5/10
Italian production full of frenetic action , vengeful roles , gun-play and lots of violence
9 August 2023
"Django's Bloody Trail" or Deadly Trackers or El largo camino de la venganza (1972) or La lunga cavalcata della vendetta (original title) . 1865 New Mexico , it deals with Jeff (Richard Harrison) , a Civil War vet who sets out to murder each one of the five outlaws (led by Montana : Rik Battaglia) who robbed, raped and killed his poor sister . He lays a fragment of her poncho on each of his victims' dead bodies as a mark of his revenge in a gripping, exciting tale. Along the way, Jeff participates in a horse race with a contender who is killed and is named Sheriff of Montana, whose name is taken from the famous Montana bandit. Little by little Jeff takes down enemies one by one, leaving a strip of torn poncho beside their corpses . Later on , there happens a relentless and merciless chase against the cutthroats .

¨Deadly Trackers¨ comes from a decade in which the Italo Western was already on its farewell tour , although some good Westerns were still produced such as Cut-Throats Nine , I quattro dell'Apocalisse , Keoma and Mannaja . Typical Spaghetti /Paella Western co-produced between Spain and Italy , plenty of thrills , violence , treason , and shootouts . Director Amerigo Anton achieved an ordinary work in a modest career , with some memorable scenes and shaky camera movement as the initial prologue and during the successive confrontations . Routine Spaghetti mayhem at its finest , this meaty Western contains an interesting but twisted plot , violence , shoot'em up and results to be quite entertaining , though drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . It turns out to be a run-of-the-mill spaghetti Western , as you can bone up on the bloodier side of that genre ; including crossfire, grisly killings in cold blood , crosses and double-crosses and anything else . It relies heavily on the usual issue abot a a merciless vendetta in an uneven screenplay , in which a former soldier bent on revenge, while a number of roles appearing and confronting along the picture such as a mysterious stranger, a beautiful saloon girl , a nasty gang leader, a traitor employee , all of them having their hidden agendas. A good example of Latino western genre from Italy ; it is a daring , surreal scenario with an atmospheric God-forsaken ghost town . Being a notoriously exciting Spaghetti , so extreme in every way , it is one of the handful of Italian Westerns in the last rattles of the genre . Starring Richard Harrison who stands out his strong , piercing eyes and striking look , featuring as Civil War veteran become a sheriif who confronts a band of cutthroats . Harrison is so-so as a peaceful man who heals ill people and turns a tough avenger when he is blinded by the ominous group of attackers , as he ravages the screen , he jumps , leaps and bounds , hits and runs ; besides , receiving violent punches , wounds and is tortured , tied to a hill of ants . The ninja of all ninjas, Richard Harrison, as Jeff Carter, is the only one who can put the movie in a slightly better light. The man who, along with Sam Elliott , competes for the title of "most distinctive mustache in the history of cinema", enhances with his good-looking presence almost every vehicle. You watch several ninja movies that would be unbearable without him, and wouldn't interest anyone . Worthwhile watching for a demonstration of the confrontation between the two-fisted Richard Harrison against the dangerous and ambitious killers . Richard Harrison played in Hollywood some minor roles as ¨Kronos¨, ¨South Pacific¨ and ¨Master of world . Then , Harrison jumped at the chance when offered the first character in 1961 ,¨The Invincible Gladiator¨ , which was filming in Europe . He wound up settling in Italy for the next two decades . To avoid being penned in too much as a muscle man , he sought characters in routine spaghetti westerns as ¨Texas the Red¨, ¨Gringo¨, ¨Reverendo Colt¨ , ¨One Hundred Thousand Dollars for Ringo¨, ¨Stagecoach of the Condemned¨ , ¨Gunfight at High Noon¨ and this ¨Joe Dakota¨ , even the main role from ¨For a fistful of dollars¨ was offered to Richard Harrison , but he turned down and explaining : Maybe my greatest contribution to cinema was not doing Fistful of Dollars, and recommending Clint Eastwood for the part . Support cast is frankly good , thanks to the familiar secondary actors .Here appear important secondaries from Spaghetti Western , such as : Attilio Dottesio, Furio Meniconi George Wang , Rik Battaglia from Spaghetti as well as Peplum and the past crowning glory, Anita Ekberg ; however, being completely out of place , who is also 70 pounds overweight.

.Colorful Cinematography in Eastmancolor by Romolo Garroni , being the exterior locations as the stage coach robbery and others filmed in Lacio , Rome, Italy. As well as a thrilling and evocative musical score by Carlo Esposito . The motion picture was middling but professionally directed by Tanio Boccia , whose pseudonym was Amerigo Anton . He directed some Spaghettis : Saguara , Kill or be Killed , Deadly Trackers and this Dio non paga il sabato (1967), but usually made Peplums, adventures and mini-epics , such as : Vendetta of Ivanhoe , La valle dell'eco tonante , Il dominatore del deserto , Maciste alla corte dello zar , I predoni della steppe , Sanson against pirates , Julio César,conqueror Gaul , Il trionfo di Maciste , Il conquistatore d'Orient , among others . Rating : 5.5/10 . Average , but acceptable and pasaable Spaghetti Western.
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