Overview: In the mid-1960s, the success of Sergio Leone’s “Dollars” trilogy gave rise to an explosion of similar productions. Filmmakers sought to capitalize on this uniquely Italian take on the western, characterized by their cynical outlook, morally grey antiheroes and savage violence. This specially curated selection gathers four outstanding examples of the genre, all centered around the theme of blood money.

In Romolo Guerrieri’s $10,000 Blood Money, Gianni Garko plays western antihero Django, on the trail of bandit Manuel Vasquez. What started as a job for hire turns personal, with Django swearing vengeance against the outlaw. In Giovanni Fago’s Vengeance is Mine, Garko and Claudio Camaso star as estranged half-brothers – one a Confederate soldier now riding with renegade outlaws, the other a bounty hunter tasked with bringing him in alive.

In Giuliano Carnimeo’s Find a Place to Die, a band of scoundrels agree to help a woman rescue her prospector husband, who is trapped at their gold mine cave-in – though in reality, they have designs on the gold strike themselves. In Cesare Canevari’s psychedelic Matalo! (Kill Him), a group of outlaws, having holed up in a ghost town, set about terrorizing travelers Ray and Bridget– only for Ray to fight back, armed with a bag full of boomerangs.

Featuring a wealth of key Euro-cult talent both behind and in front of the camera, Arrow Films proudly present these classic westerns in High Definition restorations alongside a plethora of bonus material.

Blu-ray Verdict: We begin with $10,000 Blood Money (1967), where unprincipled bounty hunter Gianni Garko keeps tabs on an outlaw, hoping to cash in when his bounty finally reaches ten-thousand dollars. Unfortunately, he tips his hand and is almost killed, leading to an odd alliance between the two men and the inevitable massacre.

Another pseudo-Django sequel, $10,000 Blood Money (aka For A Massacre) is derivative, but bloody entertaining nonetheless, as long as you don’t stop and think about it too long.

Character motivations and decision making are often times quite strange. For instance, why does the bandit put so much trust in Garko and get angry at the attempt made on his life, especially after the bounty hunter tells him, in no uncertain terms, of his intention to cash in on the outlaw’s bounty?

Still, it’s fast-paced and violent enough, with a good finale. The villain looks a lot like Gian Maria Volante in A Fistful Of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More and along with Garko, wears a lot of eyeliner too!

Next we get Vengeance is Mine (1967), an acceptable twilight Spaghetti Western with interesting dialogue by the Ernesto Gastaldi, together with some splendid cinematography by Federico Zanni and memorable musical score by Nora Orlandi.

Sure, it’s a typical Spaghetti Western, in that it blends the common scenarios, such as tough, and seemingly invincible antiheroes, difficult and fast showdowns with numerous felons, impulsive and quick camera zooms, all brought together with a lot of rock ’em sock ’em action sequences, but the story line - being on the run from Jurago, a former pal he has betrayed, Clint accepts Johnny’s help, and agrees to surrender, but his lover (Claudie Lange) is kidnapped and Forest seeks vengeance - at least keeps the whole plot train on the tracks (for the most part).

Then we get Find a Place to Die (1968), where the plot is obviously borrowed (or, more accurately, ripped off) from 1954’s Garden of Evil and combines it with a pensive Spaghetti Western flavor; thus lacking the goofiness and moral hollowness of, say, 1966’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The melancholy is heightened by a moving song Juanita sings at the cantina in the first act; the tune is reminiscent of Jerry Goldsmith’s excellent acoustic piece for 1970’s Rio Lobo. Too bad Giordano (as Juanita) didn’t have a bigger role, but it’s big enough, I guess.

There are several other things that propel Find a Place to Die above most Italo oaters: The group Lisa (Petit) compiles consists of a few interesting people, including an ex-con turned minister who seems to be sincere but is dubious at the same time. Secondly, their ordeal becomes almost a survival situation and I favor survival flicks.

Thirdly, the story arc of the disgraced ex-Confederate (Hunter) is almost inspiring. Lisa says she’s naturally drawn to him because she knows he’s not like the other worthless cutthroats. The warmth of love slowly wakens the laconic loner out of his brooding stupor and draws the best in him out.

Love is power and, when you find it, you need to plug into it if you want to live. Only a fool rejects it or, worse, abuses it. Also, being shot in Italy at some kind of ancient ruins, particularly the notable building of the cantina, the movie has a unique look for a Pasta Western, which of course were typically shot in Spain.

Lastly comes Matalo! (Kill Him) (1970), which fans of bizarre semi-psychedelic Westerns like Keoma should check out! The cinematography and editing are wonderfully out of control, lots of slo-mo sadistic violence and the movie is drenched in loud fuzzy acid rock!

The simple plot deals with four ruthless thugs (including one ultra sexy, but deadly femme fatale Claudia Gravy), gold, lust, murder and betrayal. It’s artsy and aesthetically minded in the same way Jess Franco was artsy, that is to say the intention is there and sometimes the translation makes sense, but the execution is PURE ’70s European exploitation.

I mean, the curtains are colored fiery red and yet the lighting of the over furnished interiors is dark and expressive, like it came from a horror movie or a spooky western by Antonio Margheriti!

Also, for me, the use of the aforementioned slo-mo is not rousing and lyrical like in Keoma, the baroque sensibilities are not as pronounced as those of Django Kill, the kitchen-sink craziness lacks El Topo’s singularity of vision. That all said, it is most definitely hard wired in a way to elicit a Far out, man! reaction from the psychotronic crowd; for which, I can only genuinely assume, was its target audience anyway?!

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations
Brand new 2K restorations of all films from the original 35mm camera negatives by Arrow Films
Original Italian and English front and end titles
Restored lossless original Italian and English soundtracks
English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
New introductions to each film by critic Fabio Melelli
Galleries
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by author Howard Hughes
Fold-out double-sided poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
Reversible sleeves featuring original artwork and a slipcover featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx

DISC 1: $10,000 BLOOD MONEY:
New commentary by film historian Lee Broughton
Tears of Django, new featurette with archival interviews with director RomoloGuerrieri and actor Gianni Garko
The Producer Who Didn’t Like Western Movies,new interview with producer Mino Loy
How the West Was Won,new interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
Trailer

DISC 2: VENGEANCE IS MINE:
New commentary by critics Adrian J. Smith and David Flint
Cain and Abel, new featurette with archival interviews with actor Gianni Garko and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
In Conversation with Nora Orlandi, archival interview with the film’s composer
Movie After Movie, new interview with producer Mino Loy
Trailer

DISC 3: FIND A PLACE TO DIE:
New commentary by author and critic Howard Hughes
Sons of Leone, archival interview with director Giuliano Carnimeo
Traditional Figure, new appreciation of composer Gianni Ferrio by musician and disc collector Lovely Jon

DISC 4: MATALO! (KILL HIM):
New commentary by critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
A Milanese Story, new interview with filmmaker Davide Pulici, discussing the career of director Cesare Canevari
Untold Icon, new appreciation of composer Mario Migliardi by musician and disc collector Lovely Jon

www.arrowfilms.com