Se sei vivo spara (1967) Online

This is really a cult within a cult. The first few scenes are the standard revenge and search for gold spaghetti fare. However, after the bandits entire the strange town, the movie really enters a surreal land. I was quite bemused watching the various sub-plots but it was extremely compelling. It gives the impression of two scriptwriters who love westerns just brainstorming the most outrageous script. Despite its confused feel I give it 10/10 as it has many startling, original and occasionally jaw dropping moments'. Highlights are , 'digging for gold in the bandit', Zorro the 'affable sadist', the black-shirted gay muchachos, the commentary by the parrot and the liquids gold 'House of Wax scene. What the 'traditionalist American Cowboy fans make of the gay muchachos, god only knows. Highly recommended.

A fine, if somewhat bananas spaghetti western that cashes in on the Franco Nero/Sergio Corbucci Django of the previous year simply by including Django in the title. What we have here, though, is a marvelous, if somewhat slightly mysterious example of the genre. More interesting than Django is a B***ard, or whatever its called this week, Django Kill really pulls out all the stops in an endless parade of the macabre. From the curious opening scene with Tomas Milian crawling out of a grave to the brutal lynchings and gothic horror drenching of one of many villains in liquid gold- this is a real treat for genre fans. As with many similar movies there are no morals anywhere to be seen, characters turn up, rub their hands together, kill mercilessly and then are shot down or, in this case, killed by an exploding horse. I understand that there are many versions of this movie in existence, which is not surprising in the least. The version i have was shown on uk tv five or six years ago, so i suppose its incompleteness would be down to broadcast quality prints. Its still a real doozer though.

The Stranger (Tomas Milian) arrives in the town known by the local Indian tribes as "The Unhappy Place" to see the bodies of his recent partners in crime hanging in front of him. Flashbacks have already revealed that he had been betrayed and left for dead by the gang, led by Oats (Piero Lulli), following a theft of gold from the army.

The two most prominent townsfolk, Tembler (Quesada) and Hagerman (Sanz) have split the stolen gold between them, and are keeping it hidden from Sorrow (Camardiel), a larger than life bandit whose "muchachos" dress all in black and, lets say, presumably enjoy the pleasures of men. Throw into the pot the mysterious figure of Hagerman's imprisoned wife, who beckons the Stranger from her cell window, and you have a very strange, yet apt, setting for this highly entertaining and frankly bizarre movie.

In fact, this film is straight out of horror territory, from the Stranger's first screen appearance - clawing his way out of an open grave - until its bitter ending. The mood is ably assisted by Ivan Vandor's score, which adds suitable suspense and tension, particularly during the scenes portraying Hagerman, his wife and her relationship with the Stranger.

The cast is quite superb, particularly Sanz in the part of the treacherous Hagerman. Milian meanwhile plays the Stranger role competently but fairly static without the mysterious charisma of a Nero or Eastwood. I am a huge fan of Milian, but much prefer to see his characters portray a little more humour (as he does so brilliantly in Face to Face and the Big Gundown, to name just two performances).

At times graphic (like the notorious scalping scene, or the sight of Oaks' body being torn apart by the locals desperately clawing at the gold bullets within his barely alive body), at times obviously low budget (such as the scene in which the Stranger is tortured, by being subjected to blood sucking bats and other creatures), but captivating throughout. One of the "must view" euro-westerns, in my view.

Italian/Spanish production full of action , excessive characters , shootouts and lots of violence . For money, for pleasure, for revenge, he doesn't care why he kills or how . Mexican outlaw Django (Tomas Milian) is part of a gang of robbers that steal a cargo of gold from an army stagecoach . However, the Americans led by Oaks (Piero Lulli) in the group betray him, and shoot all the Mexicans . Mestizo Django is not completely dead though, and crawls his way out of his shallow grave , being saved by some Indians , going on his chase of the gold, and exacting a bloody vendetta . The stranger teams up with two Indians and head west for vengeance . The Stranger or Django is on the trail of some renegade outlaws and en route he arrives in a little town . There are various factions including a Mexican Bandit , a gang of Homosexual Cowboys (Sancho Gracia , among others) led by Mr Sorrow (Robert Camardiel) , a saloon owner (Milo Quesada) , a preacher (Francisco Sanz) feud over stolen gold in the surreal town . Django goes out to avenge his former colleagues , battling murderous and saved from an impromptu hanging . The stranger executes a single-handedly revenge , as he shoots , ravages and kills each person involved in the treason.

