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Halleluja - Italo-Western Box
R2 - Germany - Koch Media Review written by and copyright: Jari Kovalainen (20th November 2006). |
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The Film
 Halleluja - Italo-Western Box The box set: German “Koch Media” has released another “themed” box set including three Italian westerns where the German title bear the name “Halleluja”. All films are most likely remastered, Anamorphic, and have Italian and German audio - with optional English and German subtitles. 4-disc set includes also a Soundtrack CD and a 32-page booklet, and all are packaged in a cardboard digi-pack (which opens wide open, like a cross). Quality is very good, and “Koch Media” proves again that it´s a very important player in the world of spaghetti western-releases. “They Call Him Cemetery” includes German credits, but the rest of the films are using the Italian ones. Heads I Kill You, Tails You're Dead! They Call Me Hallalujah AKA Testa t'ammazzo, croce... sei morto... Mi chiamano Alleluja (1971) Comedy and spaghetti western was a quite common mixture if you start to think of it. Many of these films had at least a few comical sidekicks, and often the lead protagonist has the tendency to provide dry one-liners and make jokes to the villains - mainly to get them riled up and do some stupid moves, but also just to provide some humour for the audience. A big bar fight, where a lot of comedy happens during all the punching and kicking, was more like a rule than an exception, and generally the action was more like daily fun for the lead characters than serious business where you could end up dead. The action scenes might have a very high death toll, but in the Italian westerns they can be quite humourous at the same time. The violence is there, but it´s portrayed in a light way. In many other genres this might be a problem, but in the spaghetti westerns it just works - most of the time, at least. Comedy doesn´t take away the seriousness of the movie, and vice versa. That´s actually quite an achievement, really. Of course, usually these comedy-westerns are not “pure comedy”, and they can have as much action and shoot-outs as comedy aspects (many times even more), but the strong sense of humour and even slapstick were often included. And the audience? They loved it. Director Giuliano Carnimeo (often better known as “Anthony Ascott”) directed several “Sartana”-films and many of his westerns were at least partly comical. It´s not always that easy to determine when one turns into comedy, and when it´s just “action with lighter tone” or something, but two films in this set are good examples of that “lighter side” of Italian westerns. “Heads I Kill You, Tails You're Dead! They Call Me Hallalujah AKA Testa t'ammazzo, croce... sei morto... Mi chiamano Alleluja (1971)” introduces the familiar western actor George Hilton as “Hallelujah” (sometimes written as “Allelujah”), a witty lead character with plenty of tricks up his sleeve. He doesn´t use as much “gadgets” like the similar character Sartana, but Hallelujah can also handle himself in a very laid back fashion, using explosives, a machine gun (made of Singer!), and of course his pistol. Further more, his style to mock his opponents before taking them down (either dead or at least unconscious) shares some similarities to Sartana. For the record, even when the fellow actor Gianni Garko is THE “Sartana”, also Hilton played the character in “I Am Sartana, Trade Your Guns for a Coffin AKA C'è Sartana... vendi la pistola e comprati la bara (1970)”. The film opens when the Mexican revolutionary, General Ramirez (Roberto Camardiel) and some of his people are about to face the execution squad. Hallelujah saves the day with his trusted “Singer-machine gun”, and soon the revolution can continue as usual. The comedy aspects are visible right from the start, since during the shoot out General Ramirez and Hallelujah have a discussion about a certain bag - marked with a golden eagle and containing none other than jewels. These two make a deal, and soon Hallelujah is after the mysterious bag, now on its way to the US. It´s soon evident that he´s certainly not the only one searching - several parties are after those shiny jewels, worth millions of Pesos - including the soldiers of Maximilian, the emperor of Mexico, along with the evil gun dealer Mr. Krantz (Andrea Bosic). After some clashes between Hallelujah, the soldiers and the villains dressed as monks - as well as some fake jewels, the beautiful, yet mysterious nun Sister Anna Lee (Agata Flori) is introduced, along with the Russian cossack (!) Alexei (Charles Southwood), and both of them are very interested with the bag. I know that I might sound repetitive, but basically the film is all about the bag from the very start to the finish, since all sides want the jewels, just for slightly