A Gunman Named Papaco (1986) User Reviews

More Fun Brazilian Exploit/Smut - This Time With A Western "Feel"...

[EVOL666 · 8/10 · 23 February 2007]

I really can't believe that I haven't cum across the underground Brazilian exploitation market sooner. It seems that our south-of-the-border brothers have been churning out some seriously insane sleaze for years now, and until recently, it's slipped under my radar. Having newly discovered this niche-genre, I've gone on a bit of a binge, and will be sure to look into these films more fully. I don't speak Portugese, so I'm sure I'm losing some plot-points in translation, but A GUNMAN CALLED PAPACO is another trashy bit of sexy fun that is reminiscent of the spaghetti-westerns that it obviously is inspired by, and even has a healthy bit of a Jodorowsky feel to it.

Papaco is a kick-ass gunman on his way to deliver an important parcel of sex-toys, contained in a coffin that he drags from location to location. Along the way, Papaco runs into several unsavory characters (including a midget pistolieri played by Chumbinho, of FUK FUK A BRASILEIRA "fame"), and several savory females who both help and hinder him during his travails...

A GUNMAN CALLED PAPACO contains many elements that seem to be staples amongst 80s-era Brazilian hardcore/exploit films - namely graphic depictions of both gay and straight sex, some of which may turn off potential viewers. For those that are brave and open-minded, I think that Brazilian exploitation films will become to the newer-generation of exploitation fans what the Italian films were to mine. Thoroughly fun, often depraved, and always tongue-in-cheek (or "cheeks", depending on what set your talking about) - these zero-budget trash-fests are a delight, even if I can't understand what the f!ck they're talking about...8/10

A Trash in 1980s, a cultish meme in 2010s

[utdaxiao · 8/10 · 23 December 2019]

The movie is a good example of the trash porn in the 1980s, which is specially common in Brazil and in South America. Low cost, bad sex scenes acting, a lots of cutting and the movie is a bit shy. Being a gay porn in the 1980s, I guess it wasn't so receptive, the gay sex is mostly hidden, their faces aren't shown so closely, nor the act.

The special thing about this movie it is how well it aged. Nowadays it is a bag of memes for the internet. The references are legendary and almost ubiquitous among Brazilians. Everyone can remember the quotes and have a good laugh of how ridiculous they are, thus accidentally making it a bag of jokes. It is amazing to see how a movie from 1980s can say more about the culture of 30 years in the future.

Nevertheless, I don't recommend watching the movie if you are interested in gay porn, it is bad material. But if you are interested in having a good laugh about the comic parts of the movie, I most certainly recommend it.

Had more potential had it not held back so much and not used too much editing trickery.

[hippiedj · 6/10 · 7 February 2016]

Here's the main thing: If Papaco was being touted as a bisexual western, then by golly GO FOR IT instead of only giving vague tidbits of said male bisexuality and holding back too much. And if you play around too much with editing to disguise the use of body doubles, it gets tedious.

When I first saw Um Pistoleiro Chamado Papaco, I was pleasantly entertained by this Brazilian film. It had everything going for it. I was also intrigued by the fact that many adult films from Brazil contained all persuasions of sex: heterosexual, bisexual, and gay male (not so much on the lesbian angle). The fact that they contained a bisexual element was interesting enough, but the ones I had seen were borderline bizarre (among them being two vampire- related ones and the other just some sort of plot but it all seemed like it was made by a crew that had liquored up quite a bit!).

Papaco was different than those in being it is a western. Other reviewers have elaborated on the plot, so I'll not add more to that. My focus, which other viewers / reviewers have left out, is the fact that the initial "gay" scene is all implied, no nudity, just body motion. The second "gay" scene, while graphic orally, then blocks the view of the gent's lower front while he was receiving from the man behind him, and you never saw that actual act explicitly. Those were the only two scenes of that kind in the film, though Papaco is described as a bisexual. All the other scenes are heterosexual sex and full on views of everything from every angle.

The other issue no one seems to talk about is that there seemed to be a body double for actor Fernando Benini in all scenes, except for one which I'll get to in a moment. You never see his face and full frontal in any sex scene, they keep cutting to the close-ups of the genitals and then to his face, but never both at once. It was difficult to tell the difference between his body and the double's, but to never show all at once was suspicious. In the scene where he's with five women at once, they are always blocking his face with their bodies when showing everyone on camera together. Now, there is ONE scene where I am 100% certain it IS Fernando doing the real thing. At the scene with the blonde woman (at about the 55-minute mark), there is the usual cutting back and forth between his face and her servicing him. However, at nearly the 58-minute mark where you see a member being maneuvered behind the woman, the camera pulls back to show both actors in full view. When the man turns his head, it is indeed Fernando. Even a few "adjusment" motions with his hand when he pulls her up into a different position seemed genuine, however the rest of the scene is the usual cutting back and forth as if a body double was once again used. This process of constant cutting back and forth just becomes too noticeable with each subsequent sex scene.

Some might say, what's the big deal! I can see that argument. But having seen a tremendous amount of films including adult films, when obvious edits are used, it catches my attention. Have you seen THE BEAST IN SPACE? They didn't even try to hide the fact that the body doubles' bodies didn't even come close to resembling the main actors. At least they did in Papaco. However, hiding most of the visuals in the gay scenes (really, they went to an extent, so just go all the way) and SO many edits to disguise Benini's body (they wouldn't even show him full frontal when the little man pointed a gun to Benini's rear end and Benini purposefully got off the bed in a manner as so that you wouldn't see his genitals), it gets distracting.

Yes, I was entertained. Um Pistoleiro Chamado Papaco was fun, even quite arousing. It just came short (no pun intended) of being a really great adult film had they not tried to hold back so much. See it to have the experience of seeing it, but I for one pine for the possibility of what it COULD have been.