This meaty Western contains an interesting but twisted plot , violence , shoot'em up and results to be quite entertaining , though drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . A good example of Latino western genre from Italy and Spain ; it is daring , surreal and notoriously violent Spaghetti , so extreme in every way , it is one of the handful of great Italian Western . This moving Spaghetti packs noisy action , thrills , crossfire , rare events , twists and turns with exciting final . Offbeat Spaghetti Western and it is proceeded in violent style and unusual narration . The film packs violence , gunplay and high body-count ; it's fast moving and quite entertaining . It's a thrilling western with breathtaking confrontation between the protagonist Tomas Milian against the heartless Milo Quesada , Francisco Sanz , Robert Camardiel and his underlings as Sancho Gracia . Tomas Milian is fine , he ravages the screen , hit and run and kills . The Cuban Tomas Milian plays splendidly , he had got fame and fortune with his character ¨Cuchillo¨ from the trilogy directed by Sergio Sollima . Tomas created his own image and propelled himself to stardom in likewise fashion with such important Spaghetti as ¨The Bounty Killer¨ (1966) ¨The Big Gundown¨ (1967) with Lee Van Cleef, ¨Face to Face¨ (1967), ¨Django Kill!¨ (1967) and ¨Run, Man, Run¨ (1968) , ¨Sonny and Jed¨, ¨Tepepa ¨ and ¨Compañeros¨ , getting maxim popularity with his hippie cop character , Nico Giraldi , from ¨Cop in Blue Jeans¨ ,"Squadra Antimafia" ¨Squadra Antigangsters¨ and sequels . He nowadays continues acting in secondary as well as prestigious roles such as in ¨Traffic¨, ¨ The Yards ¨, ¨Amistad¨, ¨The burning season¨, ¨Nails¨, ¨JFK¨, ¨Havana¨, among others . Strange and twisted screenplay from an idea by Maria Carmen Martinez Roman , a notorious writer who wrote a lot of Spaghetti such as ¨Requiem for a gringo¨, ¨Winchester Bill¨ , ¨fury of Johnny Kid¨ , "In a Colt's Shadow" , ¨Dynamite Joe¨ and "Sheriff Won't Shoot" . The screenplay is filled with outlandish issues as suicide , gays , non-sense hanging , a closed woman and many other things . According to the actors and director, the producers decided to release the movie in countries outside Italy as "Django, Kill!" as a way to take advantage of the success of a prior release, Django (1966) starring Franco Nero. In reality, "Django" had nothing to do with "Se sei Vivo Spara." This is predominantly an Italian film rather than a Spanish one , but the Spaniard participation is important , as here appears a lot of Spanish secondaries , ordinary players in Spaghetti/Chorizo or Paella Western such as : Roberto Camardiel , Milo Quesada , Francisco Sanz or Sancho Gracia (800 bullets) . Furthermore , being produced by Hispamer , Sergio Newman and Alex Rascal, who produced many Spaghetti . Well set in a little town in Hoyo De Manzanares (Madrid) with sets by Jaime Perez Cubero and Jose Luis Galicia , today sadly disappeared ; the village was called ¨Golden City¨ where filmed several Western as the classic ¨Fistful of dollars¨ and ¨For a fistful of dollars more¨ ; furthermore there was shot : ¨Welcome Padre Murray¨ , ¨Brandy¨ , ¨Cabalgando Hacia Muerte¨ , ¨Three good men¨, ¨Quien Grita vengeance¨, ¨Two crosses in Danger Pass¨, among others .

There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing some violence , shoot'em up or stunts every few minutes. There is a very odd implementation of shots in the camera work during some particular scenes as the film approaches its climax , as in the final and the unusual conclusion . The movie gets the usual Western issues, such as avenger antiheroes , violent facing off , exaggerated baddies, soundtrack with Morricone influence , among them . The sense of pacing is such that his film can be counted on to move quickly and smoothly . Good production design creating an excellent scenario with luminous outdoors, dirty , deserts under a shinning sun and fine sets . Good cinematography by Franco Delli Colli , including a nice remastering . Great musical score by Ivan Vandor , furthermore a catching and emotive leitmotif . The motion picture was originally directed by Giulio Questi in his directorial debut . He is a director and writer, known for "Death Laid an Egg" , ¨Arcana¨and especially this ¨Django kills¨ .

Kill, if you live shoot! (1967) is a crazy western. I've never seen such a weird film (besides El Topo). Tomas Milian plays a double crossed man who is saved by two indians. They make him gold bullets so he can avenge his dead friends and punish those that did him wrong. That's just the beginning! I heard stories about this film but I never believed them until after I saw the movie. I was surprised by the authenticity in some of the situations that the characters were put through, but others were so out of placed. This is a strange hybrid of action, horror, comedy and drama. I loved this movie, It'll grow on you after repeat viewings. I strongly recommend this film.

A+

P.S.

Unlike Django, the English and Italian soundtracks are nearly identical, no loss in the translation.

Bandit Tomas Milian survives an impromptu execution by double-crossing partners. Crawling out of a pit, he's nursed by two Indians who ascribe mystical reasons for his not dying. Soon he tracks the others to a strange town where inhabitants strung up the gang and took the gold, which another violent big shot is willing to kill to possess.

