Fasthand (1973) Poster

(1973)

User Reviews

Review this title
9 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
4/10
Spaghetti with Paella Western co-produced between Spain and Italy , filled with violence and shootouts
ma-cortes3 December 2013
Finished Civil War and after fighting in the North side , officer Jeff Donovan (Alan Steel or Sergio Ciani) returns home . A gang of former confederates led by Machedo (William Berger) and his hoodlums ( Frank Braña, Fernando Bilbao) lay siege to a Cavalry fort, killing everyone except for Jeff whom they torture mercilessly . Blinded by revenge, ex-Union captain Donovan and now dressed in black loses all confidence in the law and gradually becomes a deranged outlaw . Jeff doesn't hesitate to prosecute to hell Machedo , being only helped by an Union veteran (Francisco Sanz) and an Indian girl . He takes the path to a little town where resides Machedo and his band harassing them until a final fight .

It's an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the protagonists Alan Steel or Sergio Ciani and his enemy , William Berger and underlings , Frank Braña and Fernando Bilbao . There is plenty of action and crossfire in the movie , guaranteeing a shootout or stunt every few minutes along with a lot of violence , including killings in cold blood . This is a mediocre Spaghetti Western with some moment entertaining if you can avoid thinking too much . Director Mario Bianchi achieved in "Mi Chiamavano 'Requiescat'" or ¨Fast hand is still my name¨ possibly his best work of a modest career , with some memorable scenes and regular camera movement , such as the ending duel with surprise included and that makes only can say that this movie seems to be a passable story .

Sergio Ciani is the tough revenger and although he doesn't reaches the level of William Berger , as he is also quite restrained and a little wooden . He played assorted mythological demigods in cheaply-made but highly popular spectacles of the early 1960s, the actor also occasionally went by his birth name . Steel started off his beefcake run off as a body double for Reeves in both the "Hercules" and sequel ¨Hercules Unchained¨ and in The battle of Marathón (1959) or Giant of Marathon , in which he also had bit roles . Within a couple of years Steel was posing front-and-center in Sansone (1961) opposite another physique-minded American import, Brad Harris in the title role. On numerous occasions Steel was asked to play the legendary Greek hero, as well as the equally well-built demigods Samson and Ursus, even though the film titles often fused or confused them in their titles . Steel starred as Hercules in Hercules Against Rome, Hercules Against the Moon Men , Hercules and the Black Pirate, and Hercules and the Treasure of the Incas , the second movie mentioned being one of the only spectacles to actually incorporate science fiction into the genre . In contrast, his Hercules serves as a mere sidekick in the Zorro-like Hercules and the Masked Rider . He subsequently made Ursus, the Rebel Gladiator opposite Dan Vadis , The Fury of Hercules and Samson and the Mighty Challenge. In the late 1960s he and fellow movie Musclemen Kirk Morris and Gordon Mitchell served up "spaghetti western" genre . In 1976 Steel starred in and co-wrote a Robin Hood movie, and in 1979 ended his on-camera appearances with the Italian comedy Baby Love .

William Berger as a cruelly baddie role is terrific, former and subsequently he would play similar characters in various oaters . His performance is astonishing , above average to level of these films . Furthermore, appears usual secondary actors from Spaghetti/Chorizo Western as Spanish actors : Francisco Sanz , Fernando Bilbao , Frank Braña and Lorenzo Robledo as a hearse driver ; as Italian secondary players as Karin Well. Atmospheric scenario with barren outdoors, dirty landscapes under a glimmer sun and a fine sets with lousy cinematography by Emilio Foriscot , in Eastmancolor with negative badly processed , being necessary a right remastering . Being filmed on location in Colmenar Viejo, Hoyo De Manzanares, Madrid, and Seseña, Toledo, Spain . Anti-climatic musical score by Gianni Ferrio , adding modern jazzy music along with inappropriate songs . Quentin Tarantino would take Spaghetti scores composed by Gianni Ferrio for his Inglorious bastards .

