuggling . Django befriends a veteran cowboy named Miguel (Spartaco Conversi) and a young Mexican called Pedro . There Django settles a dispute between two bands of cutthroats . Django, after a brief involvement with a gorgeous young widow named Linda (Liana Orfei , sister of Moira Orfei , both of whom starred a lot of Peplum) who has information on a lost gold mine becomes entangled in this event by agreeing to escort a shipment through El Santo's territory . Django goes out to avenge Sanders and his new friend Miguel , embarking on a line of crime , battling murderous and executes a single-handedly revenge , as he shoots , ravages and kills each person involved in the killing . Then Django is imprisoned by Thompson but is freed by his friend the Mexican boy . Spaghetti Western with usual amount of frantic action , go riding , plot twists , shootouts and violence . This average Django Western contains a customary and well known script about vengeance , plenty of turns , intrigue , shoot'em up and results to be quite entertaining , though drags at times , balancing up and down . It packs a similar plot to original ¨Django¨ including two confronted bands though without machine gun . Ordinary Spaghetti Western follows the Sergio Leone wake and it is proceeded in violent style . It's a thrilling western with breathtaking confrontation between the protagonist George Eastman against the heartless Luciano Rossi and his hoodlum as Rick Boyd . Tall George Eastman as Django is passable , George or Luigi Montefiori starred several Spaghetti such as "Django the Last Killer" ¨Un poker di pistole¨, ¨The Belle Starr Story¨ , "Django, Prepare a Coffin" and even wrote several Western as "Chuck Moll" , "Amigo, Stay Away" and including the classic ¨Keoma¨ .This violent Spaghetti belongs to ¨Django¨series , after successful original ¨Django¨ by Sergio Corbucci with Franco Nero , it was followed by several imitations , rip offs and cheesy copies , such as : ¨Pochi dollar per Django¨ or ¨Alambradas De Violencia¨ (1966) by Leon Klimowsky starred by Anthony Steffen , Gloria Osuna , Frank Wolff ; ¨Django Shoots First" (1966) by Alberto Martino with Glenn Saxon , Fernando Sancho and Erika Blanc ; ¨El Mio Nome e Django¨ (1969) by Ferdinando Baldi with Terence Hill , Horst Frank , George Eastman ; ¨Django Le Bastard¨(1969) by Sergio Garrone with Anthony Steffen , Paolo Gozlino , Rada Rassimov ; ¨¨Django defies Sartana¨(1969) by Pasquale Squitieri with George Ardisson and Tony Kendall ; ¨Ein Pressen Fur Django¨ or ¨Barro en Ojos¨(1971) by Edoardo Mulargia with Anthony Steffen ; and the official sequel titled ¨Il Grande Ritorno¨(1987) by Nello Rossati or Ted Archer with Franco Nero , Christopher Connolly and Donald Pleasence .

Clever and noble drifter gunslinger Django (a solid and engaging performance by George Eastman) arrives in a small town that's being terrorized by two hostile groups. Django decides to clean the place up by taking on both gangs. Director Massimo Pupillo, working from a compact script by Lina Caterina, Paul Farjon, and Masrcello Malvestito, relates the enjoyable story at a brisk pace, maintains a suitably gritty tone throughout (the antagonists are a pretty heinous bunch who go as far as to kill a mother and her son in the opening robbery set piece), makes excellent use of the rocky desert locations, and stages the plentiful thrilling shoot-outs with crackling verve (besides said shoot-outs, a lively barroom brawl provides another exciting highlight). It's nice to see Eastman, a hulking actor who's usually cast as scary psychos and leering heavies, play an appealing heroic lead for once. The colorful rogues' gallery of lethal bad guys adds considerably to the picture's entertainment value: Luciano Rossi as the shifty Dr. Thompson, Mimmo Maggio as ruthless Mexican bandito leader El Santo, and, most memorable of all, Frederico Boido as twitchy henchman The Nervous One. The fetching Liani Orfei fares well as sweet damsel in distress Linda, Spartaco likewise registers favorably as the helpful Miguel, and Antonio Toma contributes a sympathetic turn as browbeaten mute Pedro. Mario Parapetti's crisp cinematography boasts lots of cool shots of the sprawling landscape. Berto Pisano's robust'n'rousing score hits the stirring spirited spot. A fun flick.

"Django Kills Silently" (a.k.a. "Django Kills Softly") is overall a serviceable spaghetti western for people who have an interest in the genre. Some of its positive attributes include a good musical score, some good action sequences, and a pretty good performance by George Eastman, a hulking actor who you might think is better suited for bad guy roles. Also, the plot of the movie is not standard or predictable - it keeps jumping from place to place and to new characters on a regular schedule. Although one problem of this is you may be wondering just when the movie is going to settle on some key elements! Another problem is that the movie doesn't explore the lead character's motivations or character that deeply. If his name is indeed "Django", we learn this from the title, since his name is never mentioned once in the movie! Still, apart from a few quibbles like those, the movie passes the time adequately enough.