Les cruels

Under the pretense of escorting a body back east for burial, ex-Confederate Joseph Cotten and his sons transport a coffin full of stolen cash meant to be used to re-start the Confederacy and begin the second Civil War. However, robbing and killing a military transport was the easy part for Cotten and sons.

There's lots of great moments of suspense and double-crossing treachery in this slightly offbeat, above average spaghetti western, featuring director Sergio Corbucci's usual flair for excessive violence (for the 60's) and a good, more subtle than usual music score by the great Ennio Morricone.

Cotten, (who's great) in an appropriately cruel and domineering performance, heads a cast of familiar European faces, including a great cameo appearance by Spanish actor Aldo Sambrell as a sweaty Mexican bandit.

This film (which I saw as "The Hellbenders") is not much like the average western. As you watch, it is not easy to decide if we are supposed to be rooting for or against the main characters. Even when it becomes apparent which side of the good/evil line most of them stand on, Jonas (the real focus of the story) remains in a grey area. In the end, wether he is a hero or villain depends on the ideals of the audience. That is what I found most refreshing about this film. It lets you make up your own mind, rather than forcing one opinion of what is virtuous on you.

a special western. because the classic ingredients of genre are only details. because the theme of illusory dream becomes, scene by scene, more dramatic and complex. at the first sigh - the film of Joseph Cotten proposing an ambiguous hero. in fact, few interesting performances - Norma Bengell and Julian Mateos are the most easy to name - , a story who is far to be predictable, a powerful end who has the mark of period but who transforms entire story in a kind of parable. a film who is different by basic expectations. and that fact does it special. because it has not exactly genre apart, the theme is more profound by fights, love stories and line between good and bad guy, the meetings with different people, from the original sin to the desire of justice of the Indians , the memorable performance of All Mulock as the beggar, are steps to the verdict of viewer. a waste trip, madness of lost cause, justice or simply destiny. a film with many touching scenes. and with an useful message.

After the Civil War a dedicated ex-Confederate officer leads a hearse with a coffin full of money to New Mexico where he wants to revive the Confederation. His company is formed by his three very different sons and an alcoholic women. After the woman gets killed she is replaced by a seasoned female gambler who is well played by Norma Bengell. The whole story unfolds in the way of a road movie where the characters are passing through the typical obstacles of a Western environment. Due to a massacre the bunch committed in the beginning they are hunted by unionists and government officials. Corbucci manages to make the characters who are basically all criminals very likable and I was more often than not at the edge of my seat when the bunch run into trouble. Probably THE WILD BUNCH from Peckinpah got some inspirations from here and Corbucci's COMPAÑEROS can be considered a later variant with a different mood.

The mood of the film is excellently supported by Morricone's score which belongs to his best. Cinematography is above average. The Spaghetti Western Web Board rated this film at #24 of all SW in 2005.

7 / 10

"The Hellbenders" is Corbucci's predecessor to his genre defining "Django" of the same year. Initially, the film can be dismissed as a low-budget mess because of poor audio and cinematography, but there are redeeming qualities which make this film a landmark in the overall Western genre. It was one of the first to use Almeira, Spain as a backdrop. It follows the adventure of a gang of ruthless Conferates (three brothers and their father, Joseph Cotten) fleeing the Union cavalry, Mexican outlaws, a local sherrif, and a vengeful Indian tribe. They carry a coffin filled with booty, and a permit stating that the coffin contains the body of a dead lieutenant. Corbucci pulls in a femme fatale (Norma Bengall) to foil the gang's money heist. Along the way a Mexican bandit is backstabbed, so to speak, by Cotten, and the bandit proclaims that they will meet again in hell. I'll leave the plot twists for you to discover, but note that "The Wild Bunch," released two years later, has a similar plot and twists. Also note Corbucci's more refined and improved spaghetti western, "Django," employs the use a mysterious coffin, which houses a Gatling machine gun, just so conveniently used again in "The Wild Bunch." Ol' Peckinpah sure did his homework.