The motion picture was written and produced by Eduardo Manzanos Brochero who started producing ¨Il Coyote¨ and ¨The Jiusticia De Coyote¨ by Joaquin Romero Marchent with Abel Salazar and Gloria Marin . After that , he produced with his company Copercines ¨Vengeance of Zorro¨ and ¨L'Ombra Di Zorro¨ (1962) by Joaquin Marchent with Frank Latimore . Eduardo Manzanos built a Western little town in Hoyo De Manzanares (Madrid) with sets by Jaime Perez Cubero and Jose Luis Galicia , today sadly disappeared just like is well shown in ¨Fast hand¨ in which the village appears old and almost scrawny ; the village was called ¨Golden City¨ where filmed several Western as the classic ¨Fistful of dollars¨ and ¨For a fistful of dollars more¨ ; furthermore there was shot : ¨Welcome Padre Murray¨ , ¨Brandy¨ , various Zorros and this one . Manzanos Brochero produced various films for Marchent brothers as Joaquin Romero Marchent : ¨Cabalgando Hacia Muerte¨ , ¨Three good men¨; and Rafael Marchent : ¨Quien Grita vengeance¨, ¨Two crosses in Danger Pass¨ ; and for Italian directors as ¨Sabor Odio¨ by Umberto Lenzi¨ , ¨Winchester 1 between 1000¨ by Primo Zeglio , ¨At the end of the rainbow¨ by Aldo Florio and ¨Taste for vengeance¨ or "Cowards Don't Pray" . ¨Fast Hand¨ was middlingly realized by Mario Bianchi OR Frank Bronston , son of director Roberto B. Montero . Mario Bianchi realized all kind of genres as Terror , Softcore , Hardcore and Spaghetti Western such as ¨Più forte Sorelle¨ , "Kill the Poker Player" , ¨The Masked Thief" and this ¨Fast hand¨ , most of them written and produced by Eduardo Manzanos Brochero.
10 out of 11 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
If Pain Is Your Thing ...
Steve_Nyland9 April 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Mean spirited, grim, unremittingly violent later period spaghetti western from Mario Bianchi, best known for his horror/porn hybrid films from the 1980s. This is probably the most brutal and sadistic Italian western I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of them. Your typical SW almost always has an elaborate torture sequence in it's formula where the bad guys string up or strap down the hero, humiliate the guy and make him suffer, usually just for the hell of it. The archetypal torture scene is still the delightful interlude in FISTFUL OF DOLLARS where the greasy pistolero gang relentlessly beat & maim Clint Eastwood while the crazy guy giggles with glee. The point of the torture scene is to prove how tough the hero is as he walks it off, learns how to use his gun hand again even with his fingers crushed (see DJANGO), and kills them all. Tony Anthony made it into an art form, but the point is that the torture sequence is typically just one scene amidst an adventure. It's usually over at some point.

FAST HAND IS STILL MY NAME, by contrast to almost every other spaghetti western I have seen, plays out as one extended torture sequence, with a final shootout tacked on for good measure. Former Hercules star Alan Steele -- unable to project emotion under an absurd looking mass of facial hair -- is cast as a Union soldier who runs afoul of insane William Berger and his band of drooling Confederate hicks, and they basically spend the entire film taking turns beating the living crap out of him. Between beatings, they murder innocent homesteaders, rape Injun women, terrorize children, set things on fire, and at one point even rip one of those DO NOT REMOVE UNDER PENALTY OF LAW tags from a mattress before being sold. They are not nice people, and for whatever reason Alan Steele's character pursues them across the frontier, determined to repeatedly give them another chance to beat the road tar out of him one more time. They oblige him.

While priding myself for having a pretty strong stomach for movie violence, even I started to feel a bit sickened by how much suffering is packed into this movie. Which may have been the point -- as another commenter here points out, by 1972 spaghetti westerns were pretty much either "Trinity" inspired comedies or drawn out, languid studies on violence. This one's a torture show by comparison. Sure, there's some gunplay and intrigue about a gold robbery, but after watching seven guys gob all over Alan Steele and his mutton chop beard & then cripple his gun hand I was sort of wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into. There's an interesting photographic atmosphere to the film that wallows in cheapness and sleaze, William Berger goes crazier than you've ever seen him go before, and it's always fun to see the giant Ferdinando Bilbao getting some decent screen time.

I also didn't have a problem with the "modern" jazz/rock musical score which is delightfully out of place, especially given the content of the film. Worked just fine by juxtaposing against the brutality, making it seem even more perverse, ala CLOCKWORK ORANGE. The bit with the shooting of the gun hand, the face concealing mask of a beard, and the emotionless, mechanical way that Alan Steele seeks & dishes out his vengeance may have suggested Peter Weller's fate in ROBOCOP ... which makes sense, given that film's use of a TV western quick draw as a recurring motif. Inspiration can come from the damndest places. And the payoff climactic revenge killing sequence where Steele springs his trap on the gang is a worthy release for all of the film's built up tension.

But this was the paranoid 70s and the film is so paranoid and unrelentingly grim that the hero doesn't even take the foxy Injun girl away with him at the end as he rides out of the very familiar looking, and by 1972 very decrepit, dilapidated spaghetti western movie set town. It had indeed seen better days, I think Richard Harrison and Giacomo Rossi-Stuart had their final showdown in front of the same big hotel back in 1963 at the end of GUNFIGHT AT RED SANDS. Which may have been just as violent, amoral, and brutal as FASTHAND, but was ten times more fun. Here is a spaghetti western for fans who aren't necessarily looking for a good time, which I suspect may have been exactly what Mario Bianchi was getting at. How many times can you watch Bud Spencer get hit in the face with a pie before you decide it's time for something else?

