If American filmgoers are at all aware of the work of filmmaker Damiano Damiani, it’s likely because of his deranged “Zapata western” A Bullet for the General, or else his bonkers horror sequel Amityville II: The Possession, which easily surpasses its more famous predecessor in sheer Wtf factor. Neither of those films are necessarily indicative of Damiani’s serious-minded approach to the titles included in Radiance Films’s Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in Three Mafia Tales by Damiano Damiani, but they do illustrate Damiani’s determination to pepper his works with pungent social commentary. The three films in this new box set may illuminate very different aspects of the mafia’s tentacular grip on Sicilian society, but they’re united in their bleak, often hopeless diagnoses of these social ills.
The Day of the Owl, from 1968, pits carabiniere Captain Bellodi (Nero) against mafia boss Don Mariano Arena (Lee J. Cobb...
The Day of the Owl, from 1968, pits carabiniere Captain Bellodi (Nero) against mafia boss Don Mariano Arena (Lee J. Cobb...
- 8/14/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
Guest reviewer Lee Broughton is back with an in-depth look at Sergio Corbucci’s grand ‘Zapata’ Spaghetti Western. Set in post-1900 Mexico, Tony Musante’s rebellious peon wants to be a hero of the revolution but he primarily robs the rich in order to pay the extortionate wages that are demanded by Franco Nero’s interloping Polish mercenary-cum-military advisor. The resultant political allegory is played out on an almost epic scale and is suitably enlivened by the presence of a villainous Jack Palance, a plethora of large scale action scenes, an imaginatively used period car and biplane and a rousing soundtrack score by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai.
The Mercenary (Il mercenario)
Region B Blu-ray
88 Films The Italian Collection
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 106 min. / A Professional Gun, Il mercenario / Street Date, 8 Jan 2018 / £15.99
Starring: Franco Nero, Tony Musante, Jack Palance, Giovanna Ralli, Franco Giacobini, Eduardo Fajardo, Franco Ressel, Raf Baldassarre, Tito Garcia.
The Mercenary (Il mercenario)
Region B Blu-ray
88 Films The Italian Collection
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 106 min. / A Professional Gun, Il mercenario / Street Date, 8 Jan 2018 / £15.99
Starring: Franco Nero, Tony Musante, Jack Palance, Giovanna Ralli, Franco Giacobini, Eduardo Fajardo, Franco Ressel, Raf Baldassarre, Tito Garcia.
- 2/20/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
While Klaus Kinski is not the star of Zapata-themed spaghetti western A Bullet for the General, screening as part of Anthology Film Archives' Kinski retrospective, his performance as religious zealot El Santo stands out in his prolific filmography.
Unlike the sadistic killers Kinski played in Westerns like For a Few Dollars More and The Great Silence, Kinski's character personifies the Zapata subgenre's typical mistrust of revolutionary idealism. But unfortunately, as this is a cynical conversion narrative, Santo, a devout believer in class warfare (he rants about serving God by killing the rich), doesn't receive the most screen time. Instead, the focus is on baby-faced American assassin Bill Tate (Lou Castel), who joins up with the outlaws and gets bandit...
Unlike the sadistic killers Kinski played in Westerns like For a Few Dollars More and The Great Silence, Kinski's character personifies the Zapata subgenre's typical mistrust of revolutionary idealism. But unfortunately, as this is a cynical conversion narrative, Santo, a devout believer in class warfare (he rants about serving God by killing the rich), doesn't receive the most screen time. Instead, the focus is on baby-faced American assassin Bill Tate (Lou Castel), who joins up with the outlaws and gets bandit...
- 7/30/2014
- Village Voice
We previously reported that Sergio Sollima’s The Big Gundown would be released by the good folks at Grindhouse Releasing. Now, we have the fine details. DVDActive reports that Grindhouse Releasing (by the way, it’s great to have them back after a long hiatus) is releasing The Big Gundown starring Lee Van Cleef and Tomas Milian in a 4 disc Blu-Ray & DVD Combo. Read on for the official press release. Can’t wait to see this since it has been a hard film to find.
From DVDActive.com
Sergio Sollima’s Run, Man, Run! has been available on remastered DVD for years, but its superior prequel, The Big Gundown has been missing from the digital home video landscape in the Us…until now. Grindhouse Releasing continues their comeback trail with the first even Us Blu-ray release of this classic film. Alongside Damiano Damiani’s A Bullet for the General, The Big Gundown...