I don't quite get what others say about this being "surreal" or "hallucinatory", as the film appears to be pretty straight-forward to me. It's weird, but it's not Eraserhead or Alejandro Jodorowsky weird.

It's more along the lines of an artiste tying to make a political statement about capitalism, using shocking, violent imagery to attract the attention of the bourgeois and perhaps make the movie attractive to the art-house and grind-house crowds.

Although pretentious, this stays interesting throughout, with a good performance by Milian. However, teen-aged Ray Lovelock's implied gang-rape by Zorro's (Yeah, that's the villain's name!) horribly-dressed goons was a bit silly and gratuitous.

Giulio Questi's "Se Sei Vivo Spara" aka. "Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot!" of 1967 is a great and very violent Spaghetti Western, and easily one of the genre's most twisted films.

After The Stranger (played by the great Tomas Milian) is double crossed by his fellow bandits, he seeks revenge, and comes to a little town inhabited by folks who are anything but hospitable towards strangers. But not only are the towns inhabitants slightly psychopathic leisure time vigilantes with a strong fondness for lynchings and ultra violence, the area is also tyrannized by a sleazy fat landowner and his gang of gay cowboys.

Rightly a cult flick, "Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot!" is a great mixture of Horror Exploitation and Spaghetti Western, coming along with a great theme song by Ivan Vandor. The violence in this film is very graphical - lynchings, torture, mutilation, and a scalping, "Django Kill" got it all. And the movie is pretty surreal. Right in the beginning of the movie, Tomas Milian is crawling out of a mass grave, and saved by two Indians who make him bullets out of gold. Furthermore the movie has some other very bizarre elements, like a guy who rests his feet on a child, or a talking parrot for example.

The acting is very good, especially Tomas Milian's performance is great (as always), the supporting cast includes Piero Lulli, and I also thought that Roberto Carmadiel, who plays the villainous landowner Mr. Sorrow did a great job. The cinematography and the locations are great, and so is the theme song, which I can't get out of my head.

Like many other movies with Django in their title, "Django Kill, If You Live, Shoot!" has little to nothing to do with Sergio Corbucci's 1966 masterpiece "Django", however it is one of the best of these movies. Furthermore, this is not actually a Django movie, since it doesn't originally have the name Django in its title. "Se Sei Vivo Spara" was just given its Django-name in German and English, due to the success of Corbucci's masterpiece. If I counted this as a Django movie, however, I would have to say that this is my second favorite after the original.

A great, gory and surreal film, "Se Sei Vivo Spara" is a must-see for us fans of Spaghetti Westerns and Tomas Milian. 9/10

I have recently seen this cult oddity, and I really like it. It`s a strange film, with a lot of sadistic violence and some homo-eroticism. Great editing by Franco Arcalli, that are unusual for a 36 years old film. Tomas Milian, plays a anti-hero character with some similarities to Christ, and turns in one of his better performances.

My Rating: 8/10

DJANGO KILL is one excellent Spaghetti Western. The only problem with the film is that it loses steam by the end and it's a shame because if the direction, the pacing and the story had remained the same throughout the movie as during the first hour, this would have been a masterpiece. The direction is truly unique and there's something contemporary about the whole first hour. But when the action starts resembling a soap opera of sorts, the greatness of the beginning is almost completely gone. But even if the second half is not as spectacular as the first half, DJANGO KILL is still one of the best Euro westerns I've ever seen. I've watched the Blue Underground DVD several times now. 8 out of 10.

The first time I watched this spirited spaghetti western, I was somewhat disappointed after a promising opening thirty minutes of a certain eerie quality. Watching it again the story soaked in a bit more, but I didn't find it all that captivating even with its oddly sprawling and grim nature that ends with poetic justice. It's rather an unconventional effort into Gothic territory, but I found it to go on for too long and completely drag and flounder about after the half-way mark. I was really into it until Tomas Milan's character 'the stranger' made himself at home with the town's occupants. There it seemed to stall, not knowing which way to go and being disorienting. Nothing against Milan's turn, as he was astounding (even if most of the time he feels like nothing more than a passenger), but I guess I expected way too much from this highly regarded genre film. It's weird and unbalanced, as the atmosphere is quite tripped out (wait for the hallucinatory torture scene involving bats) and the maniac violence is sadistically graphic (the restored scalping scene comes to mind) and underneath the surface is a homoerotic edge. It's a boundless and at times wicked mixture. The structure of the psychedelic story is solid (a melodrama leaning on greed, corruption, religion and retribution) and the script squeezes out a morbid sense of humour, while director Guilio Questi infuses some striking images (hanging corpses) and modestly staged shoot-outs. What it seemed to lack though, was a real kinetic edge to its violence. Ivan Vandor's saucy score and Franco Delli Colli's elastic photography shape up well.

