The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most of these Westerns were produced and directed by Italians.
Sartana is a series of Spaghetti Western films which follows the adventures of the title character, a gunfighter and gambler who uses mechanical gadgets and seemingly supernatural powers to trick his rivals. The series features five official entries: If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death (1968), I am Sartana, Your Angel of Death (1969), Sartana's Here… Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin, Have a Good Funeral, My Friend... Sartana Will Pay and Light the Fuse... Sartana Is Coming. The first film was directed by Gianfranco Parolini, with the remaining four directed by Giuliano Carnimeo. Sartana is portrayed by Gianni Garko in all films in the series except for Sartana's Here… Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin, in which he was portrayed by George Hilton.
Poliziotteschi constitute a subgenre of crime and action films that emerged in Italy in the late 1960s and reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s. They are also known as polizieschi all'italiana, Italo-crime, spaghetti crime films, or simply Italian crime films. Influenced primarily by both 1970s French crime films and gritty 1960s and 1970s American cop films and vigilante films, poliziotteschi films were made amidst an atmosphere of socio-political turmoil in Italy known as Years of Lead and amidst increasing Italian crime rates. The films generally featured graphic and brutal violence, organized crime, car chases, vigilantism, heists, gunfights, and corruption up to the highest levels. The protagonists were generally tough working class loners, willing to act outside a corrupt or overly bureaucratic system.
Enzo G. Castellari is an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor.
Fabio Testi is an Italian actor. After growing up witnessing film work done around Lake Garda, Testi entered the sets of the film and began work as a stuntman and a double on set, where he worked as a stuntman on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Testi continued stunt work and getting roles in low budget genre films until he was cast in Vittorio De Sica's film The Garden of the Finzi-Continis. Following this film, Testi became a star in Italy, appearing in some artistic films by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi and Claude Chabrol. Testi also continued to work in poliziotteschi genre films in the 1970s as well as a few gialli, and gained infamy for his publicised relationships with actresses Ursula Andress and Charlotte Rampling.
Keoma is a 1976 Italian spaghetti Western film directed by Enzo G. Castellari and starring Franco Nero. It is frequently regarded as one of the better 'twilight' Spaghetti Westerns, being one of the last films of its genre, and is known for its incorporation of newer cinematic techniques of the time and its vocal soundtrack by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis.
Silver Saddle is a 1978 spaghetti Western. It is the third and final western directed by Lucio Fulci and one of the last spaghetti Westerns to be produced by a European studio. The film was based on an original story written by screenwriter Adriano Bolzoni and directed by Fulci for the Italian studio Rizzoli Film Productions.
Convoy Busters is a 1978 poliziotteschi film directed by Stelvio Massi and starring Maurizio Merli.
Django is a fictional character who appears in a number of Spaghetti Western films. Originally played by Franco Nero in the 1966 Italian film of the same name by Sergio Corbucci, he has appeared in 31 films since then. Especially outside of the genre's home country Italy, mainly Germany, countless releases have been retitled in the wake of the original film's enormous success.
Tedeum is a 1972 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Enzo G. Castellari. The title role was initially offered to Tomas Milian, who eventually refused.
Payment in Blood is a 1967 Italian Spaghetti Western film. It represents the official film debut for director Enzo G. Castellari of Few Dollars for Django. The film stars Edd Byrnes and Guy Madison.
A Few Dollars for Django is a 1966 Italian/Spanish co-production Spaghetti Western film directed by León Klimovsky and Enzo G. Castellari and starring Anthony Steffen. Although credited only to León Klimovsky, A Few Dollars for Django was predominantly directed by an uncredited Enzo G. Castellari.
Violent Rome is an Italian 1975 poliziottesco film directed by Marino Girolami It obtained a great commercial success and launched the career of Maurizio Merli. The film is the first entry into the Commissioner Betti Trilogy.
Il commissario di ferro (transl. The Iron Commissioner is a 1978 Italian poliziottesco film directed by Stelvio Massi.
Django, Prepare a Coffin, alternatively titled Viva Django, is a 1968 Italian spaghetti Western film directed by Ferdinando Baldi. The film was produced by Manolo Bolognini, who also produced Sergio Corbucci's original film. The film stars Terence Hill in the title role, which was previously played by Franco Nero. Originally Nero was intended to star.
La morte non conta i dollari 1967 Italian spaghetti Western film directed by Riccardo Freda. The film is about Lawrence White who returns to his hometown of Owell Rock with his sister to avenge the father's death at the hands of a gang. The leader of the gang, Doc Lester has recently appointed himself the gunslinger Boyd as the new sheriff.
Django Shoots First is an Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Alberto De Martino.
Per il gusto di uccidere is the 1966 Italian Spaghetti Western film debut directed by Tonino Valerii. It is also the first film to use the camera system known as 2P. It was filmed in Almería. It is produced by Francesco Genesi, Vincenzo Genesi, Daniele Senatore, Stefano Melpignano and Jose Lopez Moreno, scored by Nico Massi and edited by Rosa G. Salgado.
Murder Obsession, a.k.a. Fear, is a 1981 Italian giallo-horror film directed by Riccardo Freda, and starring Laura Gemser and Anita Strindberg.
No, the Case Is Happily Resolved is a 1973 Italian crime drama film written and directed by Vittorio Salerno and starring Enzo Cerusico, Riccardo Cucciolla and Martine Brochard. The finale of the film was re-shot after the distribution company requested a change to the original bleak ending.
