Justicieros del infierno

Medium budget'd B-Western, starred by the all-american clean shaved Audie Murphy, one of the most condecorated combat soldiers of World War II which turned Hollywood star, mostly in Western films, with more than 40 credits in his resumé. Stoic, healthy, soft-spoken with a natural shyness, but projecting an on-screen likeability that earned him his loyal fanbase, Audie Murphy was (and still is) one of the most beloved American icons.

"Posse from Hell" directed by Herbert Coleman, making his debut in the director's chair after being an assistant director, and shot by Clifford Stine in the beautiful palette of Eastmancolor, is one of Audie's most underrated Westerns.

Written by Clair Huffaker, based on his own novel, tells the story of four fugitives from death row that rode to the pacific town of Paradise, and after killing the Town Marshal, they made hostage a beautiful girl and ran away with $11,200 from the Bank. Former gunfighter Banner Cole (Murphy) arrives to town the next day and makes a promise to the dying Marshal that will form a Posse and bring the four men to justice.

The story itself is nothing new to the genre and has been seen before in countless B-Westerns, but the way it was shot and paced, makes a joyful entertaining and exciting experience to the viewer. The movie looks good visually and the cinematography is above par, including nicely composed shots from Alabama Hills, Lone Pine and Olancha Dunes in California.

Audie Murphy plays himself effortlessly, with a good bunch of supporting players, including a young John Saxon; a sadly underused Vic Morrow as the leader of the fugitives pack; future Western icon, Lee Van Cleef; method actress Zohra Lampert and the character actors Robert Keith, Rodolfo Acosta, Frank Overton, Royal Dano and Ward Ramsey, among others.

"Posse from Hell" could have been more nastier (as the story suggests) and could have ended sooner, but with Audie aboard, he made sure that his moral valors and code of honor were there to the character's redemption, with the film ending in a positive note. Every Audie Murphy's is a happy end and that's what his fans want.

I give it a 7.5

Recommended !!

Here stars a lawman called Banner (Audie Murphy) , he is a deputy who goes after bad guys led by Crip (Vic Morrow) , four baddies escapees from death row , they shot his friend and kidnapped a local girl named Helen Caldwell (Zohra Lampert) and with rape in mind . But the posse of the coward inhabitants of the small town gradually abandon him . Only a tenderfoot banker clerk accompanies him at whatever risks .Two steel-nerved and two-fisted men take apart a gang of gun-mad killers who had looted the whole Southwest! Together They Team Up As An Avenging Posse From Hell! Only A Posse From Hell Could Stop The Gun-Mad Spawn Of The Devil!

This exciting Western packs thrills , hard-edged scenes , pursuits , spectacular shootouts , brief character studio and lots of gutsy action . Brawling , sprawling , almost primitive action in which our protagonist is forced to participate in a posse , teeming across the screen by means of gun-play , go-riding , attacks , and ambushes . The picture contains whirlwinds of frantic action , fights , sustained energy and often commendable results with a plot reminiscent of several classic Westerns .The film has a slickness and crude vigour , including impressive outdoors with rocky mountains stunningly photographed by cameraman Clifford Stine , being shot on location in Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, Olancha Dunes, Olancha, California, and Universal studios . Audie Murphy gives a nice acting in his usual style as Banner Cole , a tough sheriff's deputy who forms a small posse to go after some bandits .Murphy won more than 20 medals , being the most decorated American soldier , including the Congressional Medal of Honor and he was also awarded five decorations by France and Belgium . He starred a rendition on his own self-biography titled ¨To Hell and back¨ that was an acceptable picture based on actual events about Audie Murphy who played himself following his Army career in WWII , being professionally directed by Jesse Hibbs and it was a box-office hit for Universal Pictures and its record was apparently not broken until Jaws (1975) . Murphy starred a great number of Westerns as ¨The kid from Texas¨, ¨Cimarron Kid¨, ¨Gunpoint¨, ¨Night Passage¨, ¨The Gunrunners¨, ¨Posse from Hell¨, ¨Gunfight at Comanche¨, ¨Rifles Apaches¨, ¨The Unforgiven¨, ¨Red badge of courage¨, ¨Legend of Sam Ward¨, ¨Whispering Smith¨, ¨40 Guns at Apache pass¨ , ¨Texas kid¨ , among others . Being usually directed by Jesse Hibbs who directed various Audie Murphy vehicles such as : this ¨To hell and Back¨ (1955) , ¨World in My Corner¨ (1956) , ¨Ride a Crooked Trail¨ (1958) , ¨Medal of Honor¨ and ¨To Hell and Back¨.In ¨Posse from Hell¨(1951) Murphy is well accompanied by the young John Saxon as a kind clerk in one of his first films and the unknown Zohra Lampert as a girl abused by the captors , being really rejected by the hostile citizens who feel revulsion for her . Support cast is frankly nice , providing splendid interpretations , such as : Vic Morrow , Robert Keith , Rodolfo Acosta , Royal Dano , Frank Overton , James Bell , Paul Carr , Stuart Randall , Charles Horvath , Ray Teal and Lee Van Cleef pre-Sergio Leone's For a fistful of dollars more .