From DVDActive.com
Sergio Sollima’s Run, Man, Run! has been available on remastered DVD for years, but its superior prequel, The Big Gundown has been missing from the digital home video landscape in the Us…until now. Grindhouse Releasing continues their comeback trail with the first even Us Blu-ray release of this classic film. Alongside Damiano Damiani’s A Bullet for the General, The Big Gundown...
- 11/8/2013
- by Andy Triefenbach
- Destroy the Brain
Hammer and Horror Film Day!
Saturday November the 9th ( 10am – 5pm )
Central Hall Westminster.
Storey’s Gate, Westminster, London SW1H 9Nh
UK’s longest running film fair and convention.
Now in it’s 40th year!
The Convention presents dealers from all over the UK, Europe, Us ,
Canada and South America.
Specialising in rare original film memorabilia and collectables.
Taking place six times a year these are truly unique events for anyone with an interest in films!
With actors and director’s signings, illustrated talks, retrospectives and film screenings taking place through out the day.
Items covering the history of cinema can be found. From the silents to the present.
From rare items of the 1920’s to new releases and the latest heart throb.
Among the many different field of cinema covered at the show is – Classic Hollywood, horror films, sci-fi, the best of British and European cinema as we as cult tv!
Saturday November the 9th ( 10am – 5pm )
Central Hall Westminster.
Storey’s Gate, Westminster, London SW1H 9Nh
UK’s longest running film fair and convention.
Now in it’s 40th year!
The Convention presents dealers from all over the UK, Europe, Us ,
Canada and South America.
Specialising in rare original film memorabilia and collectables.
Taking place six times a year these are truly unique events for anyone with an interest in films!
With actors and director’s signings, illustrated talks, retrospectives and film screenings taking place through out the day.
Items covering the history of cinema can be found. From the silents to the present.
From rare items of the 1920’s to new releases and the latest heart throb.
Among the many different field of cinema covered at the show is – Classic Hollywood, horror films, sci-fi, the best of British and European cinema as we as cult tv!
- 9/28/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The Venice International Film Festival has announced the lineup for its 70th edition.
Official Competition
Es-Stouh (Merzak Allouache, Algeria/France)
L'Intrepido (Gianna Amelio, Italy)
Miss Violence (Alexandros Avranas, Greece)
Via Castellana Bandiera (Emma Dante, Italy/Switzerland/France)
Tom à la ferme (Xavier Dolan, Canada/France)
Child of God (James Franco, USA)
Philomena (Stephen Frears, UK)
La Jalousie (Philippe Garrel, France)
The Zero Theorem (Terry Gilliam, UK/USA)
Ana Arabia (Amos Gitai, Israel/France)
Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, UK/USA)
Joe (David Gordon Green, USA)
The Police Officer's Wife (Philip Gröning, Germany)
Parkland (Peter Landesman, USA)
The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki, Japan)
The Unknown Known: The Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld (Errol Morris, USA)
Night Moves (Kelly Reichardt, USA)
Sacro Gra (Gianfranco Rosi, Italy)
Stray Dogs (Tsai Ming-liang, Chinese Taipei/France)
Out Of Competition
Space Pirate Captain Harlock (Shinji Aramaki, Japan)
Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, USA)
Summer '82 — When Zappa Came to Siciliy (Salvo Cuccia,...
Official Competition
Es-Stouh (Merzak Allouache, Algeria/France)
L'Intrepido (Gianna Amelio, Italy)
Miss Violence (Alexandros Avranas, Greece)
Via Castellana Bandiera (Emma Dante, Italy/Switzerland/France)
Tom à la ferme (Xavier Dolan, Canada/France)
Child of God (James Franco, USA)
Philomena (Stephen Frears, UK)
La Jalousie (Philippe Garrel, France)
The Zero Theorem (Terry Gilliam, UK/USA)
Ana Arabia (Amos Gitai, Israel/France)
Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, UK/USA)
Joe (David Gordon Green, USA)
The Police Officer's Wife (Philip Gröning, Germany)
Parkland (Peter Landesman, USA)
The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki, Japan)
The Unknown Known: The Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld (Errol Morris, USA)
Night Moves (Kelly Reichardt, USA)
Sacro Gra (Gianfranco Rosi, Italy)
Stray Dogs (Tsai Ming-liang, Chinese Taipei/France)
Out Of Competition
Space Pirate Captain Harlock (Shinji Aramaki, Japan)
Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, USA)
Summer '82 — When Zappa Came to Siciliy (Salvo Cuccia,...
