The Complete Sartana

There was a lot more to the spaghetti Western than just Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood, as demonstrated by this fine compilation of the five "official" movies featuring one of the Man With No Name’s many imitators: a mysterious black-clothed gunslinger called Sartana (other movies using the name were unauthorized knock-offs). Sartana is played in all but one of the films—released between 1968-70—by Gianni Garko (George Hilton took the role in the third film, 1970’s Sartana’s Here…Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin), and all but the first were directed by Giuliano Carnimeo under the name Anthony Ascott (1968’s If You Meet Sartana…Pray for Your Death was helmed by Gianfranco Parolini, credited as Frank Kramer). Over the course of the series, Sartana evolves from a slick gunman to an avenging angel of sorts (in 1969’s I Am Sartana, Your Angel of Death), and his weapons become increasingly exotic: he begins with a trick derringer, but in the final entry, Light the Fuse…Sartana Is Coming (1970), he not only plays an organ that turns into a machine gun, but is accompanied by a little robot (looking a bit like a mini-R2-D2) that not only fires bullets but also sets off explosions. Throughout the series, Sartana confronts corrupt officials and townspeople (in the first film Klaus Kinski plays a deadly gang leader) and leaves piles of corpses in his wake. But while acting on the side of good he also has mercenary motives, making him an intriguingly enigmatic figure. The Sartana movies might not be Leone-quality classics, but this set will certainly be appreciated by fans of spaghetti Westerns. Extras include audio commentaries, cast and crew interviews, a video essay by critic Jonathan Bygraves, and photo galleries. Recommended. (F. Swietek)