Bury them Deep Film/DVD Review

Director: Paolo Moffa Cast: Craig Hill Ettore Manni Giovanni Cianfriglia José Greci Francesco Santovetti Luciano Doria Lorenzo Robledo Music: Nico Fidenco

BRIEF REVIEW

BURY THEM DEEP

Bury Them Deep (All'ultimo sangue)

See Database Page

Craig Hill is Clive Norton, a captain in the northern army, who is asked by a superior to retrieve a gold shipment that was stolen from an army convoy by a ruthless bandit called Billy the Gun. He saves a convicted murderer called El Chalaco from being hanged, because the man knows a few things about the bandit. Of course El Chalaco is very reluctant to assist Norton on his quest, but then Norton reveals the name of the man they are after. This causes an abrupt about face in El Chalaco’s attitude: apparently he has a personal score to settle with Billy the Gun.

With two reluctant partners chasing a sadistic bandit, most fans will immediately think of For a Few Dollars More. The movie even uses some sets of Leone’s movie, notably the famous bank of El Paso, but with a series of double-crosses and changing alliances, the second half is closer to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The turning point is a revelation about El Chalaco’s character and a knife fight between him and Billy the Gun. The first half of the movie is rather dull, with far too many scenes of the two riding on horseback to the tunes of Nico Fidenco's whimsical score, but the second half is quite lively, with a few melodramatic turns, lots of action and – how’s that for a spaghetti western – the cavalry coming to the rescue in the final minutes.

References to Leone are to be expected in a spaghetti western, but Bury them Deep also uses footage taken from other films. The bank robbery sequence includes footage from Taste for Killing (another western with Hill), and a scene in which Union soldiers are decimated, is taken from a Robert Woods western, Four Dollars for Revenge (1). The opening sequence with a stage coach robbery also seems to be taken from another movie (a shot of Cianfriglia on horseback is inserted to suggest otherwise, but it was clearly filmed on another location). What makes things even more confusing, is the fact that genre stalwart Lorenzo Robledo only appears in one single sequence. Was this scene shot for this movie or for another one? One that was never finished?

With entire scenes taken from other movies, the film understandably lacks coherence. Some scenes are shot on beautiful Spanish locations, others have that infamous gravel-pits look. The lair of the bandits is set in a grotto complex, illuminated as if we’re in a peplum movie. The script – by Enzo Dell’Aquila and director Paolo Moffa - veers from straightforward western to picaresque and violent melodrama, and there are also some Trinity-type jokes. There’s one scene with two Samaritans coming to the rescue when Craig Hill and Ettore Manni are tied to poles in the middle of the desert, that would fit perfectly well in a Trinity movie. How do our heroes show their gratitude? By knocking the Samaritans out and stealing their clothes!

If ever a spaghetti western deserved the predicate patch work, this is the fella. But there’s plenty of action, shoot outs, fistfights, a knife fight, you name it. There are possibly more stuntmen falling from great heights in this movie than in any other spaghetti western. The score by Nico Fidenco is like the rest of the movie, uneven, mixing light-hearted, whimsical tunes (one of them vaguely reminded me of the whistling theme of Bridge on the River Kwai) with rolling drums and an occasional plaintive trumpet. It seems to be a popular soundtrack among the fans of this composer (2).

The DVD

French release, R2, of All'ultimo sangue, PAL, Running Time: 1:32:52

- The Film in 2,35:1, Non Anamorphic

- Audio: French 2.0 Mono

- Subtitles: None

This French release, called Jusqu'à la Dernière Goutte de Sang seems to be the only regular DVD release around. Evidis is known for its cheap, ultra-cheap bare-boned releases with ugly video quality, only French audio and no extras at all, not even a menu. But they have released several hard to find spaghettis, so occasionally crazy prices are asked (and paid) for their discs. This must be one of their best releases. There’s some print damage in the form of specks and vertical lines, and colors have faded considerably, but overall video quality is more than tolerable. The French mono sound does the job pretty well, although Fidenco’s score sounds a bit shrill on a few occasions.

---

Notes:

- (1) http://forum.westernmovies.fr/viewtopic.php?t=2913 Some of the most knowledgeable cowboys on the forum, like Breccio, Tepepa and Sartana have done excellent research on the subject. I’m very grateful.

- (2) http://www.runmovies.eu/index.php?option=com_muscol&view=album&id=229

-By: Scherpschutter