In 1947, the peasant Jones and his four year-old son Julinho are executed by Jarbas and the other five brothers of his wife Martha that do not accept the marriage of their sister with a lower-class man. However, Júlio survives and is raised by his uncle José that trains him in shooting to revenge the death of his father. Thirty years later, Júlio (Francisco Cavalcanti) and José seek out Jarbas and his family, and they discover that the brothers own night-clubs and brothels. Further, they are near bankruptcy and need to sell one farm to raise a large amount cash and quit their debts. The brothers send a carrier to bring the wallet of cash cuffed to his wrist in an interstate bus. However, Júlio uses chloroform to dope the emissary during the night and replaces the wallet by another with paper, stealing the money. When the criminals discover that they have been lured and robbed, they kidnap the seventeen out of the eighteen passengers of the bus and bring them to the basement of their farm to be tortured to disclose where their money is. Meanwhile, José's daughter Marisa, who is the lover of Júlio, joins them to help José and Júlio to revenge and rescue the innocent passengers from the dangerous gang.
"O Porão das Condenadas" is a flawed, tacky and illogical tale of revenge à la Charles Bronson. The plot is full of holes and mistakes, beginning with the confused timeline. The story begins in 1947; then there is a milestone in 1955; then the story continues twenty years later, (meaning 1975, i.e., twenty-eight years after 1947). However, the reference in the screenplay is "thirty years later". Francisco Cavalcanti, who is also the director and writer, has serious problems to speak Portuguese using the correct concord, and commit grammatical mistakes. This is the second movie written, directed and starred by Francisco Cavalcanti and in both he performs a role of vigilante similar to Charles Bronson. The story is senseless and stupid in many points, beginning with the silly fight of classes in the very beginning. Why Júlio has waited for thirty years to revenge, especially if he wanted to help his mother? Why the carrier travels by bus and alone to bring large amount cash? Why the criminals need to abduct seventeen people and keep them together, instead of interrogating and eliminating one by one? How could any human being submitted to the torture of the gang be happy and satisfied with the money Júlio distributed in the end? Why José gives the machine gun to Jarbas in the end? My vote is four.
Title (Brazil): "O Porão das Condenadas" ("The Basement of the Condemned")
