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Reviews
Keoma (1976)
STOP THAT CATERWAULING!
I recently picked up Keoma as part of Anchor Bay's "Once Upon a Time In Italy" collection. This handy box-set also included "Texas Adios", "A Bullet For The General", "Companeros", and "Four Of The Apocalypse". After reading some pretty glowing reviews for Keoma, I had high hopes and expected it to be the best if not one of the better films included. Boy was I wrong!
While the film itself was fairly interesting and included some nice touches (especially an unexpected appearance by character actor "Woody Strode" - and some cleverly shot flashback sequences), it had an "overdone" quality to it. They were trying too hard for a "masterpiece". Mainly, this movie was plagued with the worst score I've ever had the misfortune to hear! The music itself wasn't the problem. What was however, were the annoying-as-hell female and male vocalists used to narrate the action throughout the movie. God they were AWFUL!!! They wouldn't shut up!
In the future, I plan to re-watch Keoma with the sound muted. That's the only way I feel I could sit through it again! Who knows? Maybe I'll enjoy it! I really wanted to like this movie.
I wouldn't normally recommend a movie that I gave a 4 of 10 rating for, but If you can rent this one, you need to hear the score just for laughs.
I quattro dell'Apocalisse (1975)
Much Better Than Expected
I recently picked up Four Of The Apocalypse as part of Anchor Bay's "Once Upon A Time In Italy" box-set of non-Leone spaghetti westerns. After reading mixed reviews of FOTA, I delayed viewing it until after the other four movies contained. I was surprised to find that I liked it.
My only other experience with director Leo Fulci had been "House By The Cemetery" which my wife and I felt had potential, but was ultimately pretty dreadfully bad. With that in mind, I didn't expect to be impressed with FOTA and was worried that some of the gore I'd been reading about would ruin it for me. Although I'll have to admit that some scenes we're pretty hard to watch, overall the film had a classic spaghetti atmosphere with some fairly macabre moments, and was a step above many I have viewed.
Many people have complained about the score which includes narrative songs with a kind of folksy early period Pink Floyd/Byrds sound which I personally love. In comparison with the more respected film Keoma, which is also included in the OUATI collection, the soundtrack is pure gold! The caterwauling that passed for a score in Keoma virtually made it unwatchable for me.
Overall, I gave this film a 7 out of 10 rank. If you like the genre, and aren't turned off by some of it's non-traditional western elements, you should enjoy it. Recommended.
Haunted Summer (1988)
Waste of Time
Don't waste your time on this dreck. As portrayed, the characters have no redeeming values and watching them interact is sheer torture. "Gothic" was entertainment at least, this is crap. If you like watching pretentious and spoiled poets straining to outwit each other, this may be right up your alley. Lord Byron is portrayed as a complete jerk, and why the others would choose to spend more than five minutes with him is truly bewildering. Mary Shelly appears to be the only character with any spine whatsoever, but even she comes out of the whole ordeal without an ounce of respect. What a waste of time. See Gothic instead. I also remember seeing another superior movie based on the same subject matter, but didn't catch the title. I was hoping this was it, but no such luck. Not recommended.