different reasons. For Hallelujah, it´s all about the money. The film definitely relies on the wild and also funny action scenes. Some of the highlights involve the Russian Duke Alexei and his mixture of Russian dances and acrobatic fighting. The Chinese laundry-fight where Alexei and Hallelujah join forces for the common cause is quite priceless, and all the action bits are nicely executed. Apart from those scenes, the film tends to be a bit uninteresting, since it doesn´t really offer many different manoeuvres in the story department. You start to wait for the “next action scene” rather than focusing on the story, and eventually I didn´t really care who gets the bag - as long as there is some fighting or shoot-outs. “Heads I Kill You, Tails You're Dead! They Call Me Hallalujah” is a fun western when it comes to a wide range of different characters, action and humour, but the basic story can´t keep the interest going for the whole film through. Always solid George Hilton and interesting Charles Southwood work quite well together, although the dubbing on Southwood is not very professionally done, and hurts the character. They Call Him Cemetery AKA Gli fumavano le Colt... lo chiamavano Camposanto (1971) Two brothers, John (Chris Chittell) and George McIntire (John Fordyce) return to a town called “Arlington” after 15 years, and are heading to their fathers ranch. For these well mannered young men the wild style of the west - still after the Civil war, is quite a surprise; everybody is carrying a gun, infants are sucking bullets instead of dummys, people are picking fights and brawls, and gentlemanly manners? There´s no such a thing. Under their polished look the boys have still some spicy attitude left, so they´re ready to defend themselves and their honour - and there are plenty of opportunities to do that in the restless town. Fortunately, the stranger called Camposanto (Gianni Garko) steps in to “help”, since he probably sees that the boys certainly have some guts, but not necessarily abilities to handle themselves in the real gunfight. Fast-forward to the ranch where they´ll receive the warm welcome from their father, but soon learn that there are some dark clouds on the horizon. All the ranchers in the area pay the heavy protection money to the local racketeers, and the young brothers want to change all this. Partly since they want to prove that they can handle the tricky situation and partly being just naive, they refuse to pay, and are trying to convince the other landowners to do the same thing. The mysterious Camposanto makes his appearance soon again, since he has a strong bond with “old man” McIntire, a certain depth to pay, if you will. He decides to help the boys by teaching them to shoot and protect the ranch. Soon also an old rival, perhaps a friend also in some sense, the hired gun Duke (William Berger) steps into the scene, which creates some needed boost for the film. Duke isn´t necessarily on the same side as Camposanto… Second film from the set by director Giuliano Carnimeo (as Anthony Ascott) is another spaghetti western with comedy aspects, and it does a good job on both fronts; it´s no classic, but when there´s comedy you feel amused, and when there´s action and drama, you enjoy it as a western. There´s good chemistry with the brothers and Camposanto, and another one between Camposanto and Duke, the latter uniting two great spaghetti western actors, Garko and Berger. Camposanto is pretty much a similar character (without the gadgets, and perhaps more quiet) to e.g. Sartana that Garko played many times, but fans have learned to enjoy that. Berger plays a more memorable character with his Civil war-uniform and special “folding cup”. When Duke folds his cup, the audience will know that it´s time for action. Duke adds a certain “edge” to the story, even when the film isn´t that serious a western. The warm relationship between the boys and their father, and the sad back story fills the gaps that are left from action and humour, and two funny Mexican side-kicks Pedro and Chico are actually a quite welcome addition to the story (they are also very handy with knives). I also want to add, that the composer Bruno Nicolai does a great job with the score. Raise Your Hands, Dead Man, You're Under Arrest AKA Su le mani, cadavere! Sei in arresto (1971) Director León Klimovsky is probably a familiar name to those who are into vampires and other horror-figures such as Dracula and the werewolf, and he directed e.g. several Spanish movies starring the cult figure Paul Naschy. During the 1960s and early 1970s, Klimovsky also did some spaghetti westerns (along with Italian war-films), and one of them, “Raise Your Hands, Dead Man, You're Under Arrest AKA Su le mani, cadavere! Sei in arresto (1971)”, is included here. If Klimovsky was like fish in the water with Spanish horror, he wasn´t all that bad in the Italian westerns