Sergio Corbucci never acquired the critical accolades that the legendary Sergio Leone attained with his Spaghetti westerns. Nevertheless, Corbucci managed to carve out a well-respected niche for himself in the genre. Corbucci helmed at least 13 Euro-westerns, far more than Leone. Indeed, Corbucci directed several acclaimed Italian westerns such as "Django," "The Grand Silence," "The Mercenary," and "Companeros," which have withstood the ravages of time. Meanwhile, the straightforward but suspenseful "The Hellbenders" doesn't qualify as one of Corbucci's finest, but neither is it a candidate for ridicule from the likes of the Mystery Science Fiction Theater crew. Intelligent American leading man Joseph Cotton, its rugged outdoor Spanish scenery, some memorable dialogue, a blazing massacre, and Ennio Morricone's somber but flavorful orchestral soundtrack highlight this cynical oater.
Renegade Confederate Army Colonel Jonas (Joseph Cotton of "Heaven's Gate") and the remnants of his Southern 'Hellbenders' regiment ambush a Union convoy with 30 troops assigned to protect its cargo of one million dollars worth of old paper money scheduled for destruction so the Treasury can replace them with new notes. They massacre these troopers at a river crossing and even kill their horses. The gimmick in Albert ("The Tramplers") Band and Louis ("The Deer Hunter") Garfinkle's script is that Colonel Jonas stashes the stolen cash in a coffin and plans to transport it back to his ranch so he can reorganize the Confederate army, attack the Union, win back the South, and form a new government. Clearly, Colonel Jonas isn't dealing from a full deck of cards. He and his sons, trigger-happy Nat (Ángel Aranda of "From Hell to Victory"), psychotic Jeff (Gino Pernice of "Django"), and their humane half-brother Ben (Julián Mateos of "Return of the Seven") have hired a woman to pose as the widow of the dead Confederate officer in the casket in case the authorities want to investigate the corpse. Apparently, our protagonists weren't thinking when they had a certificate made our in the widow's name so they could pass without problem through the Union lines. The first woman, an alcoholic blonde named Kitty (María Martín of "Murderers in the Rue Morgue"), tries to flee with the loot, but Jeff strangled her to death. An unhappy Jonas dispatches the best of his sons, Ben, to the nearby town of Denton to search for a replacement for Kitty. Ben chooses a cardsharp babe, Claire (Brazilian actress Norma Bengell of "Planet of the Vampires") and almost bites the dust in a saloon brawl to get her to join his father and brothers. Essentially, "The Hellbenders" follows Jonas and his sons as they run the gauntlet to get away with their stolen booty. They have to contend with Mexican bandits, Indians, thieves, and lawmen. Corbucci generates unbearable suspense in one scene when the sheriff and his deputies are about to remove the lid from the coffin.
"The Hellbenders" is not the kind of Spaghetti western that will have you whooping it up and riding an imaginary horse after you watch it. Altogether, it is a rather dour, downbeat, and largely depressing western that benefits from a solid storyline, jammed with surprises, especially its ironic ending. Spaghetti western veterans, such as swarthy Aldo Sambrell as Pedro, the chuckling Mexican bandit who has the last laugh on Colonel Jonas, and Al Mulock of "Once Upon A Time in the West" as a sneaky, scheming beggar, spice up the action. Yes, there is gunfire galore, but nothing like "The Mercenary." The end scene with Cotton dragging the coffin behind him is reminiscent of Corbucci's "Django." Earlier, when Jonas opens fire on the Mexican bandits, Pedro utters a warning "Vamos a matar, compañeros" which became the title of Corbucci's 1970 Italian western with Franco Nero.
