Cinema

FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE-‘Per Qualche Dollaro in Più’ (1965)

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“Alive or dead. It’s your choice.”

The second in Sergio Leone’s classic Man With No Name Trilogy, which gave rise to and helped popularise the spaghetti western

This is a classic for sure, Leone shows his immense talent by adding onto the world he created with A Fistful of Dollars. Eastwood plays a bounty hunter who targets homicidal bandit, Indio (played by the brilliant Gian Maria Volante) and finds that he has some competition from another bounty killer, Col Douglas Mortimer (played by the master of the look, Lee Van Cleef).

The violence is quick, shocking and effective, all mood and mise en scene creatively realized. The music by the maestro, Ennio Morricone is just as important; massively influential, it helps create the ambience of the world, all danger and tension.

Support comes in the shape of the famously erratic actor, Klaus Kinski, who commits to his role of the hunchback in a way supporting actors rarely get the chance to (or don’t dare to) nowadays, you could see he was a talent who stands out as a member of Indio’s gang and gets some classic scenes involving the lighting of a match.

There is a scene early on where Eastwood is seeking some information from an old man in bed and it’s clear he is enjoying the performance of this quirky actor, Eastwood smiling throughout the scene which is a pleasant break from the usual cool, show no emotion acting he gives in the rest of the film. It’s a funny scene made brilliant by the Old Prophet, who is played by Austrian character actor, Josef Eggers. He also appeared in A Fistful of Dollars as the undertaker, Piripero-“My mistake. Four coffins…” This was his last film before he passed away a year later. A fine swansong.

Van Cleef is made for his role; he is just as influential as Eastwood when it comes to the style of acting needed for this kind of film. It’s all in the eyes and he has killer ones. Leone paints the screen with beautiful shots that immerse you into this wild west world.

The title “The Man with No Name trilogy” is not quite accurate; he is called ‘Joe’ in A Fistful of Dollars, ‘Manco’ in this one and ‘Blondie’ in The Good The Bad and the Ugly. Manco means ‘one-armed’ in Spanish and here Eastwood does everything with his left hand bar shooting.

The musician J Saul Kane AKA Depth Charge made this tune in 1994 called Bounty Killer containing several quotes from this film:

 

Much has been said of the influences of these films, the looks, the silences, the music, the shots and cinematography, the tension and I could go on. All are a joy to behold.
For a slice of classic western, this is one to see.

4/5

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DOWNLOAD THE FILM ON iTUNES HERE

DEAD SNOW ‘Død Snø’ (2009)

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Taking its cue from The Evil Dead but adding snow and Nazi Zombies, Dead Snow is a fun, low-budget Norwegian horror film with it’s tongue placed firmly in its cheek.

The fact that it’s Norwegian was the clincher, no Troma tropes here, if it was American it would be found in the bargain bucket at your local video store.
Hold on, do they still exist in this computer age?

Directed by Tommy Wirkola, who went onto make Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, here he does what he can with the limited budget and creates a slightly above average horror film.

Nazi Zombies. The South Park creators utilized this cross genre gold mine in their very funny show and recent game The Stick of Truth. You’re basically onto a winner, if you play your cards right. Nazis. Zombies. A great combination.

This film was much more enjoyable the first time round, seeing it again, the holes are much more noticeable. The zombies take too long to appear but when they do, the fun begins.

The usual horror film clichés are evident, some young medical students go on a ski vacation to a remote hut and are visited by a mysterious stranger who tells them of the legend of a local curse that originated during the Nazi occupation of the area in the second world war. They have a laugh about it but the laughter stops when Colonel Herzog and his merry band of undead Nazi soldiers turn up and start causing havoc.

Filled with stereotypes, this was never going to be a classic but nevertheless there is fun to be had.

The sequel Dead Snow 2: Red vs Dead has been released so it will be fun to see how a little bit more money helps or hinders.

Nazi  + zombies = jokes.

3/5

BUY THE BLU RAY DVD HERE

DOWNLOAD THE FILM ON iTUNES HERE