either. The story is fairly simplistic, but the haunting opening scene isn´t something that you see in every western; a group of Yankee soldiers are riding to the grizzly scene that appears to be the aftermath of one of the last battles in the American Civil War (1861-1865). Dead bodies of soldiers are scattered in the open terrain, and wounded ones are here and there, still alive. Captain Grayton (Aldo Sambrell) is taking a closer look, and to the horror of the wounded soldiers, he shoots some of them in cold blood and doesn´t even want to hear any pleas from his victims. Near this scene is a house, where young medic Sando Kid (Peter Lee Lawrence) is trying to help wounded soldiers. Grayton comes inside, merely just to have his twisted and merciless fun, shooting one of the wounded in the process. He ends up offering his gun to Sando Kid, just to humiliate him, since he probably senses that Kid is not the man who grabs the gun and goes shooting people (he´s trying to do the opposite). Not until after one of the soldiers, later called Bamba (Franco Agostini), is shooting Grayton in the hand, does he leave the scene (not sure why he don´t bring the other soldiers to “finish the job”, but hey, this is cinema). The Captain may be gone, but the image of him stays in the head of Sando Kid, probably for the rest of his life - until there´s opportunity for the revenge, that is. After that, the story moves fast, skipping some developments. Thanks to Bamba, Sando Kid is now a highly skilled gunslinger, who knows how to use both his fists and his brains. His friend, the bounty hunter Dollar (Espartaco Santoni - also serving as Executive Producer in the film) enters the scene, and implies that Kid should join the Rangers. That Kid will do, and soon he´s one of the most feared Rangers in the area, hunting the wanted villains - bringing them in more dead than alive. When Kid is sent to Springfield to create some order to the town, he´ll learn that man behind the problems there is the good old Captain, now a rich landlord Lee Grayton after war. His vicious and greedy attitude hasn´t gone anywhere though, and with blackmails, threats and also by his gun, he´s gaining the lands one by one from their original owners. Land is what Grayton needs, since the railroad is coming and many powerful people, including the sheriff of the town, is in his payroll. It´s time for the Kid to settle the old score, so he enters the town, not as a “Ranger”, but as a well-mannered perfume representative (!), hiding his true identity and purpose. The encounter with Kid and Grayton is inevitable… “Raise Your Hands, Dead Man, You're Under Arrest” is a solid and compact western, which has most of the “usual suspects” when it comes to the genre; handsome protagonist (knows how to handle guns and women), his evil and powerful opponent (landlord with several henchmen), cool and mystical friend (who appears every now and then to help), partly comical side-kick (Bamba dressed as a monk), and of course the beautiful woman (Leonor, played by Helga Liné), who´s in the middle of the good and the bad guys. The problem is that there isn´t much in the movie that you could call “unpredictable”, since the story is so straightforward and characters one-dimensional. I often like it when e.g. the villain has also that “other side”, not just pure evil, but Grayton is like a robot, meaning that his character is just what it is, and that´s that. Sambrell is not “bad” as an actor, though. Peter Lee Lawrence is a refreshing choice with his “model like” presence (some resemblance to actor Jude Law), but he´s lacking charisma. What works, though, is that he´s not dressed like an average cowboy in the film, and after entering the town he pretty much acts like a wealthy businessman. This suits Lawrence well, and gives a nice change to his cowboy-look (with the coat). It´s not quite explained where the connection between Kid and Dollar originates, but actor Espartaco Santoni as a bounty hunter dressed in black gives an energetic and ironic performance, definitely one of the best in the movie. Dollar is the character you frequently hope to see on the screen, but his character is not very well explored. Film includes some action (surprise), but it slightly annoyed me that some of the scenes are executed like in “slow motion”. This means that especially fight scenes tend to look a bit phony and rehearsed, and occasionally people die like the old movies (you know, making a big dramatic act before falling to the ground, and sometimes there´s no blood in sight). These type of issues are of course minor gripes and doesn´t take much away from the overall enjoyment, but it´s also true that the film would need some fine tuning here and there. The score from composer Alessandro Alessandroni is very good (I know, I say that in almost every spaghetti western, but what can you do - the music is often so good).
