DVD Review: Outlaws & Con Men: 4 Movie Collection

Here's a little fact about me: I'm a big of fan of Italian spaghetti westerns, especially the Man with No Name Trilogy starting Clint Eastwood, as well as The Call Me Trinity and Trinity Is Still My Name starring Terence Hill and Bud Spencer.

Over the past month, I've been watching the Outlaws & Con Men: 4 Movie Collection ($9.98; 5 hours 46 minutes), which was recently released on DVD + Digital by Mill Creek Entertainment. There are no special features or bonus extras on the DVD. The digital code can only be redeemed and streamed on the Mill Creek Entertainment's website.

The movies on the one-disc set include:

Sting of the West (1974; PG; 92 minutes) - Directed by Enzo G. Castellari, the plot involves a young man named Tedeum (played by Giancarlo Prete) trying to sell the ownership of mine that he just inherited. A lot of things occur, and he eventually teams up with con man Buck Santini (played by Jack Palance) and two con ladies, Betty and Wendy (played by Mabel Karin and Francesca Romana Coluzzi), as they try to outrun the villainous Mr. Grant (played by Eduardo Fajardo). The film also goes by the title Tedeum.

Bad Man's River (1971; PG; 87 minutes) - Directed by Eugenio Martín, the film centers around Roy (played by Lee Van Cleef), a leader of a band of outlaws who get suckered into destroying an arsenal owned by the Mexican Army; only to be setup by his ex-wife (played by Gina Lollobrigida). Roy and his pals must plan an elaborate scheme to outsmart the Mexican Army and steal a million dollars. The film also goes by the title El hombre de Río Malo.

Django's Cut Price Corpses (1971; Not Rated; 84 minutes) - Directed by Luigi Batzella, the film stars Jeff Cameron as the bounty hunter Django, who heads into Mexico to rescue his fiance who has been kidnapped the Cortez brothers. The film also goes by the title A Pistol for Django.

Django Shoots First (1966; Not Rated; 82 minutes) - Directed by Alberto De Martino, the film centers around Django (a.k.a. Ringo, played by Glen Saxon), a bounty hunter who kills the bounty hunter who'd killed his father. Confused yet? Instead of burying his father, Django collects the bounty on his father's deceased body. After learning his father was framed by a former business partner, Django goes on a quest to avenge his father's death and clam his rightful inheritance. The film also goes the title He Who Shoots First!.

Final Thoughts

There's been over 30 unofficial sequels to original Django flick and Django's Cut Price Corpses happens to be one of the worse (if not the the worst!) of the ripoff sequels. It's poorly directed, acted, and edited. I mean you can clearly see a car in the background of one scene!!! However, I can't say the same thing about Django Shoots First, which is a pretty decent film.

Bad Man's River is a western-comedy that has almost disappeared from time itself as nobody really remembers it. The movie is actually the best out of the four films on this release. It's a hilarious, silly western.

Sting of the West is more in style with the slapstick humor of the "Trinity" films. There are several funny moments, but the film print used must have the cropped down version for television as there are many scenes where a character is talking and either half their face or body is cropped out of the scene. It's the only film on the DVD in 1.33.1 full frame. The rest are in 1.78.1 widescreen.

The video and sound quality are horrible for all 4 movies, which are crammed into one disc! You can clearly tell the film prints that were transferred to DVD were copies of copies.

Despite my dislike for Django's Cut Price Corpses, I would probably have given this release a 3 out of 5 rating, but due to the poor picture & sound qualities for all four films, I'm going to have to give the DVD a 1 out of 5 rating!