Spaghetti western fans will be happy to learn that the cinematographer Enzo Barboni went on to helm the Terrence Hill & Bud Spencer "Trinity" movies, and he was also responsible for telling Sergio Leone about Akira Kurosawa's landmark samurai film "Yojimbo" that Leone remade as "A Fistful of Dollars." Corbucci's editor Nino Baragli went on to serve as Leone's editor on "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" as well as "Once Upon A Time in the West." Another famous or infamous director who served as the first assistant director on "The Hellbenders" was Ruggero Deodato who later helmed seminal Italian shockers "Cannibal Holocaust" and "Jungle Holocaust." "The Hellbenders" isn't the liveliest Italian western but it is definitely a must if you are either a fan of the genre or a Corbucci buff.
Renegade Confederate Army Colonel Jonas (Joseph Cotton of "Heaven's Gate") and the remnants of his Southern 'Hellbenders' regiment ambush a Union convoy with 30 troops assigned to protect its cargo of one million dollars worth of old paper money scheduled for destruction so the Treasury can replace them with new notes. They massacre these troopers at a river crossing and even kill their horses. The gimmick in Albert ("The Tramplers") Band and Louis ("The Deer Hunter") Garfinkle's script is that Colonel Jonas stashes the stolen cash in a coffin and plans to transport it back to his ranch so he can reorganize the Confederate army, attack the Union, win back the South, and form a new government. Clearly, Colonel Jonas isn't dealing from a full deck of cards. He and his sons, trigger-happy Nat (Ángel Aranda of "From Hell to Victory"), psychotic Jeff (Gino Pernice of "Django"), and their humane half-brother Ben (Julián Mateos of "Return of the Seven") have hired a woman to pose as the widow of the dead Confederate officer in the casket in case the authorities want to investigate the corpse. Apparently, our protagonists weren't thinking when they had a certificate made our in the widow's name so they could pass without problem through the Union lines. The first woman, an alcoholic blonde named Kitty (María Martín of "Murderers in the Rue Morgue"), tries to flee with the loot, but Jeff strangled her to death. An unhappy Jonas dispatches the best of his sons, Ben, to the nearby town of Denton to search for a replacement for Kitty. Ben chooses a cardsharp babe, Claire (Brazilian actress Norma Bengell of "Planet of the Vampires") and almost bites the dust in a saloon brawl to get her to join his father and brothers. Essentially, "The Hellbenders" follows Jonas and his sons as they run the gauntlet to get away with their stolen booty. They have to contend with Mexican bandits, Indians, thieves, and lawmen. Corbucci generates unbearable suspense in one scene when the sheriff and his deputies are about to remove the lid from the coffin.
"The Hellbenders" is not the kind of Spaghetti western that will have you whooping it up and riding an imaginary horse after you watch it. Altogether, it is a rather dour, downbeat, and largely depressing western that benefits from a solid storyline, jammed with surprises, especially its ironic ending. Spaghetti western veterans, such as swarthy Aldo Sambrell as Pedro, the chuckling Mexican bandit who has the last laugh on Colonel Jonas, and Al Mulock of "Once Upon A Time in the West" as a sneaky, scheming beggar, spice up the action. Yes, there is gunfire galore, but nothing like "The Mercenary." The end scene with Cotton dragging the coffin behind him is reminiscent of Corbucci's "Django." Earlier, when Jonas opens fire on the Mexican bandits, Pedro utters a warning "Vamos a matar, compañeros" which became the title of Corbucci's 1970 Italian western with Franco Nero.
Spaghetti western fans will be happy to learn that the cinematographer Enzo Barboni went on to helm the Terrence Hill & Bud Spencer "Trinity" movies, and he was also responsible for telling Sergio Leone about Akira Kurosawa's landmark samurai film "Yojimbo" that Leone remade as "A Fistful of Dollars." Corbucci's editor Nino Baragli went on to serve as Leone's editor on "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" as well as "Once Upon A Time in the West." Another famous or infamous director who served as the first assistant director on "The Hellbenders" was Ruggero Deodato who later helmed seminal Italian shockers "Cannibal Holocaust" and "Jungle Holocaust." "The Hellbenders" isn't the liveliest Italian western but it is definitely a must if you are either a fan of the genre or a Corbucci buff.