The problem with "Django, Kill..." is it doesn't know when to quit. It is too loose to be compelling. Though it follows the fortunes of "The Stranger" (Tomas Milan) after he is left for dead by ruthless bandits, it is plotted all over the place and loses its way investigating every possible subplot on offer. It ignores the Milan story while doing so, but maybe that's because Milan's character is not very compelling. What Milan finally does could have been covered in a half hour short. Despite these gripes, the film is still an entertaining and bizarre one, and there's a vein of very black humor running through. The scene in which greedy human varmints tear open a body to search for gold bullets is very funny, as are director Giulio Questi's introductory shots of the film's featured town. It's like the writers are saying "No town could be this vile, except this one." There is a fairly bloody but not realistic scalping, the surgery scene, and some decent hanging shots. The shoot-outs are standard, not stylish, not dull. The score by Ivan Vandor is catchy and eccentric enough to sound like Morricone at times. Certainly worth seeing, but, script-wise, the very opposite of taut.

This one certainly lives up to its reputation as the most peculiar Spaghetti Western there is, a quality which makes it unique but not exactly entertaining (the pace is slow and the film somewhat protracted, if never less than fascinating)!

It features an atypical performance from lead Tomas Milian: usually the brash man of action with a humorous streak, here he's the cynical and mostly passive observer who even arrives late for the climax! Apart from the star, Marilu' Tolo and Ray Lovelock, the international cast - including several non-professionals - is unfamiliar but, as director Questi said in the exclusive Audio Commentary, their indelible faces were just what he needed for the film! By the way, in spite of the film's English title, it's not related to the 1966 DJANGO - and, in fact, Milian's character remains unnamed throughout - that spawned innumerable variations but only one direct sequel (made more than 20 years after the original)!

Here, we also find several elements of Gothic horror (Milian 'rising' from the dead, the 'mad woman' character borrowed from "Jane Eyre", the weird prison torture scene involving vampire bats and iguanas, the fiery climax in which the villain's face is covered with melted gold, etc.); besides, Tolo is made-up to look like Barbara Steele and the greedy townsfolk's gory groping into the body of a dying bandit riddled with golden bullets curiously anticipates the zombie films of George Romero! Actually, the film's graphic depiction of violence gave it a certain notoriety which further fueled its cult status; in fact, the bullet sequence and the scalping of an Indian were censored at the time but, curiously, got reinstated for the shortened 1975 re-issue under the name of ORO HONDO (which had been the film's working title)! There's even a scene in which a horse is saddled with a charge of dynamite and let loose among the villains (whereupon we see shots of its intestines and the body parts of the various victims strewn about!) - though, in all fairness, in A PROFESSIONAL GUN (1968) a man was also nonchalantly killed by a grenade in the mouth!!

Other unexpected elements in the film are its religious overtones (apart from Milian's crucifixion, the Indians who help him are mystics while the villainous Hagerman also serves pretty much as a bible-thumping preacher to the community) and the presence of black-clad gay cowboys as prototype Fascists (thankfully, we're spared their gang-rape of Lovelock - here in his film debut! - whose immediate reaction, naturally, is to shoot himself) led by a Spaniard (all dressed in white!) that goes by the name of Mr. Zorro(?!), and who shares a love-hate relationship throughout with a spirited parrot!!

The film also features a good score by Ivan Vandor and Techniscope photography by Franco Delli Colli (though the outdoor night scenes are way too dark!), and the locations - Questi was especially proud of his uncharacteristic white desert - are notable too. Franco Arcalli, an unusual combination of screenwriter and film editor, devises some 'trippy' montages throughout - which, therefore, adds psychedelia to an already eclectic mix of cinematic styles that distinguish this Spaghetti Western!

I opted to purchase the Italian DVD over Blue Underground's R1 edition due to the inclusion here of the afore-mentioned highly informative, full-length Audio Commentary featuring director Questi (who is very modest and actually attributes many of the film's bizarre touches to logical progressions of the narrative - which, needless to say, doesn't entirely convince the trio of moderators who accompany him throughout this engaging discussion!). However, with respect to the otherwise commendable Alan Young Pictures disc, one has to contend with a distracting layer change (in mid-sentence!), at least one other instance of audio drop-out and a baffling reversal, for one line of dialogue, to the English soundtrack (for the record, I watched the Italian-language version with the audio set in its original mono rendition; I tend to scoff at re-mixes of classic films)!!

Those crazy Italians will slap any name on any film if it means it will sell, and even though this film doesn't follow on from Sergio Corbucci's original Django film, doesn't star Franco Nero in the lead role and isn't a continuation of the same story; it still carries the name Django. This will no doubt lead to disappointment for people who are hoping that this film is a sequel, but surely that disappointment won't last long as this film is a sensational Spaghetti Western in its own right! The film is basically a retread of the same ground covered in Sergio Leone's masterpiece 'A Fistful of Dollars' and sees a mysterious drifter embroiled in a battle inside a small western town. The film starts off with Mexican (who is Django in everything but name) crawling out of a grave. From there, we see via flashback that he and a bunch of his fellow Mexicans were double-crossed by their American compatriots after excavating a load of gold. Naturally, Django isn't very pleased about this and decides to follow the Americans in order to get his bloody revenge.

