Written by: F.X. Maier
Directed by: Jack Hill
Switchblade Sisters is a film that is much better than it should be. On the surface, it’s just one in a long line of exploitation-era films about a gang of street-smart ladies. But it has far more heart and far more substance than a lot of the output of its era. And much of the credit for that goes to director Jack Hill (
Foxy Brown). Hill is well known for his contributions to the exploitation genre. But what makes his work stand out from the pack is the likability of the characters in his films.
I have quite a few spaghetti westerns on my shelf for those occasions when I feel like watching something in that specific groove. I popped in the Arrow Blu-ray of 1972’s The Grand Duel, and was surprised by how awesome it is! It shouldn’t have been a surprise, since it had my favorite actor in the subgenre, Lee Van Cleef, and was directed by Giancarlo Santi, a former assistant director of Sergio Leone. This one follows an ex-Sheriff (Van Cleef) tracking down an energetic young outlaw named Philip Wermeer (Alberto Dentice, a dead-ringer for Peter Fonda), although it may not be to kill him and collect the bounty. There’s a great he catches him/he escapes back-and-forth that goes on until the final confrontation with the true baddies. If you love