Light the Fuse… Sartana Is Coming
Light the Fuse… Sartana Is Coming
| 24 December 1970 (USA)
Light the Fuse… Sartana Is Coming Trailers

Wily roving gunslinger Sartana arrives in a small town and tries to find a hidden fortune of half a million dollars in gold and two million dollars in counterfeit money. Naturally, a bunch of other treacherous folks who include conniving widow Senora Manassas, shrewd fellow gunslinger Grand Full, and the vicious and unhinged General Monk are also looking to get their greedy hands on said fortune.

Reviews
Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place
Greenes Please don't spend money on this.
Majorthebys Charming and brutal
Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict
Sam Panico In his very first line in the movie, Sartana paraphrases the Bible verse "I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent" before killing a corrupt sheriff and two of his deputies. If I wasn't already excited about the fourth Sartana film, I'm now fully ready.Sartana turns himself in for their murders in order to get one of his old friends, Grandville Full, out of the corrupt jail, one so horrible that the wardens urinate onto men desperate for water. That friend I mentioned earlier - Grand Full for short - knows where a half million in gold and two million in counterfeit money is. But there are plenty of people after it too, like an evil widow (Nieves Navarro!), a one-eyed killer, another corrupt lawman and even a general gone deaf and mad.Like every Sartana movie, the only person you can trust is Sartana himself. The entire town of Mansfield is looking for the gold and ready to kill one another and anyone else that comes to visit. Like Mara Krupp, who pretty much plays the same horny hotel owner that she played in For a Few Dollars More.Well, maybe Pon Pon, an old friend and inventor, can be trusted. After all, he's invented a robot for Sartana named Alfie. Yep, in the middle of a spaghetti western, there's a robot. Welcome to the Sartana films! He's also building a giant organ for his dance hall, which he claims to be the reason why he needs the money.The scene where Alfie the robot blows up the sheriff, spraying out burning counterfeit money that Sartana lights a cigarette with while laughing? That's exactly why I love the Sartana series. They've moved from him as an angel of death to a detective with James Bond gadgets over the four Gianni Garko films.The finale, where the pipe organ is taken into the street, only for it to contain machine guns that mow down hundreds - if not more - soldiers and assorted killers, thieves and liars has to be seen to be believed.The music, by Bruno Nicolai, is great. He also scored plenty of Jess Franco films, as well as The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, All the Colors of the Dark, The Case of the Bloody Iris and so many more. Here, he continually brings back the haunting theme of Sartana and ups the intensity at the close of the film.Of the four Sartana films I've watched, this one is my favorite. Now, it's not the dark and realistic film that a Leone Western can be, but it has a charm and verve all its own. Also, I want a robot that lights my cigars like Alfie!
Woodyanders Wily roving gunslinger Sartana (a typically fine performance by Gianni Garko) kills three corrupt lawmen and has himself put in prison. Sartana escapes from jail with his equally shrewd partner Grand Full (well played by Piero Lulli), who knows where a fortune in both gold and counterfeit money is hidden. Naturally, several other treacherous folks also want to get their greedy hands on said fortune. Director Giuliano Carnimeo, working from a clever script by Tito Carpi, Ernesto Gastaldi, and Eduardo Manzanos Brochero, relates the tricky and absorbing story at a steady pace, maintains a suitably harsh and gritty tone through (the moments of sadistic violence and torture are pretty rough stuff), stages the exciting shoot-outs with considerable skill and brio, and further spices things up with a nice line in wickedly amusing sarcastic humor. The charismatic Garko truly shines in the lead; he receives able support from Lulli, the fetching Nieves Navarro as sly scheming widow Senora Manassas, Jose Jaspe as the vicious and unhinged General Monk, and Franco Pesce as a rascally, quick-witted old goat gambler. Moreover, this movie has a few nifty gimmicks which include a deadly organ and an equally lethal wind-up walking cigarette lighter. Both Julio Ortas' expansive widescreen cinematography and Bruno Nicolai's robust sweeping score are up to par. A very enjoyable film.
chaosrampant The fifth, and final if I'm not horribly mistaken, official entry in the Sartana series, sees director Giuliano Carnimeo (Anthony Ascott I'm looking at you) and regular Gianni Garko teaming for yet another spaghetti western mystery-cum-action extravaganza.The plot is crafted in typical Carnimeo fashion, occasionally makes no sense, but is fun to watch as it unfolds its twists and turns, with a myriad of people trying to get ahold of 500,000$ dollars and $2 million counterfeit money. The whole cast puts in a good performance, the gorgeous Nieves Navarro (aka Susan Scott, known from A Pistol for Ringo and giallo efforts) easily standing out, not necessarily for her acting abilities though.The final showdown in the empty streets of a town is as close to offering a monumental spaghetti western moment, the Sartana series will ever come. After Parolini's insurmountable original from 1968 that is. It's obviously, strongly influenced by Corbucci's Django (1966), but that doesn't detract from its psychotronic charm. Watch it and find out. Bruno Nicolai's score is like a second grade Morricone, but given Il Maestro's genius, even a second grade Morricone is a good thing. Combined with plenty of gunfights, greasy villains, conniving women and enough quirks and tricks to keep fans happy, this is a worthwhile second tier spaghetti western entry and Carnimeo's best in the Sartana series. Great for a Sunday afternoon...
Jakub Kaczynski Sartana comes around for another case of Wild West crime mystery. This time it's a search for a well-hidden cache of gold (and $2 million in counterfeit money) - and it seems that half the neighborhood is looking for all of it, too - including (but not limited to!) corrupt prison warden, sheriff, a bunch of his deputees, self-proclaimed general and his army for hire, brothers, wives, partners, lovers and friends of deceased gold/money owners, federal agents, false federal agents, elderly gamblers/inventors, gambling house owners and the Apache (well, at least, their cave is involved). As you can probably imagine, with such a ridiculously vast array of characters, the "mystery" gets so muddled that you simply don't care about all the double-, triple- and quadruple-crossings going on all the time. A more talented director and/or writer COULD have been able to pull this thing off (probably by making some plot elements less pronounced than the rest), but as it stands, unfortunately, the whole thing suffers from the lack of consistent pacing - and some order or structure to what's going on.Though certainly not a masterpiece, the movie is still watchable and holds a certain undeniable entertainment value - and has a lot of shootouts and a really large body count (just think about the sheer number of people competing to get their hands on that gold who are certain to get killed before the final confrontation), complete with Django-like multi-barreled gun massacre the likes of which you probably won't see anywhere else. Also, while perhaps not brilliant, the music - like in many spaghetti westerns - is quite good, and adds a lot of atmosphere to the proceedings.Strangely, some supporting actors from the previous Sartana movie ("Have a good funeral, my friend - Sartana will pay") - namely, the undertaker (now turned gambler?) and Chinese servant - make appearances here - though it isn't clear if they are supposed to play the same characters they did in the previous installment. And how the hell did Sartana get the Alfie back, what with all the exploding in sheriff's face Alfie did fifteen minutes earlier? Anyway, if you are looking for an easy (if not necessarily very intellectually stimulating) way to spend 90 minutes of your life, give this one a try; perhaps even if you are not a spaghetti western fan - as the whole thing sometimes resembles more a Sherlock Holmes mystery than a typical western.