- 7/26/2013
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Following the announcement that came earlier this week, launching yet another hugely impressive line-up at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, the respective line-up has now been announced for what is in some ways its European counterpart, the 2013 Venice Film Festival.
The announcement shows that the two will continue to have a number of films overlapping, including Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity (the Opening Night Film in Venice), Peter Landesman’s Parkland, Stephen Frears’ Philomena, and more. But it also brings with its news of where a number of films will be making their debut, including Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem; the latest film from Hayao Miyazaki, The Wind Rises; James Franco’s Child of God; Lee Sang-il’s Yurusarezaru Mono, the Japanese remake of Unforgiven; and Steven Knight’s Locke, led by Tom Hardy, and shot in one take.
In Competition
Es-Stouh – Merzak Alloucache (Algeria, France, 94’) L’Intrepido – Gianni Amelio (Italy,...
The announcement shows that the two will continue to have a number of films overlapping, including Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity (the Opening Night Film in Venice), Peter Landesman’s Parkland, Stephen Frears’ Philomena, and more. But it also brings with its news of where a number of films will be making their debut, including Terry Gilliam’s The Zero Theorem; the latest film from Hayao Miyazaki, The Wind Rises; James Franco’s Child of God; Lee Sang-il’s Yurusarezaru Mono, the Japanese remake of Unforgiven; and Steven Knight’s Locke, led by Tom Hardy, and shot in one take.
In Competition
Es-Stouh – Merzak Alloucache (Algeria, France, 94’) L’Intrepido – Gianni Amelio (Italy,...
- 7/26/2013
- by Kenji Lloyd
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Italian actress Claudia Cardinale to be guest host for the section at the 70th Venice International Film Festival where William Friedkin will receive a lifetime achievement honour.
Claudia Cardinale, best known for roles in Once Upon a Time in the West and Fellini’s 8 ½, is to be the guest host of Venezia Classici, the section devoted to restored films and to documentaries about cinema of the 70th Venice International Film Festival (August 28 – September 7.
The section, introduced last year, features a selection of classic film restorations completed over the past year by film libraries, cultural institutions or production companies around the world.
Cardinale will attend the screening of Vaghe stelle dell’Orsa, Luchino Visconti’s 1965 film in which she starred that won the Golden Lion at the 30th Viff and has been restored by Sony Pictures Entertainment.
It is is one of the four classics restored this year that has been conserved at the Historic Archives of the...
Claudia Cardinale, best known for roles in Once Upon a Time in the West and Fellini’s 8 ½, is to be the guest host of Venezia Classici, the section devoted to restored films and to documentaries about cinema of the 70th Venice International Film Festival (August 28 – September 7.
The section, introduced last year, features a selection of classic film restorations completed over the past year by film libraries, cultural institutions or production companies around the world.
Cardinale will attend the screening of Vaghe stelle dell’Orsa, Luchino Visconti’s 1965 film in which she starred that won the Golden Lion at the 30th Viff and has been restored by Sony Pictures Entertainment.
It is is one of the four classics restored this year that has been conserved at the Historic Archives of the...
- 7/15/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Italian director whose 1966 film A Bullet for the General, set in revolutionary Mexico, began a wave of 'tortilla westerns'
Damiano Damiani, who has died aged 90, was a director of Italian popular films and television. He was best known for La Piovra (The Octopus, 1984), an internationally successful TV series about the mafia, and made several mafia-themed films and TV movies, but his range was much wider.
Born in Pordenone, north-east Italy, he began his career in the 1940s, working in the art department and directing documentaries. As popular Italian cinema boomed in the 1960s, he began to make personal pictures, westerns, comedies, political thrillers and horror films. If you have only seen Amityville II: The Possession (1982), his one American movie, you have seen Damiani at his least inspired. In that film, the camera followed potential victims around a haunted house in a style made tedious four years earlier by John Carpenter's Halloween.