Thomas Milian takes the lead role and it has to be said that he does rather well with it. For obvious reasons, he's always going to get compared with Franco Nero, and while the performance doesn't have the same rough pitch as Nero's drifter did, Milian works so well in the lead role because he's manly, but also somewhat vulnerable; which makes the whole thing more believable. It's ironic that Italians tend to make better looking westerns than Americans, but this film helps to prove that irony. The sets do look rather cheap, but at the same time they ensure that Django Kill feels very much like it has been shot in the Wild West, and the environment brilliantly fits the characters. Probably the main reason why this film works so well is because the characters are well done. They're not exactly Shakespearian, but their motives and actions are always believable and because the supporting cast is so well done, it means that the situation that Django finds himself in the centre of is always interesting and engaging. On the whole, this is an excellent Spaghetti Western and one that comes highly recommended to fans of this sort of film.

It first seems it's going to be a standard "hunt-down-for-revenge" western, but then half an hour in it takes a surprising turn. In fact, at first you don't know where it's going, and it's a lot of fun trying to figure it out. There's certainly a lot going on (various subplots), and it's directed in a slightly surreal style that keeps you interested. In the end, the movie bites off more than it chews - some things seem unresolved at the end (where did Django's Indian friends go, for example?), though since I saw the 110 minute version instead of the 117 minute version, maybe some things got lost in the cut. Though it's not perfect, spaghetti western fans will find enough to make it worth their while.

In 1967 Gioulio Questi directed one of the most violent "spaghetti" western. Like many other westerns there was title confusion the most famous was Django Kill but the movie is known as "If you live shoot" "Oro Hondo" and "Se Sei vivo spara". The movie contains scenes with extreme violence, bizarre characters and twisted sexuality. The plot is very similar to "Yojimbo" it is about a stranger who came in ghost town which is ruled by two gangs. But the action scenes go further than the classic formula of spaghetti western, "Django Kill" is a mixture of Hitchcock and Edgar Allan Poe horror. Gioulio Questi fantasy goes much further than any other spaghetti western filmmaker; these characters were very different and dark. The townsman was led by a religious zealot and the saloon owner. The Mexican gang was led by jolly guy caballero, surrounded by a bunch of young and handsome man. The exotic gang was dressed in identical black outfit. Tomas Milian was the protagonist of the movie and his role was a half-bread stranger who came in the city in order to find his stolen gold. The luck of humour combined with odd scenes makes this film far too seriously. One of the characteristics of the movie is the experimental editing (the Editor was Frango Arcalli) techniques. There is a scene when. Tomas Milian mind flits back to the circumstances of his attempted murder by his 'gringo' fellow outlaws. The scene contains rapidly fast montage of visual and soundtrack. Ivan Vandor was the composer of the movie and his score was not very different from Morricone style. The soundtrack contains serf rock style guitar riffs combining with orchestral classical string sections. Furthermore Ivan Vandor score contained themes for the leading characters: main theme for the stranger. Spanish folk melody for the Mexican gang and spooky theme for the religious zealot wife. In some scenes those themes are mixed together in order to highlight the entrance of two major characters in the same action scene. Ivan Vandor music in many causes is over the top, there are several tension themes which had been placed unnaturally. These compositions create mood of fear while the action is static and nothing is happening. Django kill came out when the genre started to change and new elements were contributing the spaghetti western. At the same period the popular music became more experimental and new elements were added. Psychedelic Rock and experimental music were booming and as a result it was influencing film composers. Ivan Vandor in some scenes modifies the major theme and adds out of tune percussive piano chords. The highlight of that technique was in the most violent scene of the movie, which was cut from all the releases. In that scene a Native American was scalped by the towns people while their children watching the scene. Ivan Vandor music highlight the scene with the use of the major theme combined with Philip Glass style piano sounds and castanets. The same technique was also applied when Tomas Milian killed the homosexual (muchachos) gang. In that scene the major theme was performed with a slower tempo and the leading surf style electric guitar was replaced by an angelic harp with the addition of a haunted church organ. It is observable that director, editor (Frango Arcalli) and composer work closely in that scene. The corpses of the black shirt gang and their horses were placed like roman sculptures in to the deadly actions scene. Gioulio Questi worked as a documentary filmmaker and he applied those techniques in order to produce a unique western movie. "The movie was described from many critics as wild, sick pop art fantasy western that existed only in Gioulio Questi's hallucinating mind. Even today the movie is very disturbing and unsettling but the fact is that Gioulio Questi created many unique based on his fantasy stories." However the "Django kill" was a myth based on his personal experience of the Second World War. Gioulio Questi joined the resistance and fights the Germans and the Italian fascist establishment. He knew all the horrors of a war and he was around armed rebels, village assaults, shootings he knew these things first hand, "Django Kill" brought back his memories of all this.