Video
Heads I Kill You, Tails You're Dead! They Call Me Hallalujah AKA Testa t'ammazzo, croce... sei morto... Mi chiamano Alleluja (1971) The transfer is presented in Anamorphic 2.35:1 and is quite pleasant from start to finish. There is some grain, minor line shimmering and edge enhancement, but fans should be very pleased to see Italian westerns presented in this way. Perhaps black levels and colours are very slightly “boosted”, but I can´t really say for sure. “Dual layer” disc runs 91:48 min (PAL) and is coded “R2”. There are 16 chapters. For the comparison sake, R2 Japanese-release is non-Anamorphic and despite that it´s not bad, it looks slightly murkier and darker. Based on the running time, it comes from the PAL-source (not a proper NTSC-conversion). They Call Him Cemetery AKA Gli fumavano le Colt... lo chiamavano Camposanto (1971) The film is presented in Anamorphic 2.35:1, and despite the worn and grainy opening credits it looks fairly good, but perhaps in the end is a bit inferior comparing to the other films in the set. Some scenes do look a bit washed out and soft and there is minor line shimmering along with film artifacts, but generally the transfer is clean and the bitrate high. “Dual layer” disc runs 89:57 min (PAL) and is coded “R2”. There are 16 chapters. Raise Your Hands, Dead Man, You're Under Arrest AKA Su le mani, cadavere! Sei in arresto (1971) The film is presented in Anamorphic 1.85.1, so this time the aspect ratio is not Scope. I didn´t find any real info about the OAR, but it didn´t look “cropped” or anything like that (perhaps a bit tight in some scenes). There´s at least one Spanish-release, which is non-Anamorphic 1.60:1 (only in Spanish). Generally the film looks excellent for its age; it´s probably as clean as it could be, sharpness is admirable, and black levels spot on. Colours are solid, but perhaps some scenes tend to be a bit on the “pale side” (most likely just part of the original negatives). Great transfer by “Koch” - hats off. “Dual layer” disc runs 88:45 min (PAL) and is coded “R2”. There are 16 chapters.
Audio
Heads I Kill You, Tails You're Dead! They Call Me Hallalujah AKA Testa t'ammazzo, croce... sei morto... Mi chiamano Alleluja (1971) Two audio tracks are included: Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, and German Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. As with some other releases by the company, the back cover and menu both list only German subtitles, but there are also English ones included, and both are optional. I chose the Italian track, where the dialogue is clean and there´s no mentionable hiss, so I would say that we have a rather good soundtrack. Again, compared to the R2 Japanese-release, the main difference is that the Japanese-release includes also the English audio. It seems that generally the English dub could be actually the better choice for the film - based on the lip movements from the main actors, but Italian one is not that bad either. Probably also a matter of taste which one you prefer. They Call Him Cemetery AKA Gli fumavano le Colt... lo chiamavano Camposanto (1971) Like with the first film, two audio tracks are again included: Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, and German Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, and optional English and German subtitles are included. I obviously chose the Italian track, which is generally clear. The track is occasionally muffled, and I suspect that the audio could´ve been taken from more than just one source. Minor hiss can be heard, but only if you turn the volume up. Just out of curiosity, I sampled my DVD-R, which also includes the English dub, and it´s not a bad option either. Some actors seems to be talking English, but not sure about Garko and Berger. I guess this is one of those Italian westerns, where both Italian and English dub are quite equal. Raise Your Hands, Dead Man, You're Under Arrest AKA Su le mani, cadavere! Sei in arresto (1971) No change in the pattern here. Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, and German Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono are the usual audio choices, and optional English and German subtitles are included. Italian track (which I listened to) is clean and if there is some hiss, it´s quite minimal. The dialogue is probably not as clear as it could be, but no real complaints. The Italian dub is not bad, but there are some lip movement-issues. Apparently an English dubbed version exists, so not sure if that is a better option.
