The Stranger's Gundown

During the Civil War a young Django (Antonio Steffen / Antonio De Teffè) is the only member of his troop to survive a surprise Union attack after the men are betrayed by their three officers, Hawkins, Howard and Murdoch (mis-spelled as Murdok).

Now, 13 years later – the math doesn't actually work but we can forgive where Django doesn't – he has come to avenge his fallen comrades. Clad entirely in black, his modus operandi is devastatingly simple: Ride into town, deliver a cross marked with the bearer's name and today as the date of death – the year is apparently 1881 – and gun them down.

Hawkins and Howard are soon dispatched but their deaths forewarn Murdoch, who is now the most important figure in a small frontier town.

A game of cat and mouse ensues as Django denudes Murdoch's forces and starts to convince many of his henchman and hired guns that they are facing a ghost while Murdoch and his hapless younger brother Luke (Luciano Rossi – who, as anyone who has seen Death Walks at Midnight or Death Smiles at Murder can confirm, is a shoe-in for any role requiring a creepy psycho type) try to pay and/or kill off the mysterious stranger…

Perhaps best glossed as Django does a High Plains Drifter, The Stranger's Gundown AKA Django the Bastard plays the spaghetti western as gothic horror film, with a single-minded, near robotic protagonist whose abilities seem almost preternatural.

Though obviously low budget – the pivotal Civil War flashback is particularly perfunctory – the film-makers, director Sergio Garrone (AKA Willy Regan) sharing the scriptingwriting duties with star Steffen who also co-produced, conjure up an effective gothic atmosphere, whether it be Murdoch's men riding through the fog, torches ablaze – a shot that they seem to have liked so much as to repeat – or three gunmen returning dead, propped up on their horses by crosses tied to their backs.

Likewise, though Steffen is sometimes criticised as a somewhat flat performer, this very quality seems singularly appropriate here, the fact that Django is a Confederate soldier rather than the original's Union officer another indication of the character's now-mythic status and function as a tabula rasa upon whom the spaghetti cineaste could inscribe whatever charateristics he wanted.

Not up to the superlative standards of Django Kill then, but a decent example of its type.

The most noticeable thing about the widescreen transfer in this Region 1 DVD from VCI Entertainment is the distracting green tint that accompanies many scenes, especially in the latter half of the film. Clearly the subject matter would allow for expressionist effects but it appears more like a case of the source print having deteriorated or the DVD transfer needing some corrective work. Anyone see the film on its original releases in its native land or stateside and able to illuminate the matter?

Sound is okay but flat, the last reel in particular evincing a noticeable level of noise.

The extras comprise trailers for the other "VCI classic spaghetti westerns" – Any Gun Can Play and A Bullet for Sandoval.