The motion picture was well written by Western expert Clair Huffaker and competently directed by Herbert Coleman. This professional director Coleman demonstrates a special talent for making the densest action sequences seem uncomplicated and uncluttered and his characters , like the scenes distinguished , often have an unfettered , raw power . He only directed this film and one warlike movie : Battle at Bloody Beach . However he's considered to be a prestigious producer , financing various Alfred Hitchcock films , such as : Vertigo , North by Northwest , To catch a thief , The Wrong Man , The trouble with Harry .Rating : 6.5/10. Acceptable and above average Western . Well worth watching .

Very superior B-Western. It is well cast. The posse is made of heterogeneous, well fleshed-out characters --more so than the usual Western. I enjoyed everything about the film, even stolid, amiable star Audie Murphy, who seemed tolerable. Most of the time, in an understated way, he seemed to keep from laughing out loud or reprimanding his inept posse crew. It must amuse most fans that while Murphy was the most decorated American soldier in WW II (maybe US history) in real life, his movie presence is often milquetoast.

I want to mention three very unusual things about this movie, all commendable in my opinion: One, in most Westerns the bad guys hold up the bank, quickly race out of town, and an instant posse takes off after them. But here there was an amazing scene that I found believable and in tune with the movie. The bad guys killed the marshal and some others and DIDN'T rush out of town. Instead they took over the saloon, sat down at some tables and gave orders and threats and killed some as examples, for an extended period of time. It made some sense to me. The townsfolk were not soldiers or gunmen. They didn't want to die, so they didn't fight back.

Two, when the posse came across one fatally wounded outlaw (Van Cleef), he lie on the ground telling them that they had a duty to care for his wounds, but Murphy said they couldn't spare a man to take Van Cleef back to town or to tend to him on the spot, so they had to leave him to die there.

Three, most Westerns would end with the death of the last outlaw, but not this one. After the last outlaw is killed, Murphy carries John Saxon (good as a posse member) a few miles back to town in triumph to be congratulated. But the film refuses to end there. There is a lot of talk about the dead marshal who had recommended bad boy gunfighter Murphy for the job, about Murphy possibly becoming the new marshal and talk with the girl (Zohra Lampert, a favorite of everyone) about her future.

A reluctant deputy takes an even more reluctant posse after 4 dangerous thugs who killed several townspeople and left with a hostage. The posse is so inept that several of them are gunned down while engaging the enemy on 3 or 4 occasions. Ol' Murph tried to keep them in line but they were mostly pretty hopeless. Lots of gunplay made for a good western, even if it was a little lame.

Four men scheduled to be hanged escape, kill the sheriff and three other men, and kidnap Zohra Lampert for their personal amusement. Deputy Audie Murphy forms a posse of untried men to pursue them.

It's an Audie Murphy western, and so most of the scenes center around him. Happily for the movie, he's up to it, with a grim attitude and a lack of concern for details in how he gets the job done. John Saxon is an easterner stuck out west for some reason. Drafted into the posse, he is at first more concerned with what it's going to do to his clothes and his inexperience at riding a horse; nonetheless, he's game. Other performers are also good, as the movie western slides from the simple tropes of the classic B western towards the darkness of the violent spaghetti western. There's still a veneer of law and order, but it's more about order at any price.

DP Clifford Stine spent more of his career doing second-unit work than main photography, but he shoots the Alabama Hills as grimmer than any other movie I've seen. They're not just a backdrop, they're physically oppressive.