$10,000 for a Massacre (1967)

Fearless bounty hunter Django accepts an offer from a wealthy landowner to kill a ruthless bandit named Manuel Vasquez, who is responsible for kidnapping the latter's daughter. After Django catches up with Manuel, a respect develops between the two men and Django agrees to aid the bandit in the robbery of a gold shipment. However, after Manuel betrays Django and murders his girlfriend during the robbery, the guilt ridden bounty hunter swears retribution...As you can tell from the synopsis, this is another unofficial Django spin-off churned out in the wake of Corbucci's masterpiece. This time it is Romolo Guerrieri who tries his hand at the revenge filled saga. An overall satisfying but lesser spaghetti western with one hell of a title(translating in English as "10,000 Dollars For A Massacre"). Gianni Garko(billed here as Gary Hudson)is rather compelling in his portray of Django, just over a year before he would fill the boots of the enigmatic Sartana. Claudio Camaso made for a competent adversary in Manuel Vasquez but it was Fernando Sancho doing his thing as the bandit leader who really made the movie watchable. His fiery overacting and stratospheric charisma always makes me laugh. Nora Orlandi's moody score is probably the best non-Morricone composition I've ever heard and adds a pinch of Gothic to the already dramatic imagery. The action sequences lacked the necessary suspense that one expects from a spaghetti western. They were sparse and abrupt in execution but still entertaining at the very least. However, the climatic showdown in the windy streets of a ghost town at twilight saved the film from a dour fate. It was in this scene that I could finally experience the blistering force of Django's angst. I concede that this sequence was a little drawn out but it was definitely among the most memorable spaghetti western face-offs complete with the textbook OTT deaths. The dim lighting is what makes this sequence beautiful and the rest of the movie is full of interesting camera techniques. The aforementioned showdown builds to a fine ending as the soundtrack's chilling vocals roar in the background. The script was okay. The romantic subplot involving Django and his girlfriend didn't really make me feel any stronger about the characters, instead it became mushy. Flashbacks would have been a better approach.An atmospheric but tepid affair, Guerrieri's pastafest will never make my top 20. However, it is gorgeously melodramatic and dreamlike, which both work in the film's favour. 6/10.

Yet another unofficial Django sequel, or at least one of many westerns, post Corbucci's masterpiece, that have the main character named Django. Sadly, it's rather run of the mill and it failed to capture my attention in any major way. Gianni Garko, as Gary Hudson (a pseudonym representative of the creativity of the film), takes on the Django name as a bounty hunter who will learn to pay a steep price for his greed.I was reminded of the Hitchcock/Truffaut interviews (coincidentally published that same year) where they came to the conclusion that the "better the villain, the better the film." Henry Fonda in Once Upon A Time in the West, for instance, would be a great example of this. Unfortunately for us, Guerrieri did not seem to be too familiar with this concept; had he made a quick trip to the bookstore before starting the film, he might not have thought it such a splendid idea to put more mascara on the bad guy, than on the female lead. Sadly the appearance of the villain, Manuel, was not the only laughable thing and a lot of the supporting characters are as grotesque as they are dull. Garko also makes a poor Franco Nero replacement here, even though he is usually quite good in other movies.On a more positive note, the camera work is decent, there are a couple of fun shoot-outs and the locations are easy on the eye.

For 10.000 dollars , Django , a bounty hunter (Gary Hudson or Gianni Garco , usual player of Sartana character , another famous hero of S.W.) swears to chase Manuel (Claudio Camaso who subsequently committed suicide) who has kidnapped the daughter (Adriana Ambesi) of a baron land . As Django along with his faithful friend , a likable photographer named Fidelio looking for evil Manuel . But his lover (a saloon-girl played by Loredana Nusciak) is killed and Django seeks vengeance . Meanwhile , Djanjo is double-crossed and the daughter who suffers Stockholm syndrome falls in love with Manuel .Acceptable twilight Spaghetti Western with interesting dialogue by the usual writer Ernesto Gastaldi , splendid cinematography by Zanni and memorable musical score by Nora Orlandi . It is a typical Spaghetti Western in which blends the common scenarios , as invincible and tough antiheroes , complex as well as fast showdowns with numerous casualties , impulsive and quick zooms , and musical score with Morricone influence . The picture has a certain remembrance to ¨For a fistful dollars more¨ (Sergio Leone) regarding the avenging theme and including Manuel character who bears remarkable resemblance to Indio role (Gian Maria Volonte) ; furthermore , Claudio Camaso was brother of Volonte and holding physical likeness and similar playing . Besides , good set decoration filmed in Elios studios and , of course , Almeria (Spain) . It also bears remarkable resemblance to ¨Django¨ (Sergio Corbucci) regarding 'the Saloon girl character' , equally interpreted by Loredana Nusciak . The highlights of the movie result to be the followings : when the hero wakes up from the beach along with a corpse , Django living in a photography back room studio decorated against posters captioning ¨Wanted : Dead or alive¨ , the phantom village full of dust and wind and Django buried until neck , among others . ¨Ten thousand dollars blood money¨ was shot at the same time to ¨For one hundred thousand dollars per killing (by Giovanni Fago)¨ with similar artist and technician team and also starred by Gianni Garco , Claudio Camaso and Fernando Sancho . The motion picture finely produced by Mino Loy , Luciano and Sergio Martino brothers was well directed by Romolo Guerrieri who also made other Pasta Westerns . Romolo is a good craftsman who has directed all type of genres such as post-nuke Sci-fi as ¨ The last warrior¨ , Italian crime or Poliziottesco as "Young, Violent, Dangerous" , ¨City under siege¨ , "Ring of Death" and westerns as ¨Johnny Yuma¨ and ¨Seven guns for Timothy¨ again with Fernando Sancho . Rating : Better than average Spaghetti Western .

Django is hunting the bandit Manuel, because there's a price on his head. But when he meets Manuel, he joins his gang instead for a robbery. Yes, this the world of spaghetti westerns where the lines between Good, Bad and Ugly are thin, indeed. Manuel kills Django's girlfriend (Loredana Nusciak, known from the original "Django"), which sets Django's mind back on his original idea of bounty hunting... This movie is quite obviously inspired by "Django", although it's not an official sequel. Shot just one year later, it casts Loredana Nusciak in a similar part, and Gianni Garko looks more like Franco Nero than like himself in other movies. If you remember Garko as the screaming lunatic in "Mille dollari sul nero", or as the gambler and gunman with all the funny lines in "Buon funerale amigos", he proves to be versatile as an actor here. If you are into Italian westerns, you won't be disappointed by this movie. Only silly thing: Claudio Camaso (as Manuel) put on so much mascara like he was going to play the baddie in a silent movie.