Keoma (1976)

4.0 out of 5

The winning partnership of Franco Nero and Enzo G. Castellari return for this effective Luigi Montifiore penned riff on Yojimbo / A Fistful of Dollars released in some quarters as Django Rides Again.

Returning from the civil war, half-Indian Keoma, Nero, finds that his three deeply unpleasant half-brothers have thrown in their lot with the unscrupulous Caldwell, Donald O’Brien, who is taking advantage of a plague epidemic to rule the dustbowl town of Skidoo with an iron fist. When our hero rescues the pregnant Lisa, played by Olga Karlatos of Zombi 2, from a plague pit, a battle of wills erupts that can only end in bloodshed and devastation.

Arriving towards the end of the Italian western cycle, Keoma is a fine, action packed example of the genre, with all the Pekinpah-esque slow motion gundowns and flashback sequences that Castellari is famed for. The only aspect letting it down is some frankly appalling vocals narrating the action as part of the De Angelis brothers soundtrack. What on earth were they thinking?

Irritating score aside, if more westerns of this calibre were produced in this period the trend may have continued for a few more years.

Maurizio Merli header graphic courtesy of Paddy O'Neill of Foxyfide Graphics