Keoma (1976)

"...a superior example of the Italian-made "spaghetti western".   Eccentric-Cinema.com
"...baroque film with strong, symbolic connotations...  Fred Thom, Plume-Noire.com
"A real western masterpiece.  Western All Italiana

Editor's Note Franco Nero (DJANGO) stars as the title character in this unjustly forgotten spaghetti western from Italian auteur Enzo G. Castellari. Keoma, a half white, half Indian gunfighter, returns to his hometown only to find it overrun by a plague affecting much of the town. Unfortunately, the man running the town, Caldwell, will not let anyone out or any medical supplies in. After saving a beautiful woman (Karlatos) thought to be afflicted, Keoma sets about eradicating Caldwell and his men from his town. Stylish and brutal, director Castellari combines the conventions of the spaghetti western with the slow motion shootouts of Peckinpah, resulting in a wholly unique and entertaining movie.

	Donald O'Brien
	Franco Nero
	William Berger
	Woody Strode
	Aiace Parolin - Cinematographer
	Carlo Simi - Production Designer
	Enzo Castellari - Director
	Guido De Angelis - Original Music By
	Manolo Bolognini - Producer
	Nico Ducci - Writer

Euro Films 9 of 10
Keoma is a must see for any Spaghetti Western or Italian cult movies fan. Brilliantly directed by the always capable Enzo G. Castellari and starring Franco Nero, giving one of his best performances as Keoma - an indian halfbreed who finds he's not so welcome upon returning to his troubled border hometown. The film is very stylishly directed by Castellari, who throws in lots of his trademark slow-motion violence (a la Peckinpah), rapid cutting and clever flashback/flashforward scenes. The direction, the many filmic references, the music, the photography, Nero and the nice supporting performances by most prominently Olga Karlatos, William Berger and Woody Strode are all but a few ingredients that add up to making Keoma a memorable experience. Strongly recomended stuff.

TheSpinningImage.com 8 of 10
By 1976 very few people cared about the Spaghetti Western, killed off by endless comedy pairings of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, and endless re-runs of "man with no name"/Django thematics. But it was in the dying days of this great period in Italian film-making that turned up two classics of the genre, Lucio Fulci's bleakly gothic Four of the Apocalypse and Enzo Castellari's awesome Keoma...Keoma manages to combine furious action, Shakespearean tragedy (an omnipresent witch, a King Lear-esque father figure), and elements off morality play in equal measure to create a stylish, exciting film that is a fitting swan song for the golden age of Euro-westerns. - Ben Howard