Seminò La Morte... Lo Chiamavano Castigo Di Dio [1972] was the last of Roberto Mauri's string of ultra-low budget Italian westerns. Two of his films, Vendetta è Il Mio Perdono, La [1968] and Sartana Nella Valle Degli Avvoltoi [1970] are straightforward b-movies that are alright diversions for euro-western fans, but this movie and Colorado Charlie [1965] are exercises in incompetence and would serve as good fodder for Mystery Science Theater. The dubbing, in particular, is so bad that it has to be seen to be believed.
Durango (or Django in the English version) is seen leaving a midnight tryst the same night that a bank robbery occurs. Accused of the robbery, he is thrown in jail with the bandit/revolutionary Santo. When Santo is freed out by a mysterious figure, Durango flees with him and sets out to discover the identity of the bank robbers.
Italian and Spanish westerns were something of an improvisational genre based on a foreign model, then off of a few successful translations of that model (Leone, Tessari, Corbucci), these movies took the same basic elements and recombined or re-emphasized them, a tendency that in the end gave the genre unique delirious over-the-top character. While this movie was late in the cycle and poorly made, it is variation on earlier, better films. The relationship between Santo and Durango is reminiscent of the Gringo/Revolutionary duos of La Resa Dei Conti [1966] or Vamos A Matar, Compañeros (1970). The overall revenge film plot was very popular through the genre, though what is often emphasized is the aspect of mystery of this type of plot.
In Mauri's better westerns, dialog is sparse. However, in this movie the villain Scott spends far too much time in his study describing his traps for Django. Then Mauri cuts to Django and his escape from the dastardly plan. Mauri never figured out how the more successful films in the genre created tension and narrative drive. They used distorted angles and tense, faces and presences that imposed themselves onto the scene and the audience in a dynamic visual tension, and eccentric music and gestures that were exaggerated until they were radically out of proportion.
This is movie would only be of interest to euro-western fans.
Top spaghetti western list http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849907
Average SWs http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849889
For fanatics only (bottom of the barrel) http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849890
