Weekly Witch Hunt: K.Flay 'Blood in the Cut' & Seven Guns For Timothy

We decide what artistic endeavour passed approval to earn the Scorcher label from the past seven days & what also had the dishonour of being that week's Torture...

I was going to put Green Room for this week's Scorcher but I have had two films already take out that mantle; so I thought I would go for a musical number instead.  But I do highly recommend seeing Green Room; it is a terrific thriller with some top notch performances.  While it does hint at following some movie conventions; instead it does manage to throw in a surprise or two which is always welcome.

The Scorcher

I have had Blood in the Cut by K.Flay stuck in my head since I first heard it.  It isn't particularly ground-breaking; in fact it follows a very simple formula.  What it does do though, is follow that formula very well to create a very catchy tune.
You have the simple slow start to the song as the instruments introduce themselves.  Then it goes into the faster tempo of the chorus before bringing the tone down again for the next verse.  You then get the lift as the chorus comes back in; then just past the halfway point it enters into a clap &chant combination.  Finally it ends on another faster, louder rendition of the chorus to close out the tune.
It is the type of song that you get quite often but once it gets you going; you will find that you are humming it or singing along too.  I love discovering songs like this; ones that get me excited to hear what else the artist has in their repertoire.  I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that K.Flay already has one album to her name which I will no doubt be perusing very soon.
In the meantime I will just have to content myself with repeat listens of this awesome tune.

The Torture
 

With the release of the remake of The Magnificent Seven I decided to watch another version of the story; the 1966 spaghetti western Seven Guns For Timothy.  Italy and Spain had a reputation throughout most of the 60's and early 70's of remaking any hit western and adding their own spin on the story.
This is of course the Italian version of the Yul Brynner movie which was in turn a western version of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.  In typical spaghetti western tradition we get a much shoddier acted, staged, filmed and directed version.
I think it is safe to say that this film is terrible.  For starters there aren't even seven guns for Timothy when it comes to gathering the troops; there are six and that includes Timothy himself.  Plus one of the five recruits doesn't actually join the group until very late in proceedings.
A lot of what takes place is done with a nod and a wink to the audience and played very much for cheap laughs.  This is especially true when Timothy is being trained by the men who have come to his aid.  While this is not exactly a bad thing it does mean tonally the film goes all over the place.
There are also some very weird shots that last too long and then there are shots of quick edits from one person to another.  This direction also does nothing to give the film an even flow.  One particular scene has the character Slim show up at Timothy's residence on his horse.  He hitches his horse to the rail and runs inside the home.  Normally your view would switch to the interior to see the conversation that then takes place.  Not here, the director thought it would be far more entertaining to linger on the shot of the horse eating hay outside; while we can hear the dialogue between Slim and Timothy.  This scene goes for at least a minute of just a shot of a horse!
Timothy is played by Sean Flynn, the son of Errol Flynn.  He is passable in the role, a bit wooden, but he does look the part.  What was worth my time; was further investigating the tragic end to this young man's life.  His career as a photojournalist would make a pretty good movie of its own.
The ever reliable Fernando Sancho plays the villain of the piece, as he did in many spaghetti westerns.  I make no apologies for spoiling the end of the film here; but it isn't even Timothy who gets to be the hero of his own film when it comes to the final showdown.  That was a big letdown and just about sums up my whole feeling towards this poor remake.  Hunt out one of the better versions instead.