Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Matalo! 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.

We can evidently credit the inimitable Pauline Kael with coining the term "acid western", at least if some online aggregators are to be believed. In mentioning this subgenre, many fans will almost automatically default to El Topo, the very film Kael was writing about when she came up with that descriptor, but as some of the supplements on this disc get into, there are whole hosts of at least tangentially related films, including the patently lunatic Zachariah which rarely if ever gets mentioned in lists of such outings, a deficit that is shared by Matalo! (Kill Him).

Bart (Corrado Pani) is introduced at the end of a noose as the film opens, but at least the gallows trap door hasn't swung down yet, and a somewhat derivatively staged escape ensues, but then the film launches into just the first of several kind of odd twists and turns. Suffice it to say that no good deed goes unpunished, if one accepts Bart's rescue as a good deed, something that, considering what Bart gets up to, is a questionable proposition. After some interstitial carnage and a stagecoach robbery, the film then gets truly gonzo as Bart and his crew end up in a ghost town where their attempts at further villainy are met with some unexpected pushback.

Matalo! (Kill Him) is intentionally trippy, though in a way rather unlike some of the other so-called "acid westerns". One of the film's most distinctive elements is its bombastic score by Mario Migliardi, which suffuses the film with some potent energy.

Matalo! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Matalo! (Kill Him) is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. 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.

A glut of outdoor location footage help to elevate the visual allure of this often striking presentation. The palette is typically very nicely suffused, though eagle eyed videophiles may see some minor passing variances in densities. Fine detail is typically excellent, helped by the genre staple of extreme close-ups. While occasionally pretty gritty looking, especially against those brightly lit blue skies, grain resolves naturally, and even some of the dusty scenes don't encounter some of the compression hurdles seen in Vengeance Is Mine.

The Italian language version comes with the following disclaimer:

Unfortunately, despite an extensive search, Arrow Films was unable to locate elements for the Italian closing titles for Matalo! (Kill Him). As such, we have included the English titles in their place.

Matalo! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Matalo! (Kill Him) 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. There's some very minor break up in some of the high whistling score that opens the film, and you can hear similar anomalies at times in the decidedly hallucinogenic score in the upper registers in particular, but dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Matalo! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

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


• Commentary by Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson


• The Movie That Lived Twice (HD; 13:05) is a new introduction by journalist and critic Fabio Melelli, who discusses the kind of odd issue of this being a copy of another film called Kill the Wicked! Subtitled in English.


• A Milanese Story (HD; 44:42) is a new interview with filmmaker Davide Pulici, who reviews the career of his friend, director Cesare Canevari. Subtitled in English.


• Untold Icon (HD; 39:28) is an appreciation of Mario Migliardi's score by Lovely Jon.


• Italian Trailer (HD; 3:32)


• Image Gallery (HD)

Matalo! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

2001: A Space Odyssey may have famously been advertised as "the ultimate trip", but Matalo! (Kill Him) may be at least in the Top Ten of that particular idiom. Technical merits are generally solid, and as usual Arrow has aggregated some appealing supplements. Recommended.