Bill il taciturno

"Bill Il Taciturno" aka. "Django Kills Softly" of 1967 is a cheap, extremely unoriginal and cheesy film, and yet there are some reasons for my fellow Spaghetti Western fans to watch it. This is one of many films that were given a "Django"-title in order to cash in on the success of Sergio Crobucci's 1966 masterpiece "Django" starring Franco Nero. What makes this one somewhat worthwhile for my fellow fans of Italian genre-cinema is the casting of George Eastman in the lead. Eastman, who started his career with roles in Westerns like "Viva Django" or this one, is mainly known for his later roles in mean-spirited and ultra-violent Exploitation highlights of the 70s and 80s, most memorably as a sadistic thug in Mario Bava's "Rabid Dogs" (1974) and as an ogreish flesh-hungry fiend in Joe D'Amato's "Antropophagus" (1980). It is fun to see a young Eastman in his 20s who had not yet specialized in playing the psychos and monsters we love to see him play.

The storyline resembles that of the original "Django", only without the imagination and style, and with a lot less cynicism. A drifter (Eastman) comes to a small western town in an area which is controlled by two hostile gangs which are hostile towards each other. He decides to take both of them on... Apart from the typical 'clever drifter vs. two hostile gangs' story the film also includes a thin romantic subplot. Eastman is quite good in his role, even though Westerns are certainly not the genre that fits him best and I will always prefer him in Horror/Exploitation cinema. The supporting cast includes Spartaco Conversi, who is best known for his role in Corbucci's masterpiece "The Great Silence", the ugly Luciano Rossi, who often played ugly villains and thugs in Italian cinema, and Frederico Buido ("Faccia A Faccia"). Lina Orfei makes a nice female lead. Furthermore, there is one pretty hot Mexican woman in the film (I don't know which actress), but Django turns her down for no apparent reason. Overall, "Bill Il Taciturno" is a pretty boring, predictable and unoriginal film, but it is still an acceptable time-waster. My fellow Spaghetti Western buffs can give it a try.