Good Western, Bad Music Theme
This movie is cool. It's got what Spaghetti westerns are made of, but the horrible music track of that woman screaming throughout the movie took me off track every time. It sounded like a howling banshee. The quality of the widescreen DVD has been cleaned great, and all else is good.

Keoma kicks a**
I love this movie. The atmosphere is great. The action scenes are fantastic. I even love the music! Especially when Keoma's father meets his end. Olga Karlatos is great as always. I highly recommend this film to everyone who likes Spaghetti Westerns or just good films. If you don't own it, get it!!!

Another spaghetti western winner
Spaghetti westerns are, in my opinion, generally the best fictional films about the American West. You can argue that John Wayne made a bunch of great movies about life in the Old West, and you would be right to say so, but for some reason the Italians captured perfectly the specific elements of the era that made their movies seem more realistic. The frontier was a dirty, violent place full of unsavory types trying to get rich quick. Italian westerns capture this mood expertly whereas American films portray characters whose outfits look like they just came back from the dry cleaners. Hollywood films also tend to apply a black and white dichotomy onto their characters, the old "good guys wear white, bad guys wear black" philosophy that obscures the reality of the time and place. Not so in Italian films, where even the good guys often have distinctly unsavory traits. It's too bad spaghetti westerns went the way of the dinosaurs a few decades back; I never tire of watching these films even though I am not an expert on the genre. "Keoma," part of the larger Anchor Bay "Once Upon a Time in Italy" spaghetti western box set, serves as an excellent example of how powerful the genre once was.

Surprisingly, I discovered none other than director Enzo G. Castellari lensed this epic western, and actually made it when the spaghetti western genre was essentially dead on its feet. Castellari's name should ring a few bells with fans of low budget Italian schlock; he's the guy who made "1990: The Bronx Warriors" and "Escape From the Bronx," two science fiction films of such mediocre standards that anyone who appreciates such things should immediately check them out. With "Keoma," Castellari proves he's much better than most of his output. The story stars the ever reliable Franco Nero as Keoma, a brooding, mixed blood loner returning home from the Civil War to find his family and his town suffering under the throes of a plague and a gang of thugs. The cast of characters in this picture is a veritable who's who of low budget Italian movies. You've got Olga Karlatos, sans a splinter to the eye, playing a woman infected with the plague. Donald O'Brien turns up in the role of gang leader Caldwell. Then there's Woody Strode as George, a one time slave owned by Keoma's father who now ambles about town drinking himself into a stupor and plucking a broken down banjo. William Berger turns in a competent performance as William Shannon, Keoma's father as well as the father of the loner's three half brothers. How can you go wrong with such a cast?

Keoma has several problems. First, he can't stand to sit idly by as thugs prey on the townspeople. His concern in this area leads him to rescue Karlatos's character from the clutches of several gang members, something he must do occasionally throughout the film as none of the citizens in town want this infected woman living in their midst. Second, his three brothers--Lenny (Antonio Marsina), Cham (Joshua Sinclair), and Butch (Orso Maria Guerrini)--carry a huge grudge against their half brother. They always have, too, as we learn from flashbacks to Keoma's childhood appearing throughout the film. Third, Keoma must continually confront members of Caldwell's gang, no easy feat considering the sheer numbers of ex-Confederate soldiers now working for this brutal goon. You just know from the start that these three elements will eventually culminate in a frenetic, no holds barred shoot out with a high body count. Thankfully, Keoma possesses the necessary skills--a quick draw, piercing gaze, and flashing fists--to get the job done.

"Keoma" is a spaghetti western unlike "A Bullet for the General" or "Companeros," two of the other films in the box set, because Castellari refused to instill a strident political message in the story. In fact, if the biography of the director included in the extras section on the disc is any indication, Nero and Castellari made up the dialogue and scenes as they went along since the two men disliked the initial script. "Keoma" is more along the lines of a Leone/Eastwood epic in that the hero rides into town, purges the necessary evils, and then moves on at the end. It's a lesson in good versus evil, folks, and it's a very good exposition on that age-old cinematic dichotomy. Two other elements help "Keoma" shine in my eyes. First, the music score is unique to say the least. Imagine twangy, Leonard Cohenesque narrative songs praising the virtues and activities of the main hero as the action unfolds, and you'll have some idea of what the film sounds like. Or maybe not. You really need to hear the songs yourself in order to fathom the experience. Second, and most important, Castellari relies heavily on stylish, slow motion violence typical of Sam Peckinpah countless times throughout the movie. We see guys flying through the air full of buckshot, falling off of horses after catching a bullet, and splashing into water frequently. It's great fun.

