Vengeance (1968 film)

Vengeance
Vengeance
Directed by	Anthony Dawson
Written by	Antonio Margheriti
Produced by	Alfred Leone
Starring	Richard Harrison; Claudio Camaso
Cinematography	Riccardo Pallottini
Music by	Carlo Savina
Production; companies	Super International Pictures S.l.P.; Top-Film Produktionsgesellschaft mbH;
Release date	1968;
Running time	98 minutes
Countries	Italy; West Germany;

Vengeance (Italian: Joko - Invoca Dio... e muori, German: Fünf blutige Stricke) is a 1968 gothic horror^[3] Spaghetti Western film written and directed by Anthony Dawson. It starred Richard Harrison, Mariangela Giordano and Luciano Pigozzi.

Plot

Joko, Richie, Domingo and Mendoza hatch a plan to steal gold from bandits. Domingo, however, betrays them by revealing the attempted theft to the bandits. Joko, Ricky and Mendoza are thus discovered during the robbery: Mendoza dies while trying to cover the escape of his friends. Ricky escapes with the gold but is captured by 5 bandits and tortured in an attempt to be revealed where he was to meet with Joko.

When the bandits understand that Ricky won't speak, they dismember him by tying his limbs with ropes to horses. Joko thus begins his personal war to avenge his dead comrades and first kills Domingo, the traitor, and then sets off in search of the 5 bandits who killed Ricky: to each bandit, before killing him, Joko throws a piece of bloodied rope collected from those used to dismember Ricky. Joko, however, knows only 4 of the 5 bandits: the discovery of the identity of the last one will reserve him a bitter surprise. During the hunt for the assassins, Joko will also have to understand the role of a mysterious detective who follows him like a shadow in all his movements.

Cast

Richard Harrison as Jokko Barrat
Claudio Camaso as Mendoza
Špela Rozin as Jane (credited as Sheyla Rosin)
Guido Lollobrigida as (credited as Lee Burton)
Werner Pochath as Kid
Paolo Gozlino as Pinkerton Detective Lester (credited as Paul Lino)
Alberto Dell'Acqua as Richie
Ignazio Spalla as Laredo
Mariangela Giordano as Rosita
Goffredo Unger as Yuma
Luciano Pigozzi as Domingo

Release

Vengeance was released in 1968.^[1]

Reception

In a contemporary review, the Monthly Film Bulletin noted that Vengeance had a "strange and colourful Gothic flavour, marred only by a hero clearly turned out on the Italian assembly line of faceless Clint Eastwood substitutes."^[4] The review also noted an "engagingly baroque villain" while "The plot, admittedly, allows Margheriti to do little but dress up proceedings and make the action as taut as possible;" The review concluded that "Margheriti's visual panache and ingenuity lift Vengeance out of the Italian Western rut and lend it a flavour more commonly associated with Bava or Freda."^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b Grant 2011, p. 451.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Fünf blutige Stricke". Filmportal.de (in German). Retrieved 10 December 2019.
^ Ritzer, Ivo; Schulze, Peter W. (January 28, 2016). Genre Hybridisation Global Cinematic Flow. Schüren Verlag. p. 24. ISBN 9783741000416.
^ ^a ^b "Vengeance "(Joko, Invoca Dio... e Muori)"". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 40, no. 468. British Film Institute. 1973. p. 252.

Sources

Grant, Kevin (2011). Any Gun Can Play. Fab Press. ISBN 9781903254615.

External links

Vengeance at IMDb

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[FOOTNOTEGrant2011451-1] Grant 2011, p. 451.

[fp-2] "Fünf blutige Stricke". Filmportal.de (in German). Retrieved 10 December 2019.

[3] Ritzer, Ivo; Schulze, Peter W. (January 28, 2016). Genre Hybridisation Global Cinematic Flow. Schüren Verlag. p. 24. ISBN 9783741000416.

[mfb-4] "Vengeance "(Joko, Invoca Dio... e Muori)"". Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 40, no. 468. British Film Institute. 1973. p. 252.

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