Damiano Damiani, who has died aged 90, was a director of Italian popular films and television. He was best known for La Piovra (The Octopus, 1984), an internationally successful TV series about the mafia, and made several mafia-themed films and TV movies, but his range was much wider.
Born in Pordenone, north-east Italy, he began his career in the 1940s, working in the art department and directing documentaries. As popular Italian cinema boomed in the 1960s, he began to make personal pictures, westerns, comedies, political thrillers and horror films. If you have only seen Amityville II: The Possession (1982), his one American movie, you have seen Damiani at his least inspired. In that film, the camera followed potential victims around a haunted house in a style made tedious four years earlier by John Carpenter's Halloween.
- 3/12/2013
- by Alex Cox
- The Guardian - Film News
Keeping up with his career plan of paying homage to every film genre going, Quentin Tarantino has moved onto the spaghetti western with Django Unchained (2012). It’s not a remake of the pasta classic Django (1966), or indeed a spaghetti western, but it has clearly taken its inspiration from those violent Italian productions that swamped the late sixties.
Hollywood may have dominated the field since the beginning of motion pictures but European westerns are not exactly new; the earliest known one was filmed in 1910. Sixties German cinema made good use of Kay May’s western heroes Shatterhand and Winnetou, and the British produced The Savage Guns (1961), Hannie Caulder (1971), A Town Called Bastard (1971), Catlow (1971), Chato’s Land (1972) and Eagle’s Wing (1979). When the genre showed signs of flagging in the mid-sixties, a clever Italian director named Sergio Leone took it upon himself to reinvent the western – spaghetti style!
What made the spaghettis...
Hollywood may have dominated the field since the beginning of motion pictures but European westerns are not exactly new; the earliest known one was filmed in 1910. Sixties German cinema made good use of Kay May’s western heroes Shatterhand and Winnetou, and the British produced The Savage Guns (1961), Hannie Caulder (1971), A Town Called Bastard (1971), Catlow (1971), Chato’s Land (1972) and Eagle’s Wing (1979). When the genre showed signs of flagging in the mid-sixties, a clever Italian director named Sergio Leone took it upon himself to reinvent the western – spaghetti style!
What made the spaghettis...
- 1/21/2013
- Shadowlocked
"I remember we used to wear the same dusters from The Wild Bunch or the one James Coburn wore in Duck, You Sucker!" —Francesco Piccioni (Red Brigades member)
Though Euro-centric enthusiasts might have a hard time admitting it, much of post-war continental culture is the child of the Marshall Plan. From the Nouvelle Vague to the Spaghetti Western, none of this would have been possible without the thriving economic situation brought about by what was officially known as the European Recovery Program – Erp. The socio-political alignment with the American way of life and death was achieved not only through military operations but also thanks to the exotic exports coming from across the Atlantic. From rock ‘n’ roll to action movies, whiskey to chewing gum, the Old Continent owes to America much of its luxuriant modernity. Needless to say, cultural hegemony often finds obstacles on its way, and the path to...
Though Euro-centric enthusiasts might have a hard time admitting it, much of post-war continental culture is the child of the Marshall Plan. From the Nouvelle Vague to the Spaghetti Western, none of this would have been possible without the thriving economic situation brought about by what was officially known as the European Recovery Program – Erp. The socio-political alignment with the American way of life and death was achieved not only through military operations but also thanks to the exotic exports coming from across the Atlantic. From rock ‘n’ roll to action movies, whiskey to chewing gum, the Old Continent owes to America much of its luxuriant modernity. Needless to say, cultural hegemony often finds obstacles on its way, and the path to...
- 7/2/2012
- MUBI
In the bonus material for Blue Underground's Blu-ray release of A Bullet for the General, there is a five minute statement from the director, Damiano Damiani, in which he repeatedly declares that his film is a satire of westerns and shouldn't be considered among their number. This is an unfortunate belief, as it seems clear to me that A Bullet for the General is not only very much a western, but that it is also among the very best of the '60s crop of Euro westerns, Spahetti Westerns, and one that transcends some of its more popular, more gimmicky contemporaries. Whereas most Spaghetti Westerns relied on flash and gimmickry, A Bullet for the General builds a very engaging story around what could very easily have...