Anchor Bay deserves our kudos for once again doing a great job on a spaghetti western. The widescreen transfer looks good (although not as good as "Companeros" or "A Bullet for the General"). Extras on the disc include a lengthy trailer, bios for Franco Nero and Castellari, and a ten-minute interview with Nero about the production of the film. Even more surprising is the inclusion of a commentary track with Enzo Castellari himself. The director promises to make another western in the future toward the end of the commentary track, but time will tell. I'd sure like to see a resurgence of the spaghetti western genre. Until then, I'll content myself with films such as "Keoma."

God Please Stop That Caterwauling!
I recently picked up Keoma as part of Anchor Bay's cool "Once Upon a Time In Italy" collection. This handy box-set also included "Texas Adios", "A Bullet For The General", "Companeros", and "Four Of The Apocalypse". After reading some pretty glowing reviews for Keoma, I had high hopes and expected it to be the best if not one of the better films included. Boy was I wrong!

While the film itself was fairly interesting and included some nice touches (especially an unexpected appearance by character actor "Woody Strode" - and some cleverly shot flashback sequences), it had an "overdone" quality to it. They were trying too hard for a "masterpiece". Mainly, this movie was plagued with the worst score I've ever had the misfortune to hear! The music itself wasn't the problem. What was however, were the annoying-as-hell female and male vocalists used to narrate the action throughout the movie. God they were AWFUL!!! They wouldn't shut up!

In the future, I plan to re-watch Keoma with the sound muted. That's the only way I feel I could sit through it again! Who knows? Maybe I'll enjoy it! I really wanted to like this movie.

I wouldn't normally recommend a movie that I gave a 2 of 5 star rating for, but If you can rent this one, you need to hear the score just for laughs.

You have to survive
Being a veteran of very few spaghetti westerns (I was on National Guard Duty at the time, so to speak), I wasn't sure what to expect from this one. I've seen KEOMA listed on a couple of top-100 westerns and decided to give it a go.
It's opening, atmospheric and a little over-the-top, fulfilled my expectations. A bearded, unidentified man (Keoma - Franco Nero) slowly rides into a desolate landscape. It looks like a town that has cantered over onto its side. The winds blow and small fires burn here and there. An old crone (The Witch - Gabriella Giacobbe) confronts Keoma, it turns out, is no stranger here. "I changed destiny," the Witch says, "when I decided that you alone would survive that useless massacre."
"Aren't you tired of killing?" The Witch asks the first of many questions thrown at Keoma throughout the movie. Keoma, thick bearded with hair down to the bare chest under his white duster, doesn't answer. His eyes flash, he gallops off a short way, turns and yells back to her: "You have to survive."
Keoma is back home from "the war" (the American Civil War, I think) and home has changed drastically. A plague has hit town and those who aren't dead are carted off to a internment center by the evil mine-owner Caldwell (who doesn't allow anyone to leave town to get food or medicine.) Keoma intercepts a cart loaded with plague-infected victims and rescues a pregnant woman, (the drop-dead gorgeous Olga Karlatos).
Keoma has to protect this woman and her unborn child, and defeat the evil Caldwell. It's a heavy task, but Keoma can throw a knife through the palm of a man drawing his gun from a half-mile off and shoot three men dead before any one of them has the chance to draw their gun from their holster. If he goes down, he'll bring a lot down with him.
Keoma will also have to deal with his three evil step-brothers; the massacre the Witch spoke of must have happened in an Indian village. Keoma is a half-breed, adopted and best beloved by his father and George (Woody Strode), and his half-brothers hate him for it.
KEOMA revels in its excesses and isn't to everybody's tastes. Dust is ALWAYS blowing through the broken down town unless a raging night thunderstorm rolls through. Keoma plays a savior of sorts and to show their appreciation the townfolk tie him down on a large wheel that is an obvious and heavy-handed reference to a crucifixion. When a bad guy is shot, he tumbles backward in a slow-motion shot that would make Sam Peckinpah blush. You'll either love or hate the soundtrack (I hated it. Hated it, hated it, hated it.)
This one wouldn't make my top 100 list, but it wouldn't make a worst-of list, either.