$10,000 Blood Money Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

$10,000 Blood Money Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 13, 2023

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Arrow's Blood Money: Four Classic Westerns set.

The term "Spaghetti Western" and the name of Sergio Leone are probably going to be forever linked in many film fans' minds, but as a number of labels and perhaps especially Arrow continue to prove, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery as they say, and in this particular instance there were seemingly hordes of filmmakers out to "flatter" Leone with their own take on this often rather provocative (sub?)genre. Blood Money aggregates a quartet of rather interesting films, all according to some descriptive verbiage on the slipbox included with this set "centered around the theme" of the title of the collection. Each of the four offers interesting introductions by Italian journalist and critic Fabio Melelli, and he points out both some connections between some of the films, as well as some perhaps unexpected tethers to Hollywood in some cases as well. The films' production dates range from 1967 to 1970 and offer an admittedly somewhat formulaic approach to both plot and character, all within the general confines already proscribed by Leone, but each of the films has some interesting elements either intrinsically or again in some cases with a certain "meta" aspect. As usual with these Arrow collections, technical merits tend to be solid and the supplemental content is outstanding.

Arrow released The Complete Sartana several years ago, and my introductory comments in the reviews of that set point out the almost hilarious arrival of various named characters who seemed to be following in the Man With No Name's footsteps, and then in my Django Blu-ray review of another Arrow release, I kind of jokingly asked when a Django film was not "really" a Django film. Perhaps adding yet another layer of punchlines to this already comedic situation, 10,000 for a Massacre (the more literal translation of the film's original Italian title) is actually "a Django film" despite its title(s), in that it offers more or less the same character as in the above linked enterprise starring Franco Nero, albeit this time being played by Gianni Garko, billed under his Anglicized pseudonym Gary Hudson.

This particular Django may not have a coffin when he's first introduced, but he at least has the good sense to have a corpse, and the film quickly announces he's become a rather successful bounty hunter, with the lifeless man next to him his latest "reward". A rather weird, almost operatic, moment very early in the story as Django has finally hitched an actual honest to goodness coffin to his saddle (carrying the remains of that aforementioned dead bad guy) introduces the main antagonist of the story, a psychopath named Manuel Vasquez (Claudio Camaso). While the main thrust of the tale is of course Django bringing Vasquez to justice and/or reward status, there are some rather interesting "shades of gray" thrown in when Django isn't loathe to let Vasquez continue his crime spree since that will make the ultimate reward all the more attractive.

Things are arguably even more operatic with regard to a doomed love affair between Django and Mijanou (Loredana Nusciak from the first Django film), which according to some of the supplements on this disc provides the character of Django with his one and only on screen tear when things go horribly, horribly awry courtesy of Vasquez (of course). Garko is charismatic and suitably laconic as Django, but the film may unavoidably belong to Camaso, who reminded me of the Spaghetti Western version of gonzo characters played by the likes of Tomas Milian.

$10,000 Blood Money Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

$10,000 Blood Money is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's insert booklet included with the Blood Money set lumps all of the films in the set together on its page devoted to the restorations:

$10,000 Blood Money is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with Italian and English mono sound.

Vengeance is Mine is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with Italian and English mono sound.

Find a Place to Die is presented in its original aspect of 1.85:1 with Italian and English mono sound.

The original 35mm negatives were scanned in 2K resolution at Cinema Communications, Rome. The films were graded and restored in 2K resolution at Dragon DI, Wales.

Sound mastering was completed by Lowe Frequency Limited, London and Bad Princess Productions, London.

Matalo! (Kill Him) is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with Italian and English mono sound.

The original 35mm negative was scanned and restored in 2K resolution at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. The film was colour graded at R3Store Studios London.

Sound remastering was completed at L'Immagine Ritrovata and Lowe Frequency Productions, London.

Audio synch will appear loose against the picture, as the dialogue was recorded entirely in post productions, as pwer the production standards of the period.

All original materials for 10,000 Blood Money, Vengeance is Mine and Find a Place to Die were supplied by Variety Distribution.

All original materials supplied for the restoration of Matalo! (Kill Him) were made available by Intramovies and Mediaset.

$10,000 Blood Money pops quite effectively in this transfer, though at times it seems like the element may have faded just slightly, as there's a bit of a brown pallor at times. That tendency regresses in some of the more brightly lit outdoor scenes, which offer really nicely vivid blue skies, if occasionally a noticeably thicker grain field. Detail levels are typically very good to excellent throughout the presentation, and any age related wear and tear is relegated to minor issues like passing nicks and blemishes. My score is 3.75.

$10,000 Blood Money Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

$10,000 Blood Money features Italian and English language versions in LPCM Mono. Audio is not able to be toggled between the versions, and as such a "side by side" comparison wasn't accessible, but to my ears other than the language differences, the mixes sounded pretty much identical. As with some of the other offerings in this set, there is some very minor distortion audible in the score, where initial wobble and slight roughness in the midrange in particular can be discerned. Dialogue in both versions is presented cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.

$10,000 Blood Money Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Italian Version and English Version options are accessible under the Choose Version Menu.


• Commentary by Lee Broughton


• A Shaman in the West (HD; 10:05) is a new introduction by journalist and critic Fabio Melelli. He gets into the connections between this film and Django, as well as the backgrounds of some of the cast and crew. Subtitled in English.


• Tears of Django (HD; 21:58) is a newly edited version of archival interviews with director Romolo Guerrieri and actor Gianni Garko. Subtitled in English.


• The Producer Who Didn't Like Western Movies (HD; 14:18) is a new interview with Mino Loy. Subtitled in English.


• How the West Was Won (HD; 19:21) is a new interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi. Subtitled in English.


• Italian Trailer (HD; 3:26)


• Image Gallery (HD)

$10,000 Blood Money Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

$10,000 Blood Money is another exercise in cinematic "pulp fiction" from the prolific Ernesto Gastaldi, and if you've seen this story countless times before, you've never seen anything quite like the glowering Camaso. Technical merits are generally solid, and as usual Arrow has aggregated some very appealing supplements. Recommended.