- 5/22/2012
- Screen Anarchy
DVD Playhouse – May 2012
By Allen Gardner
Shame (20th Century Fox) Director Steve McQueen’s harrowing portrait of a Manhattan sex addict (Michael Fassbender, in the year’s most riveting performance) whose psyche goes into overload when his equally-troubled sister (Carey Mulligan) visits unexpectedly. Exquisitely-made on every level, save for the screenplay, which makes its point after about thirty minutes. While it tries hard to be a modern-day Last Tango in Paris, this fatal flaw makes it fall somewhat short. The much- ballyhooed sex scenes and frontal nudity are the least-interesting things about the film, incidentally, which is still a must-see for discriminating adults who seek out challenging material. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 5.1 surround.
Being John Malkovich (Criterion) Spike Jonze’s madcap film of Charlie Kaufman’s script, regarding a socially-disenfranchised puppeteer (John Cusack) who finds a portal into the mind of actor...
By Allen Gardner
Shame (20th Century Fox) Director Steve McQueen’s harrowing portrait of a Manhattan sex addict (Michael Fassbender, in the year’s most riveting performance) whose psyche goes into overload when his equally-troubled sister (Carey Mulligan) visits unexpectedly. Exquisitely-made on every level, save for the screenplay, which makes its point after about thirty minutes. While it tries hard to be a modern-day Last Tango in Paris, this fatal flaw makes it fall somewhat short. The much- ballyhooed sex scenes and frontal nudity are the least-interesting things about the film, incidentally, which is still a must-see for discriminating adults who seek out challenging material. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 5.1 surround.
Being John Malkovich (Criterion) Spike Jonze’s madcap film of Charlie Kaufman’s script, regarding a socially-disenfranchised puppeteer (John Cusack) who finds a portal into the mind of actor...
- 5/7/2012
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Just today I received Blue Underground's Blu-ray edition of Night Train Murders for review, and I have news to pass along as well. In what may very well be the first nunsploitation film to hit HD, Blue Underground have announced Killer Nun, starring Anita Ekberg, will hit stores shelves on April 24th!Uncut! Uncensored! Unholy!Legendary Swedish sex bomb Anita Ekberg (La Dolce Vita) stars as Sister Gertrude, a cruel nun who discovers depraved pleasure in a frenzy of drug addiction, sexual degradation and sadistic murder. Joe Dallesandro (Flesh For Frankenstein), Lou Castel (A Bullet For The General), Alida Valli (Suspiria) and the luscious Paola Morra (Behind Convent Walls) co-star in this notorious 'Nunsploitation' based on actual events that took place in a Central European country not...
- 1/12/2012
- Screen Anarchy
After the commercial success of his 1967 western The Big Gundown, the ‘other Sergio’, Sergio Sollima again returned to the genre, reuniting with actor Tomas Milan for Faccia a faccia. Alongside Tomas Milan, as outlaw Solomon Beauregard Bennet, in Faccia a faccia is Gian Maria Volonté as Brad Fletcher, a professor who appears to be slowly dying from a problem with his lungs.
The film begins with the kidnapping of Fletcher by Beauregard, who originally takes Fletcher as a hostage but the two begin to form a friendship and after Fletcher helps Beauregard out of a difficult situation he too becomes an outlaw. Beauregard teaches him how to shoot a gun, introducing him to a violent world he has hitherto been unfamiliar with. Beauregard also introduces him to his gang and the many bandits that surround them.
The narrative progression in Faccia a faccia is dominated by these two characters and...
The film begins with the kidnapping of Fletcher by Beauregard, who originally takes Fletcher as a hostage but the two begin to form a friendship and after Fletcher helps Beauregard out of a difficult situation he too becomes an outlaw. Beauregard teaches him how to shoot a gun, introducing him to a violent world he has hitherto been unfamiliar with. Beauregard also introduces him to his gang and the many bandits that surround them.
The narrative progression in Faccia a faccia is dominated by these two characters and...
- 6/13/2011
- by Craig Skinner
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
"... They call him Silence, because wherever he goes, the silence of Death follows."
A gang of ruthless bounty hunters, for whom the "Alive" in "Dead or Alive" is mere filler, terrorise a snowbound mountain community, sanctioned by the town's corrupt Justice of the Peace, Pollicut (Luigi Pistilli) – who disposes of those he doesn't like by placing a price on their head.
