Sunday 29 April 2007

Testa t'ammazzo, croce... sei morto... Mi chiamano Alleluja / They Call Me Hallelujah

Yes, it's yet another spaghetti western, Guiliano Carnimeo / Anthony Ascott's Testa t'ammazzo, croce... sei morto... Mi chiamano Alleluja / They Call Me Hallelujah. Made in 1971, it stars giallo stalwart George Hilton and can be pretty much summed up as a combination of most of the post-Leone trends in the genre: knockabout comedy a la Trinity; James Bond style gadgets a la Sabata, and a Mexican revolution setting out of Run Man Run, Compañeros and so on.

As a result, it's enjoyable but lightweight; a description, oddly enough, that also seems fairly appropriate to Ascott's giallo venture of the following year, The Case of the Bloody Iris, for better or worse.

There's also a very giallo-esque moment in Hallelujah that sees our titular anti-hero sneak in on one of the bad guys as his wife is shaving his beard. He gives her a chloroform soaked cloth, takes the razor, and puts it to the malefic's throat.




Not a giallo, despite the black gloves and arm and straight razor; then again in a giallo would the killer give a warning?


Ascott uses the kaleidoscope lens in Case of the Bloody Iris's psychedelic cult / orgy sequences as well

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