Giù la testa... hombre (1971)

User Rating:

3.2/10   

Director:

Demofilo Fidani

Writers:

Demofilo Fidani (screenplay)
Demofilo Fidani (story)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

The deadliest guns in all the West are about to be silenced.

Plot:

A lone gunman tracks down the members of an outlaw gang that killed his friends. |

Plot Keywords:

Barrel | Spaghetti Western | Violence

Cast

Jack Betts	...	Butch Cassidy (as Hunt Powers)
Klaus Kinski	...	Reverend Cotton
Gordon Mitchell	...	Ironhead (Italian Version:'Testa di ferro')
Jeff Cameron	...	Macho Callaghan
Giancarlo Prete	...	Sundance Kid (as Philip Garner)
Benito Pacifico	...	Buck O'Sullivan (as Dennis Colt)
Luciano Conti		(as Lucky McMurray)
Grazia Giuvi	...	Saloon-Girl
Enzo Pulcrano	...	Member of gang (as Paul Crain)
Pino Polidori		(as Giuseppe Polidori)
Pietro Fumelli
Manlio Salvatori
Alessandro Perrella
Amerigo Leoni		(as Custer Gail)
Giglio Gigli

Also Known As:

Ballad of Django
Doppia taglia per Minnesota Stinky
Fistful of Death
Strange Tale of Minnesota Stinky
Western Story (USA) (trailer title)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12

Company:

Electra Compagnia Cinematografica

Movie Connections:

References Django (1966)

Fidani Strikes Again

I am a big fan of the Spaghetti Western Genre, and I usually also like most of the cheaply made ones. Infamous Director Demofilo Fidani, however, is rightly known for some of the cheapest, trashiest, and, well, worst contributions to the genre. The plots of Fidani's movies were usually very weak, and since his talent was quite limited, he usually tried to sell the movies by adding famous Spaghetti Western names like "Django" of "Sartana" to the titles. I the particular case of "Giù La Testa... Hombre" of 1971 he just took the title of Sergio Leone's "Giù La Testa" (aka. "Duck You Sucker") and added 'Hombre'. The movie can be found under various titles ("Fistful Of Death", "Western Story"...), I personally bought it under the name "Adios Companeros", which this movie shares with another Fidani film with almost the same cast, "Per Una Bara Piena Di Dollari", which is also entitled "Adios Companeros" in the German language version.

The plot is rather weak, it basically follows a guy named Macho Callaghan (Jeff Cameron) and his involvement with two rivaling outlaw gangs lead by Butch Cassidy (Jack Betts) and Ironhead (Gordon Mitchell).

The leading performance by Jeff Cameron is, kindly stated, not very convincing. Neither did I find Jack Betts very good as 'Butch Cassidy'. B-movie legend Gordon Mitchell, however, is always worth a try, and although he probably wasn't a very good actor, I always found his performances in the Spaghetti Westerns quite funny and original, and he actually saved some of Fidani's movies (such as the rather crappy "Django And Sartana... Showdown in the West").

There is one very funny and original thing about "Giù La Testa... Hombre" - the great Klaus Kinski is playing a priest! I could have imagined Kinski in any role, but before seeing this movie I would never have guessed that anybody would cast him as a priest. Kinski is, once again, great, although he has only little screen time, and one scene, where he breaks up a fight, is probably the only good scene in this. One more interesting thing about this film is that the legendary director and king of sleaze Joe D'Amato did the cinematography.

"Giù La Testa... Hombre" is a cheap, crappy film, but nevertheless, it has some funny moments. Being a Spaghetti Western enthusiast, I found it fun to watch, but if you're not, never mind this movie, or watch it only for the purpose of seeing Kinski play a priest. 3/10