5/10; The original Italian title translates out to "They Told Him To Rest In Peace ... But They Were Mistaken". Just in case you were wondering.
4 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
Fasthand is one of the most brutal violent Spaghetti Western films, I have ever saw. Still, the movie is too fast & messy in production value!
ironhorse_iv18 July 2014
Warning: Spoilers
The movie is widely regarded as one of among the most violent Spaghetti Westerns of all time, and the movie directed by Mario Biachi under the pseudonym name of Frank Broston, does live up to its reputation with scenes of torture of branding irons, bloody gun fights, and clever deaths scenes. It was nice for once to see a movie, not fill with one-shot bloodless kills. Still there were some hilarious over the top action that were bothersome, like the weird sound effects for the axe fight and the dummy getting run over scene. For the most part, Fasthand is still my name has an alright plot. While, the plot isn't anything new, as it seem to be recycle from the same tiresome revenge plot, where the protagonist fought in the Civil War, only to get betrayed or left for death by a group of outlaws. Years later, he returns to that group of outlaws, to seek revenge on them by killing all of them or making their lives a living hell. Yeah, this is that plot. A plot that been done, time after time before and after this movie. This time, our protagonist is Captain Jeff Madison, or Mulligan or Morrison or Donovan depending on what version, you watched. He's played by Alan Steel AKA Sergio Ciani whom looks like the Brawny Towel Man logo, here. His large build, makes him looks like the hero that we should be rooting for in a Sword-and-sandal film than a western. It doesn't help that his 1970s moustache, makes him look more like a 1970s porn star. It doesn't help his manly image when he always being taken prisoner by the villains, than fighting it out. You'd think with such a bulky guy, the movie wouldn't make him such a wimp. His line delivering is pretty damn wooden. William Berger plays Madison's arch-enemy, the sadistic and violent Machedo. His performance is a bit over the top, but stand outs. I like that he can't stand, killing people that's looking at him. You always see him, trying to cover his victim's faces with blankets or clothing. I like how they say Machedo kill a lot of people in the film, but he only kill a few person. While Madison, the hero killed a lot more. Honestly, I don't even see Madison as the hero, anyways. The supporting cast is alright for the most part. I like the Frank Brana as Quincy. There is a great fight scene with him, and Madison. I love the old Union veteran Smart (Francisco Sanz) that helps Madison on his way. Great gun fight, worth seeing with him in the film. I really can't buy the actress that played the Native-American in the film that helps Madison. She's has to be one of the whitest Native-Americans, I ever saw. Her character really comes out of nowhere. The limited locations, they used was alright. You really see the decay of old Westerns sets, that hasn't been used in years. It got down and dirty. It set the mood of the film and one thing that help the film. I couldn't say, the camera motion was great, because the way the film was shot, sucks. It felt like every scene in the movie was filmed during an earthquake. The shaking camera makes this movie, nearly unwatchable. I hate how the film would jump zoom and out, and then get stuck. I hate how the night scenes are too dark that you can barely see anything. The Fight scene in the sun with the bad lighting is another blunder. It's so blinding. I didn't like the gold flashback scenes. It made the hero look like he's having a wet dream, than a nightmare. The opening credit, could need a better opening if it was pace right. It would be great to see, the opening credit after all the opening massacre, rather than before it. It was make more sense with the blood-tone coloring. I hate the pacing. Indeed, the civil war part in the beginning went a little too long. 20 minutes, it took for the revenge plot to kick in. I hate the sex scene. It was shot so awkwardly, as if the camera was in the way, of the couple making love. It was amateurish as hell. I really didn't like how the movie had this newsreel narration by a voice actor that's sounds like something out of a National Geographic documentary. It really wasn't needed. Show, don't tell. The music is pretty weird as well. Gianni Ferrio had this inappropriately jazzy lodge score that didn't fit the film. I did like the 'That Man' Theme song by Ann Collin. Still, it did sounds like something out of a James Bond movie than a western. It was also hard to hear. I thought many times, that they were saying 'Batman" like 1960s Batman. Due to the movie having international releases, and multi-copies. Finding this movie might be a challenge. The movie falls under a lot of names. Fast Hand Is Still My Name is the most famous one, but the film goes under They Told Him To Rest In Peace ... But They Were Mistaken, Sing me the song of Vengeance and etc. etc. Overall: The 85 minute was made probably way too fast. If it took its time, being made. Maybe, this time would had been better, but as of right now. It's pretty bad.
4 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
Scraping the bottom of the barrel
unbrokenmetal14 November 2007
Towards the end of the Italian western wave, ca. 1972-74, the movies tried either to be comedies or particularly violent. "Mi chiamavano Requiescat, ma avevano sbagliato" is an example for the latter, including bloody killings (for example with a fork through the throat) and torture with a branding iron. Madison (Alan Steel of 'Hercules' fame) has his right hand crippled by the bandit Machedo (William Berger). Madison decides to become an avenger, so he buys a black coat, black boots, a black hat and a black horse for the right look. For two years, he follows Machedo's gang, waiting the perfect time to strike. This opportunity comes when he can hide gold from a bank robbery. Madison knows this will attract Machedo, but the most interesting question of the movie is: how can he shoot him, because he can't use his right hand?