An outlaw known only as The Stranger is shot and left for dead by his compatriots following a successful gold robbery. He is found by two Indians who tend his wounds but in the meantime his compadres have made their way to an eerie town known only as "The Unhappy Place". Their gold attracts the unwanted attention of the "justice loving" townsfolk who turn vigilante and proceed to lynch the outlaws. Zorro the landowner and his army of black-clad cowboys want their share of the loot, as does Templar the corrupt hotel owner and Hagerman the crazed storekeeper. It isn't long before The Stranger arrives and the townsfolk turn against each other.

Making his big screen debut, Giulio Questi's bizarre western is essentially an extension of the "greed corrupts" angle. Questi peppers his narrative with acts of vicious brutality, relishing his characters engaging in animalistic forms of barbarism. One of the bandits is gorily cut apart whilst wounded and another unfortunate character is brutally scalped whilst still alive and breathing. Most critics will describe Django Kill as surreal, however I wouldn't even call it surreal. Baroque would be more fitting, or Gothic would be even better. Furthermore it contains one of the weirdest torture scenes ever committed to film in which The Stranger is locked in a cell with an Iguana, an Armadillo and a creepy Vampire Bat. Yes you read that right, and his painful facial expressions are even more odd as the creatures seem to be doing him no harm whatsoever. Maybe he just had a phobia of exotic creatures, although that Bat did look rather evil. This scene alone will leave you truly bewildered. As a movie it gets off to a brilliant start and the story is set up excellently, but it's not long before it starts dragging it's heels. There were too many subplots for my liking which bogged the film down horribly. The performances were decent, with Robert Camardiel, Piero Lulli and Marilu Tolo worthy of mention. The soundtrack from an unknown Ivan Landor was also superb.

Django Kill is a refreshingly unique but flawed Spaghetti Western. However aside from the grotesque violence and aforementioned torture scene, you won't remember much about this movie after it's over. 7/10

"Django Kill! If You Live, Shoot!" (1967) directed by Giulio Questi and starring Tomas Milian, is probably one the most bizarre and strangest Spaghetti Westerns ever made. Yet the screenplay, by Franco Arcalli and Franco Arcalli, at first glance, seems to travel the same well trodden path of many other Spaghetti Westerns: Milian (who is simply called the Stranger) is double crossed by Oaks (Piero Lulli) when his gang raids a Wells Fargo stagecoach guarded by the US army; shot, buried and left for dead; he climbs out his grave with the help of two Indians and seeks revenge on his fellow thieves. They are to be found in a nameless town run by a black clad bandit and his men, who battle against the murderous inhabitants, who kill Oaks, to claim the gold for themselves.

It begins very strangely: a hand sticking out of the ground as Milian seeks to free himself from his shallow burial; a flashback soon kicks in, and apart from some brilliant, razor sharp editing courtesy of Franco Arcalli, it appears we are in normal territory for the genre. However, as soon as Oaks and his bandits enter the town, we are in a world very much the home of the surrealists. We see a drunk with his foot on a little girl; through a window, a man threatens a woman, who bites him; a naked boy stands next to the street, playing with his penis. No wonder one of Oaks's henchmen keeps on saying he doesn't like it there. The Stranger too, has a feeling not everything is as it should be; he stays a night with the three major "families" and his suspicions are confirmed. The first night, he sleeps in the Saloon, home to the devious Tembler (Milo Quesada), his mistress, Flory (Marilu Tolo) and the mentally disturbed Evan (Raymond Lovelock); the second, he stays with Zorro/Sorro/Sorrow (in the English dub, his name is pronounced so that it could be either one; for clarity, I will refer to him as Sorrow, as it is such a great name for a villain) after they have kidnapped Evan, so as to try and extort the gold Tembler got from the murdered Oaks, and his black clad, probably gay, cowboys, where after a banquet, they possibly rape Evan. The Stranger does nothing. The last night, he goes to Alderman Ackerman's (Paco Sanz) and his mad wife, Elizabeth (Patrizia Valturri), where, after releasing Elizabeth from her locked room to seduce the Stranger, Ackerman steals the Stranger's gun and shoots Tembler with it for the gold. Recounting these events does not truly convey the weirdness of the film; it's as far from John Ford's "Stagecoach" (1938) as is possible to be in the same genre. The photography, editing, lighting (at times it is lit like a horror movie) and directing all work beautifully together to give the feeling of something very off-kilter. The scene where Sorrow tortures the Stranger by placing him Christ-like on a crucifix (not the only piece of religious symbolism in the film) and releasing vampire bats, moles, iguanas and other animals, is peculiar to say the least. Perhaps it's the censor's scissors fault, but the viewer is never sure as to why the Stranger is so terrified of these animals moving around. Maybe in the uncut version, they are shown to be feeding on him. In fact, the present version in which you can watch the film is still missing around five minutes; it is down from two hours to one hundred and fifteen minutes; if these precious scenes were to be restored, we would be able to find out if the rumours that uncut, cannibalism and animal butchery are present.

The acting is hard to judge; Milian is certainly very good in a role that is essentially passive for most of the film, his character looking blankly on at greed and cruelty. The actor in later interviews felt ambiguous about his performance, but I find it hard to imagine another person in the role. The rest of the cast act in a somewhat "coarse", highly stylised way that actually suits the material, however, only the splendid Roberto Camardiel as Sorrow seems to be enjoying himself. A great villain, he has a wonderful talking parrot who appears too little and amuses himself by playing with toy soldiers and having gluttonous feasts with his men. Questi has said that his experiences as an anti-Fascist partisan during World War II in the mountains in Italy, so Sorrow's black clad bandits, I suppose, are suppose to represent Mussolini's soldiers and, a large guess this, the townsfolk are standing in for the middle classes of Italy who complacently let a dictator seize power and then did nothing about it. But if the film is a Western "version" of his two years as a rebel, who do the Stranger or Oaks and his men represent? An intriguing question that only adds another layer of mystery on to this film.

Its aforementioned censor ship problems arouse from the violence in the movie. I can understand why, as it certainly is one of the most bloodiest of all Spaghetti Westerns (but it is not without competition; in the later "The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe" (1973), a kung-fu Western that is surprisingly good, you see eyes gorged out, arms chopped off and a person falling into a spiked pit, all with luridly red blood). A man's body is ripped apart by crazed townspeople when they learn he was shot by gold bullets, two people are killed by having molten gold fall on them and there are more hangings and shootings than virtually any other Spaghetti. These goings on are underlined by a fine music score by Ivan Vandor, although he repeats the same rift too many times; this is probably the only flaw in the motion picture.

"Django Kill!" is one of the very best Spaghetti Westerns for its surreal atmosphere and fantastic directing, editing and photography.

A legendarily violent spaghetti western that lives up to its reputation. Director Giulio Questi throws a lot out there: a scalping; a group lynching; grave robbing; a crucification. Tomas Milian is a stranger who, along with some com-padres, is left for dead after heisting some gold. He follows his betrayers into a town called The Unhappy Place and mayhem ensues. Milian gets his revenge and then some. The locals are half mad religious fanatics or money hungry sleazes, all after the stolen gold. Questi's direction is so tightly controlled the movies seems like it's going to burst, with so many bizarre touches, it's almost surreal. The film is nearly exhausting. Milian is OK and so is the supporting cast. They're all upstaged by the freaky shenanigans that take place. The great cinematography is by Franco Delli Colli...the sky never looked so blue in such a gruesome film.

Surreal western dealing with various people trying to get their hands on a bunch of gold.

The plot has The Stranger some how surviving being shot down by his compatriots after a gold robbery. Rescued by a couple of Indians who want to know what its like on the other side of life, he trails the men who tried to kill him to a town where only one of them remains alive. At this point the film becomes a game as various people try to get their hands on the gold. (For give me for being vague- and only covering the first half hour of plot, but this movie is so unique one should see it on ones own.) Off beat to say the least, this movie has a cruel streak a mile wide. No one is nice, everyone is evil to some degree. And yes there are lots of gay cowboys. Its an unpleasant time in an unpleasant town. This is a one of a kind film that is not for all tastes. At times it plays more like a horror western rather than as a spaghetti western (the end of one person is out of a horror movie.

I'm not sure what I think of it. Certainly its well made but it is rather unpleasant. I can't see wanting to see it a second time. The pacing isn't to my tastes and its two hour running time felt even longer. Was it worth seeing? Yes, its a good if nasty film. I don't know what I would have made of the film had I stumbled on to it unaware of what it contained. Certainly I don't know how much more out there you can go with out a film ceasing to be a western.

Spaghetti western fans and those who like off beat films are invited to take a look. The rest are advised to proceed with caution.

6 out of 10 for the unpleasantness and the uncertainty of a second viewing.

This oddball Italian Western offers some striking, over-the-top images of violence mixed with the typical trappings of the average cowboy-with-a-vendetta plot. It's noteworthy for it's blatant homoeroticism and surrealistic dialogue. Despite a lot that's familiar, this one still gets high marks for originality, when seen in it's original widescreen cut. The notorious "matinee version" that's circulating doesn't do it justice.

A Mexican outlaw (Tomas Milian) steals gold from a stagecoach along with some other Mexicans and Americans. The Americans double-cross the Mexicans and leave them all for dead. The one outlaw survives and looks for revenge in this film that has jack-all to do with the original Django (the distributors only named it "Django Kill..." to squeeze a few more bucks out of more gullible people. What we have here is a slightly below standard western that's too surreal to be that enjoyable. and as such I can't really recommend it to all but the most hardcore Spahetti Western fan.

My Grade: D+

Blue Underground DVD Extras: Part of BU's Spaghetti Western Collection. Uncut; "Django Tell" (20 minute documentary); Poster & Stills gallery; Talent Bios for Guilo Questi & Tomas Milian; Theatrical Trailer

3 Easter Eggs: Highlight the hidden gun on the extras page for Trailers for "Django", "Run, Man, Run", and "A Man Called Blade"; Highlight the hand on the main menu to get interviews on the formation of a rock group; and a hidden gun in the Language/Subtitles menu leads to the story of how Tomas Milian almost got killed for being anti-communist

"If You Live, Shoot!" offers an intense diversion for fans of the Spaghetti Western. It goes on for quite a long time, and gets dull on occasion, but it's also noteworthy for its content. It's on record as one of the most utterly nasty of all SWs, with plenty of bright red movie blood and depictions of sadism.

It's actually not particularly surreal most of the time, telling a rather linear story of The Stranger (Tomas Milian), who was double crossed by his partners in a heist, and shot & left for dead. The opening credits see him emerge from his grave, and two Indians (Miguel Serrano and Angel Silva) witness this. They vow to stay at his side and assist him, under the condition that he tell them what it's like on the "other side".

However, this isn't really what you would call a revenge saga. Soon, The Stranger is getting caught up in greed and corruption in a small town known to Indians either as "The Field of Anguish" or "The Unhappy Place" (depending on which version you're watching). He gets involved as a few warring factions try desperately to lay their mitts on the gold snatched by The Stranger & gang.

Co-writer / director Giulio Questi ("Death Laid an Egg") takes his time telling the story, but does populate it with some enjoyably despicable villains, such as Oaks (Piero Lulli), Hagerman (Francisco Sanz), Sorrow (Roberto Camardiel), and Bill Templer (Milo Quesada). There's an especially fun comeuppance for one of them. Add to that an atmospheric score by Ivan Vandor, two beauties (Patrizia Valturri and Marilu Tolo), and a sense of mysticism, and the results are generally agreeable. The handsome young Milian has charisma sufficient enough for one to remain invested in his character. Ray Lovelock of "The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue" fame also appears.

Good entertainment overall, and worth a look for any SW completist.

Seven out of 10.

I may be giving Django Kill a higher star review than what I'd usually hand such films, but it's a strangely addicting film. First of all, this review is mainly for the English-dubbed film (with references to the original Italian version), which does NO justice for the main character - "The Stranger" (Tomas Milian). His actual voice is so very much better than the dubbed version, and the producers did a poor job of choosing whose voice would carry him.

The first scene... I simply can't get that opening out of my head. It literally can turn your head upside down, just as some of the filmmaking showed. There are scenes, characters and animals in this first montage which is pretty jaw-dropping. It invites you to a place where you simply don't want to visit. And while my gut instincts told me that the gang shouldn't keep going, they do. But they are a group packed to the gills with six-shooters and attitude.

Everything was named "Django" for a while following the original film's success, but this feature has no Django at all. If you haven't seen Milian in such films as "Run, Man, Run (1968), you won't be able to appreciate his talent in Django Kill. He has expressions and body language that should have been featured more effectively, which speaks to the lack of wisdom of the direction and production. Having said that however, I just cannot get some of the scenes in this film out of my head. At the very least, get a hold of a dual language version of Django Kill! to compare the English with the Italian, as well as the subtitles, which reveal a few masochistic moments that wind up being lost by the time the dubbing was set. For instance, a girl in the English dub says "Give up! Give up!" while you see what REALLY happens in the Italian version. Films like this, and The Great Silence (1968) took Italian westerns to atypical locations than the Leone copycat films.

Tomas Milian stars in this dark Spaghetti Western that starts beautifully and then devolves into a meandering mess with the occasional scene of gore thrown in to liven it up. Instead of focusing on the main character (who is never referred to as Django...greedy distributors) the film gets lost in boring sub-plots and in turn he is so short-changed in terms of screen time and character development that he becomes a non-entity (and when Tomas Milian is a non-entity in a Spaghetti you've got a problem). There are occasional flashes of surrealism that have a real artfulness to them, but unfortunately you've got to slog through scene after scene of crap just to get to them. Skip this one and be glad.

There are good moments and touches of atmosphere in this western but the plot's too muddled to pull things together. Tomas Milian seems to have been cast for his "beefcake" appeal and, sure enough, he winds up stripped to a loincloth and tied to a cross inside a jail-cell for a bit of torture that's obviously meant to evoke religious parallels. (The question is, where would a man in frontier America get such a peculiar undergarment?)