A Disappointing Continuation

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Director Enzo G.Castellari who also created other classic flicks, High Crime 1973 and The Inglorious Bastards 1978 has created another gem in Keoma.Starring Franco Nero who has also been in another classic spaghetti western flick, Django 1966 and Enzo G.Castellari's High Crime.Also starring William Berger who has also been in another classic spaghetti western flick, If You Meet Sartana Pray for Your Death 1968.Also starring Olga Karlatos who has also been in another classic flick, Once Upon a Time in America 1984.I enjoyed the shootouts and the slow motion sequences.If you enjoyed this as much as I did then check out other classic spaghetti western flicks, Day of Anger 1967, A Fistfull of Dollars 1964, For a Few Dollars More 1965, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1966, The Great Silence 1968, Have a Good Funeral My Friend Sartana 1971, Once Upon a Time in the West 1968, Deadly Trackers 1972 and Run, Man, Run 1968.

Castellari made a couple of decent movies, a few really good ones and quite a bit of god awful ones. This is his best. Saw the movie for the first time when I was about 14 on VHS in the 80's and though I thought it was very weird, I liked it. A few years later I saw it again, when I was around 21 and liked it a bit more. Showed it to some other people I knew and saw it again. Then, DVD came. I'm from Europe, but I ordered it from the States. I loved it. Now I saw it recently for the first time on the big screen. I have forgiven it some of the voice-actors and accepted the odd soundtrack. Hell, I even like it at parts. Now I finally see the truth. Keoma is a masterpiece.

Hated half-Indian Keoma returns from the war finding soldiers condemning plague-ridden townsfolk to quarantined camp, rescuing a healthy pregnant woman from being sent there. This decision doesn't bode well with the soldiers(accompanied by his rival half-brothers)and Keoma is often at odds with them trying to keep the woman out of the camp so that she can have her child in a more comfortable, less dangerous environment. With help from freed slave George, his mentor, and father William Shannon, Keoma will have to shoot it out with Caldwell's innumerable army who have been keeping supplies and medicine from the town and sick of the plague. Meanwhile, The Shannon trio plan to let Keoma and Caldwell kill each other in the hopes of taking over the town when those two are out of the way.Brilliantly utilizing Peckinpah slow motion to superb dramatic effect, along with some breathtaking tracking shots throughout, not to mention terrific lengthly gunfight between Keoma, his father, and George against Caldwell's endless army in the town, Enzo G Castellari crafts one hell of a western, further building the iconic status of Franco Nero as a formidable gunslinger hero. Enzo simply understands how to build a scene to it's crescendo, and his camera is able to capture so much, in terms of both exciting action and expressionistic faces of the many different characters who enter the picture. Heavy emphasis on musical influence to envelope the viewer, and Enzo's use of dusty wind(and rain at the end as Keoma is bound to a wheel overlooking the town)is phenomenal. Definitely an underrated western, and deserves to be more well known than it is. Woody Strode is such a welcome presence, as Keoma's idol, fallen into alcoholism, having sold his beloved bow to purchase liquor, now a laughingstock treated with ridicule. Olga Karlatos, even as a pregnant woman falling on hard times, is astonishingly beautiful as shot by Castellari, her face, like so many in the film, revealing so much without saying a word. I believe the greatest compliment to give to this movie is how Castellari arranges poetic scenes of characters communicating to each other through silence, eyes meeting yet speaking much louder than words(like the heartbreaking capture of William Shannon, by Caldwell, as Keoma knows he's defeated, only to witness a horrifying tragedy despite his surrender). William Berger, as Will Shannon, shares wonderful scenes with Nero, during their father and son chats, and their joining forces signifies their characters' love for one another. Gabriella Giacobbe has a fascinating part as "the witch" someone who reappears at various points in the film when Keoma is confronted with difficult tasks. Donald O'Brien is scoundrel Caldwell, a real dirtbag who uses his men to wield his power, with Orso Maria Guerrini, Antonio Marsina, and Joshua Sinclair as the Brothers Shannon. Castellari closes the film with the Brothers Shannon out to finally rid themselves of their lifelong nuisance, the gunfight juxtaposed with Karlatos' childbirth..it's kind of anti-climatic after all that preceded it, but we knew it would come down to this.

By (1976) when "Keoma" appeared on the scene, the "spaghetti western" had clearly become an exhausted genre. "Keoma" adds absolutely nothing new or unique. It is simply a failed attempt at style covering up zero substance, and little more than a patchwork of worn out clichés. The slow motion killings are derivative and redundant. There is minimal character development. The musical score is a wailing mess. Already in it's death throws, "Keoma" definitely nails the "spaghtetti western" coffin shut. If you want to see a very good non-Sergio Leone western, "The Big Gundown" would be an excellent choice. Just be sure to avoid "Keoma", because it offers nothing new, is not entertaining, and clearly is the end of the "spaghetti western" line. - MERK