Les cavaliers de l'enfer

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.

better than average Audie Murphy western with more sharply defined characters than usual - plus a good script that brings freshness - and even fun - to the heavily traveled chase 'em plot

the actors help a lot - Robert Keith as the grizzled ex Civil War soldier who keeps trying to take over the posse - Rudolph Acosta as an Indian trying to be accepted - John Saxon as a soft Easterner reluctantly shoved into posse duty - Paul Carr as an eager young man handy with pistols - to name a few - somehow the script makes this diverse group interesting without making them annoying - the one notable exception is the 1-dimensional quality of the kidnapped girl as written - fortunately - the role was given over to the way-too-talented Zohra Lampert - and she brings this small part to life

the represents the type of effort that makes genre enjoyable

I've long been a fan of Audie Murphy and event his lesser movies are better than most of the drivel that comes out of Hollywood today.

This is a good movie on its merits and not just as a vehicle for Murphy. It works well on all levels - story, acting, and directing. What I most enjoyed is the fact each actor is given screen time to rise above the stereotypes and create a memorable character - even if they only have a few lines.

The two I remember most are the young banker Seymour Kern (John Saxon) and the Mexican cowboy Johnny Caddo (Rudolph Acosta). Saxon in particular does well showing true, believable growth; he isn't just there as a foil/sidekick for Murphy to play off of but as a genuine character treated as equally important to the storyline. Acosta, usually a villain in the movies, plays an equally important role as a Spanish cowboy who joins simply because "it's the right thing to do".

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 .

Posse from Hell is directed by Herbert Coleman and adapted to screenplay by Clair Huffaker from his own novel of the same name. It stars Audie Murphy, John Saxon, Zohra Lampert, Rodolfo Acosta, Royal Dano, Robert Keith and Vic Morrow. Out of Universal-International, it's an Eastman Color production with cinematography by Clifford Stine and music supervised by Joseph Gershenson.

1880 and four escapees from death row ride into the small town of Paradise intent on causing mayhem. After robbing the bank and killing innocent men in the saloon, the men escape out of Paradise, taking with them a female hostage. A posse is formed, to be led by the slain Marshal's friend, ex-gunfighter Banner Cole, but good men are hard to find and Cole senses he would be better off on his own. But although many will die from this point on, from such adversity can heroes and friendships be born....

A little under seen and under appreciated is Posse from Hell. Hardly a deep psychological Western that strips bare the characters out on the trail, but certainly a picture high on action, blood and gutsy bravado. The title is a little misleading because the posse assembled is practically a roll call of stereotypes: gunman turned good, tenderfoot, man of different race ostracised, vengeful brother, pretty gal emotionally damaged, ex-army guy, wanna be kid gunslinger, and on it goes. Yet there is grim textures in the narrative (rape/revenge/cold blooded murder) and Gershenson scores it with horror movie strains. Even the blood red titles that open the picture look like something from a Hammer Horror production, clearly Coleman, Huffaker and co were aiming for a hellish wild west while cheekily having their posse formed out of a town called Paradise! A place where not all the citizens are stand up folk.

For Murphy fans this rounds out as real good value, he gets to do a number of great scenes like pouncing on a rattlesnake and diving through a window, while there's plenty of gun play moments for him to get his teeth into. But it also represents a good characterisation performance from him as Banner Cole, a man rough around the edges but definitely beating a humanist heart underneath the tough exterior. Around Murphy is a group of solid pros and up and coming stars, there's the odd iffy performance (Frank Overton) and overacting (Paul Carr), but nothing that overtly hurts the film. Main problem with it is that the villains remain elusive to us as characters, galling because we have been teased greatly in the opening section where we were introduced to some delicious villainy from Morrow as the leader Crip and Lee Van Cleef as Leo. More Morrow as a reprehensible bastard was definitely needed!

Major plus point is the use of Lone Pine, Alabama Hills, for the exteriors. A wonderfully rugged, yet beautiful part of the world, where the weird rock and boulder formations envelope the characters as a reminder that it's tough out here in the west. It's an area that Budd Boetticher and Randy Scott used to great effect for their superb Ranown Westerns. It's a shame that Boetticher never worked with Murphy more, for I feel sure he really could have gotten another 25% out of him, especially around the early 60s period. Still, Posse from Hell is a very enjoyable Audie Murphy picture, a bit more violent than most of his other Westerns, it's one that if you can forgive the odd creak here and there? And not expect some posse containing Satan's offspring? Then entertained you shall be. 7/10