Light the Fuse… Sartana Is Coming (1970)

Astute gunslinger Sartana springs the thief Grandville from prison in the hope that he can access a fortune in gold stolen by the latter. Grandville was double crossed by his partner who has since been killed and now a crooked sheriff, a fierce bandit and his gang, a saloon keeper and a shady widow are after the loot. Sartana and Grandville are become marked men and bounties are put on their heads. Immediately Sartana begins playing everyone off against each other whilst trying to find clues to the whereabouts of the gold. As the bodycount increases, Sartana finds that Grandville is not all he seems...This fourth instalment in the awesome Sartana franchise is as whacky as you'd expect. There's a huge amount of fun to be had here as suave Gianni Garko fills the boots of our titular hero for the last time. What exists of a plot becomes increasingly convoluted as the film progresses, but hey it's a Spaghetti western. As with the first three movies this one has a very Bondian feel mainly because of the gadgetry Sartana relies on to get him out of tight situations, or in not so tight situations he uses curious clockwork toy fashioned like a mini totem pole to light his cigarettes. This is a refreshing addition to the plot which succeeds in making the film more engaging. We have a decent score from Bruno Nicoli and the movie gets off to a brilliant start with our protagonist making a cool entry. The action scenes are exciting but the finale is truly memorable. Daft as it may be, Sartana's climatic "organ solo" is one of the most amazing(and highly amusing)lessons in Spaghetti western ass kicking ever committed to celluloid. Bodies drop like flies thanks to a good old church organ which has been equipped with some complimentary armaments, namely cannon and a machine gun turret!.What else can I say, a great hour and a half of fun. 9/10

I didn't come in to this flick in the beginning. I came in somewhere's near the middle, the main character walking into a bar with a plinky plink piano playing...at various tempos...and a cut scene to him playing A PIPE ORGAN, in a horse barn. (yes, you read that right) A sub character, comes in from the back and eventually shows his little mech project (with a goofy name of course)- a badly stylized "tiki" head that rolls, stops, flips its lid and lights a lighter inside...My suspended disbelief was also suspended.Thanks, Sony for broadcasting barrel scrapers like this.I would call this more of a peyote western.

Sartana infiltrates a sadistic frontier prison in order to bust out an inmate accused of stashing half a million dollars in gold. However, getting the inmate out proves to be easier than uncovering the whereabouts of the missing loot, located somewhere in a town full of crooked characters with shady intentions.Another fast-moving entry in the official Sartana series, starring Gianni Garko, there's a lot of twists and turns, with Sartana seemingly able to read minds, tell the future and see in all directions at once!There's loads of gun-play and a fairly interesting mystery regarding who exactly has the gold. It's not quite groundbreaking cinema, but it'll do.One gripe though, there isn't one single likable character in the whole movie, not even Sartana!

Wily roving gunslinger Sartana (a typically fine performance by Gianni Garko) kills three corrupt lawmen and has himself put in prison. Sartana escapes from jail with his equally shrewd partner Grand Full (well played by Piero Lulli), who knows where a fortune in both gold and counterfeit money is hidden. Naturally, several other treacherous folks also want to get their greedy hands on said fortune. Director Giuliano Carnimeo, working from a clever script by Tito Carpi, Ernesto Gastaldi, and Eduardo Manzanos Brochero, relates the tricky and absorbing story at a steady pace, maintains a suitably harsh and gritty tone through (the moments of sadistic violence and torture are pretty rough stuff), stages the exciting shoot-outs with considerable skill and brio, and further spices things up with a nice line in wickedly amusing sarcastic humor. The charismatic Garko truly shines in the lead; he receives able support from Lulli, the fetching Nieves Navarro as sly scheming widow Senora Manassas, Jose Jaspe as the vicious and unhinged General Monk, and Franco Pesce as a rascally, quick-witted old goat gambler. Moreover, this movie has a few nifty gimmicks which include a deadly organ and an equally lethal wind-up walking cigarette lighter. Both Julio Ortas' expansive widescreen cinematography and Bruno Nicolai's robust sweeping score are up to par. A very enjoyable film.