Alan Steel remains expressionless, while Berger is overacting. Not much to be seen of a director's style (Bianchi continued his career directing adult movies!) and the music is somewhat too modern for a western. The buildings of the western town have seen better times and are almost falling to pieces. A very, very cheap production scraping the bottom of the barrel. Worth a look for fans of William Berger, maybe, as he plays a really mean villain.
3 out of 4 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
Great transfer to DVD
alwatts27 February 2017
Firearms used during the filming of this movie are of the highest end of the scale the villen manages to fire 21 shots from his six gun at the conclusion of the film the Cavalry are so ahead of their time that they have winchsters when only single shot carbines were available, having said that this is a brutal violent western with lots of blood,sweat and glaring at each other it is hansomely filmed even the Eastman Cloour is exceptable in fact if you like Spaghetti westerns with some grunt this ones for you Alan Steel has a change of outfits trading in his Pirate outfits and Togas for the blue of the Union army. Don't pass this one up enjoy Al Watts
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
a very good Euro-western
spider8911918 September 2005
This movie was made in 1972, but seems more like it came from the mid to late 60's when spaghetti westerns generally had a more serious tone.

It is a typical but very good revenge tale about an ex-union officer whose hand was crippled by an ex-confederate who leads a band of guerrillas who continue to terrorize people after the war is over. It's fun to watch as the now clad-in-black hero seems to come back from the dead, and hunts down and kills his enemies one by one.

Sergio Ciani plays the protagonist in a performance that is horrible even by spaghetti western standards. In all fairness though, there may be another person dubbing his voice who can be blamed in whole or in part for the wooden performance. I don't know, but it's pretty bad. Fortunately, William Berger makes up for it. He is excellent in the role of Machedo, the leader of the confederate gang. This is definitely Berger's movie. It's probably the best performance I've seen from him.

The music score by Ferrio is also very good.

If you are into Euro-westerns, this ones worth checking out.
9 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Nice surprise
haskel-7295120 April 2023
I found this movie on YouTube of all places. I had never heard of it, and usually when the genre is spaghetti westerns that's a poor start but not this time. The spaghetti westerns of the 70s were a totally different affair than those of the 60s. Usually the films followed one of two paths: silly comedies such as the Trinity movie with Terence Hill and Bud Spencer or ultra violent, like Cutthroats Nine. This is closer to the latter category but honestly feels more like a late 60s effort from Corbucci or Garrone with a little more violence. The cast - especially the always dependable William Berger - is up to snuff and the overall production is above average. This is a lost/forgotten gem of a spaghetti western that deserves to be seen.
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
BRUTAL VIOLENT WESTERN WITH ALAN STEEL
larryanderson12 July 2022
Alan Steel, a former Hercules star (HERCULES AGAINST THE MOONMEN), excels in this violent tale of revenge. Robbers rob a bank and then Alan Steel grabs their gold and arranges for them to find him so he can kill them. Previously the gang had tortured Alan, so he now has a "just" cause to go after them. Unfortunately. He gets captured several times which is kinda dumb. There are 2 versions on Y/T but both are missing several key scenes such as Torture and toplessness. I have posted a short clip on Y/T with those missing scenes so you can see the complete movie. Larry Anderson.
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
6/10
A well-cast story of gritty revenge
Leofwine_draca15 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
FAST HAND IS STILL MY NAME is a suitably gritty spaghetti western starring a former peplum star in the title role. Said actor is none other than Alan Steel, here scrawnier and more aged, but still cutting a dash as a tortured soldier who is attacked and forced to witness a massacre perpetrated by a gang of cut-throats. The story subsequently follows a revenge narrative as Steel heads on a path of violent justice to bring those responsible to book. Mario Bianchi's story is sufficiently bloody and shocking to work; it's not one of the most memorable spaghetti westerns in existence, but it does the job ably enough. The excellent supporting cast includes genre regulars Frank Brana and William Berger as members of the aforementioned bandit gang
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed