Django the Bastard (Synapse Films Blu-Ray Review)

Is Django the Bastard Treasure or Trash?

Blu-ray Distributed By Synapse Films / August 13, 2019

Anthony Steffen (The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, Killer Fish) stars as the mysterious stranger named Django, a ghost-like figure who walks into a dusty western town with vengeance on his mind. As he finds the men he’s looking for, he places a cross with the person’s name and death date in the middle of the street before enacting violent revenge! Is Django truly an unstoppable human army-of-one, or an avenging immortal angel of death?

An intriguing spaghetti western with gothic horror genre elements, Django the Bastard bears striking similarities to Clint Eastwood’s film High Plains Drifter, released four years later. This version of Django the Bastard is the alternate English language U.S. version titled The Strangers Gundown, remastered in high-definition widescreen from a beautiful original 35mm negative element.

Jamie’s Take (3 / 5)

After the great Franco Nero spaghetti western bloodfest, Django, the movie spawned over 20 sequels where pretty much all of them have nothing to do with any of the other films. I never understood the history of the Django films where each Django actor played the gunslinger a different way, even going so far as to being played by Jamie Foxx in the overrated Quentin Tarantino film, Django Unchained in 2012. In fact, the only legitimate sequel that I know of to the original Django is the 1987 sequel Django Strikes Again with Franco Nero reprising his role.

Ok, now that we got that out of the way, how about Django the Bastard? Well, in the U.S. the film was retitled as The Strangers Gundown which is the more common title. Aside from the main character being named Django, the film has nothing to do with the original Django where the main character this time is played by the rather wooden Anthony Steffen (Killer Fish, Lady Dynamite).

Django journeys into a town where he places gravestone crosses in the middle of the road with the names of the person he is about to kill. As Django dispatches his victims here and there, the plot starts to unfold where it is believed that Django may be a ghost, hell bent on getting revenge on the Murdock family. This family betrayed their fellow confederate soldiers by selling out their men to the Union to be massacred, thus making a pretty profit for their family.

Is Django a former confederate soldier who survived the massacre on his unit or is he a ghost-like avenger out to kill those responsible for the death of these men? Either way, anyone who stands in his way is going to get shot. In fact, this Django film has such a high body count I started to laugh every time someone paid the price as there seems to be a person shot every few minutes. Although I prefer my spaghetti westerns with a little more grue and some extra flesh on display (this was rated PG, shocking too despite the title) Django the Bastard is a fast paced 99 minute movie that is rarely boring nor does it overstay its welcome.

Directed by Sergio Garrone (SS Experiment Love Camp) who really shows off his directing chops with some amazing camerawork and gorgeous shots, utilizing the 2:35:1 ratio to the extent. I was rather surprised to find out that this director only directed 13 films and is shockingly still alive as of this review. I really enjoyed his directing and really liked how he mixed a little of the horror genre with the western genre, as Django comes off like a ghost or a serial killer, at times only seen in the mist or fog.

The film’s biggest flaws are some of the obvious; the acting, dubbing, and predictable plot. These three elements are nothing new for a spaghetti western and I can usually overlook the poor dubbing but dear Lord, did they even try with Django the Bastard? And the performances range from dull and stiff to over the top and ridiculous. I would prefer the later as that can at least be entertaining. The “plot” is nothing new and if you have seen the superior High Plains Drifter or Pale Rider you have seen this film before. In fact, I saw this many years ago off an old DVD dub and I don’t think I lasted more than half an hour due to the poor transfer and bland story (why is there an almost 10 minute sequence of two men throwing dynamite at one another near the film’s beginning?).

Oh and I gotta say I was less than impressed by the film’s soundtrack, something I usually look forward to when I watch a spaghetti western. The score mimic’s Ennio Morricone’s score from the Man With No Name Trilogy but this score feels cheap, un-inspired, and thrown together. I couldn’t help but think the score to this film was used briefly in Back to the Future Part II when Biff is watching Fistful of Dollars while in a hot tub as they couldn’t get the rights to Morricone’s score. I’d love if someone could find out if that bit of score is used in the film or not. It sure sounds like it.

Anyways, Synapse’s blu ray looks pretty awesome and compared to the last time I saw the movie, it’s like night and day. The image looks crystal clear and gorgeous. Unfortunately aside form a very informative commentary track by Troy Howarth, the blu ray doesn’t contain any extras. Not even a trailer.

In a time when westerns and action films starred men and didn’t push female leads or force comedic moments or insert political commentary, Django the Bastard seems pretty dated. Women and millennials will have no interest in seeing this movie (you show me a lady who likes spaghetti westerns at all and I’ll show you a gorgeous pair of tits on a 90 year old) and there are no question, better spaghetti westerns out there but Django the Bastard is at least entertaining and that’s mainly because of the fantastic direction by Garrone.