Extras
Heads I Kill You, Tails You're Dead! They Call Me Hallalujah AKA Testa t'ammazzo, croce... sei morto... Mi chiamano Alleluja (1971) Super-8 version of the film runs 32:59 minutes, and is basically just the edited and shortened version of the film, to which people watched at home before there were formats like VHS. The film is presented in 4:3, and is in German only (no subtitles). 2 theatrical trailers are also included; German (3:07 min) and Italian (3:29 min), and there are no subtitles. Photo gallery includes 4 posters, 6 Italian lobby cards, 14 German lobby cards, 14 German “Super-8”-material, and 1 B&W still. DVD credits rounds up the extras. They Call Him Cemetery AKA Gli fumavano le Colt... lo chiamavano Camposanto (1971) The main extra is “Ein Halleluja Für Anthony Ascott” -featurette, running 25:23 minutes. Great news is that it includes both English and German subtitles (optional), while the audio is in Italian. Despite the name, along with director Giuliano Carnimeo (AKA Ascott), both actors Gianni Garko and George Hilton are being interviewed, while they reminisce the old times of Italian westerns and their part in that era. “Sartana” is being discussed, since both Garko and Hilton played the character, and they share some memories from the other actors (like William Berger and Klaus Kinski) also. Some photos and lobby cards are included along the way. As usual with “Koch Media”, the whole affair is professionally done and a must for the western fans. Italian theatrical trailer (3:32 minutes, no subtitles) is included, and photo gallery includes 3 posters, 6 Italian lobby cards, 14 German lobby cards, and 10 photos from the press-materials and such. DVD credits are also included. Raise Your Hands, Dead Man, You're Under Arrest AKA Su le mani, cadavere! Sei in arresto (1971) This disc is a little light on extras, but there´s the Italian theatrical trailer (4:00 minutes, no subtitles), as well as a photo gallery, including only 2 posters and 4 colour stills from the movie. DVD credits are also included. Box set has also a 32-page booklet, all in German. It includes “Der Italo-Western ist die Rache des Römischen Katholizismus am Puritanismus – Religion im Eurowestern” liner notes by Wolfgang Luley and Daniel Maier (not that many photos I´m afraid). Bonus disc: Last disc in the set is a soundtrack CD, which includes music from two films: 13 songs from “Heads I Kill You, Tails You're Dead! They Call Me Hallalujah AKA Testa t'ammazzo, croce... sei morto... Mi chiamano Alleluja (1971)”, and 24 songs from “The West Is Tough, Amigo... Alleluja's Here AKA Il West ti va stretto, amico... è arrivato Alleluja (1972)” (film not included in the set), both from composer Stelvio Cipriani. Here´s the track list: 1> La Verde Prateria (3:59 min) 2> Arrivo San Jose (1:34 min) 3> Belo Orizonte (1:05 min) 4> Maracaibo (2:53 min) 5> Belo Orizonte (1:01 min) 6> La Verde Prateria (1:34 min) 7> La Verde Prateria (1:56 min) 8> Le Ferrovia (1:32 min) 9> Saloon Black (2:49 min) 10> Valparaiso (1:55 min) 11> Belo Orizonte (1:57 min) 12> Asuncion (1:55 min) 13> Marcia Della Resurrezione (3:22 min) * 14> Galapagos (1:45 min) 15> Il West Ti Va Stretto (2:32 min) 16> Viva Alleluja (2:40 min) 17> Mar Del Plata (3:35 min) 18> Bailes (1:42 min) 19> Il West Ti Va Stretto (2:04 min) 20> Viva Alleluja (2:14 min) 21> Paramaribo (1:42 min) 22> Marcia Della Resurrezione (1:07 min) 23> Viva Alleluja (1:22 min) 24> La Fiesta Di Sara (1:31 min) 25> Verso Il Sole (0:42 min) 26> Mar Del Plata (1:45 min) 27> Verso Il Sole (0:40 min) 28> Viva Alleluja (0:35 min) 29> Fortaleza (3:02 min) 30> Vamos Adelante (0:56 min) 31> Viva Alleluja (1:03 min) 32> Mar Del Plata (1:12 min) 33> Ballo Del Cow Boy (1:03 min) 34> Viva Alleluja (0:53 min) 35> Vamos Adelante (0:45 min) 36> Bailes (1:01 min) 37> Il West Ti Va Stretto (1:45 min)
Overall
Heads I Kill You, Tails You're Dead! They Call Me Hallalujah AKA Testa t'ammazzo, croce... sei morto... Mi chiamano Alleluja (1971) Nice start for the box set, and good introduction to the Italian westerns with comedy flavour. A big plus is that the action scenes are good, but as a whole the film has its faults. DVD presentation is very nice, and the only gripe would be (this goes with the whole box set) that the additional English dub is not included. German title is “Man nennt mich Halleluja”. They Call Him Cemetery AKA Gli fumavano le Colt... lo chiamavano Camposanto (1971) “They Call Him Cemetery” is an enjoyable western with humour and action, and a few good visual tricks. It surely comes recommended for the fans of the genre. German title is “Ein Halleluja für Camposanto”. Raise Your Hands, Dead Man, You're Under Arrest AKA Su le mani, cadavere! Sei in arresto (1971) I might sound like a broken record, but another solid and entertaining western; I can´t really complain. Like I said in the review, a minor fine-tuning would´ve helped the film, though. German title of the film is “Sando Kid spricht das letzte Halleluja”, and Spanish “Un Dólar para Sartana”, so again titles include the names that aren´t exactly in the film. No wonder that people sometimes gets confused with all these Django, Sartana, and Halleluja chatacters. For more info, please visit the homepage of Koch Media.
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