Spaghetti Western Double Feature: Keoma / The Strangers Gundown (DVD)

KEOMA (1976): Keoma, a half-breed Indian, was raised by his white father after his mother was murdered. Bullied by his half-brothers throughout childhood, he grows up to fight for the Union during the Civil War. Returning from the battlefield, he finds his hometown in the iron grip of corrupt mayor Caldwell. A deadly plague has swept over the town, contaminating the water, but the crooked politician refuses to allow anyone to leave to get help. Allying themselves with Caldwell are Keoma's three brothers. Keoma must fight against his own brethren if the dying townspeople are to find salvation.

Considered one of the last great films of the Spaghetti Western era, Keoma stars the original "Django", Franco Nero. As such, it was sold as a Django movie in some territories, going by the names Django Rides Again in France and Django's Great Return in Germany. However, since it stars Franco Nero playing a very similar character, Keoma does indeed have more in common with the original Django that many lesser films marketed with that name. Towering former football player Woody Strode, who made several movies in Italy during this period, is known for his parts in Spartacus (1960), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).

THE STRANGERS GUNDOWN (1969): During the Civil War, an entire regiment of Confederate soldiers was slaughtered after their superiors sold them out to the enemy in exchange for gold. Now one of those soldiers, returned from the dead, is hunting down and killing the men responsible. He goes by the name Django. This seeming angel of death will not rest until all those who wronged him are in the grave...

A gothic Spaghetti Western with supernatural elements, The Strangers Gundown (also known as Django the Bastard) was the uncredited inspiration for Clint Eastwood's later High Plains Drifter (1973). Leading man Anthony Steffen, a veteran of the genre, delivers a career-best performance, and director Sergio Garrone's use of extreme close-ups and unique camera angles creates an overpowering atmosphere of existential dread.

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