Following the needless slaughter of her husband at the hands of the sadistic bounty killer, Loco (Klaus Kinski), Pauline (Vonetta McGee) enlists the aid of a wandering gunslinger, Silence (Jean-Louis Trintignant), to avenge his death. The presence of Silence in the desolate town of Snow Hill brings events to a head between the besieged inhabitants and the bounty hunters, and as the black-clad, mute gunman seeks retribution; he can do nothing to halt the massacre that is on its way.
Sergio Corbucci brought a manically fresh perspective to the...
A gang of ruthless bounty hunters, for whom the "Alive" in "Dead or Alive" is mere filler, terrorise a snowbound mountain community, sanctioned by the town's corrupt Justice of the Peace, Pollicut (Luigi Pistilli) – who disposes of those he doesn't like by placing a price on their head.
Following the needless slaughter of her husband at the hands of the sadistic bounty killer, Loco (Klaus Kinski), Pauline (Vonetta McGee) enlists the aid of a wandering gunslinger, Silence (Jean-Louis Trintignant), to avenge his death. The presence of Silence in the desolate town of Snow Hill brings events to a head between the besieged inhabitants and the bounty hunters, and as the black-clad, mute gunman seeks retribution; he can do nothing to halt the massacre that is on its way.
Sergio Corbucci brought a manically fresh perspective to the...
- 12/21/2009
- by Nick
- Latemag.com/film
Sergio Corbucci's Django revolutionised the Spaghetti Western genre in many ways. The low-budget retelling of Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars – itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo – ramped up the violence, the amorality, the bloodletting and the insanity factor to an unprecedented scale, spawning a glut of rip-offs, cash-ins and unofficial sequels of varying degrees of quality. It also, quite unintentionally, began a trend for titular heroes whose names ended in the letter 'o' and when said quickly enough could possibly be mistaken for Django.
There was Anthony Steffen - the Spaghetti Western standard-bearer, himself no stranger to playing Django - starring as the main man in both Garringo and Shango. 'Sword and Sandal' star Brad Harris as the fast gun in Durango is Coming, Pay or Die. Montgomery Clark (Dante Posani) as the gambling gunslinger in Djurado and Ivan Rassimov in this, 1967's Cjamango.
There was Anthony Steffen - the Spaghetti Western standard-bearer, himself no stranger to playing Django - starring as the main man in both Garringo and Shango. 'Sword and Sandal' star Brad Harris as the fast gun in Durango is Coming, Pay or Die. Montgomery Clark (Dante Posani) as the gambling gunslinger in Djurado and Ivan Rassimov in this, 1967's Cjamango.
- 8/15/2009
- by Nick
- Latemag.com/film
Jeffman from Head Full Of Snow recommends five Spaghetti Westerns not directed by Sergio Leone.
A bruised and battered stalwart of the late night cinema circuit, the Spaghetti Western held a bastardised, custom-job revolver to the head of its inferior American cousin and relieved it of both its basic premise and last shred of decency; joyously blurring the line between right and wrong and leaving morality swinging from a ragged noose in the hot, desert sun.
The Spaghetti Western was an Italian phenomenon, mostly financed by Rome's famous Cinecitta Studios, although there were plenty of co-productions with other Euro countries like Spain and Germany, even stretching as far afield as Israel if you count the soul-sapping awfulness that is God's Gun. One man is responsible for popularising the Spaghetti Western, Sergio Leone. If you're a follower of LateMag's frequent forays into the weird and wonderful worlds of cult cinema you'll probably know his films already.
A bruised and battered stalwart of the late night cinema circuit, the Spaghetti Western held a bastardised, custom-job revolver to the head of its inferior American cousin and relieved it of both its basic premise and last shred of decency; joyously blurring the line between right and wrong and leaving morality swinging from a ragged noose in the hot, desert sun.
The Spaghetti Western was an Italian phenomenon, mostly financed by Rome's famous Cinecitta Studios, although there were plenty of co-productions with other Euro countries like Spain and Germany, even stretching as far afield as Israel if you count the soul-sapping awfulness that is God's Gun. One man is responsible for popularising the Spaghetti Western, Sergio Leone. If you're a follower of LateMag's frequent forays into the weird and wonderful worlds of cult cinema you'll probably know his films already.
- 6/10/2009
- by Nick
- Latemag.com/film
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.