Watch The Hellbenders For Free

Awesome Movie

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Sergio Corbucci's Western is packed with noisy action and lots of violence . Italian-Spanish co-production financed by Jose G Maesso and Albert Band full of action , exaggerated characters, shootouts and drama . This is a surprisingly low-key Spaghetti Western set in the post-Civil War era in which a washed-out confederate Colonel (Joseph Cotten) and his band of three sons (Julian Mateos,Guido Pernice,Angel Aranda) led a hearse and taking on a variety of problems and risks with the aim to go on the rebel cause . As three diverse characters and his father who call themselves ¨The Hellbenders¨ joining forces to carry a stolen currency . The crazed ex-Confederate Cotten plans to utilize it to reorganize Confederacy and rekindle the war but find numerous complications .This entertaining picture contains a twisted plot , action Western , shootouts and bits of campy and refreshing events with turns and twists . It's an improbable blending of standard Western with pursuits, high body-count and it's fast moving and quite entertaining. An interesting casting full of usual Spaghetti make this oater well worth the watching . Delightful Western in which the violent family using his wits , breaking all the rules and kicking virtually every cliché in the pants , as the familiar group relentlessly deceives, plunders and robs . Amiable but sometimes lumbering Western goes on and on about the same premise , as minutes are superfluous , it has quarter hour of excess , as it packs some moments turn out to be dull and tiring . Furthermore, appears ordinary secondaries of Spaghetti/Paella Western as Aldo Sambrell , Ennio Girolami, Jose Canalejas , Alvaro De Luna and Benito Stefanelli who is also master of arms and stunt . There is plenty of action in the movie , guaranteeing shootouts, fights or stunts every few minutes . The musician Ennio Morricone or Leo Nichols composes a nice soundtrack with catching leitmotif and well conducted ; it's full of guttural sounds with use of harmonica , trumpets and guitar. Striking cinematography by Enzo Barboni or E.B.Clucher (author of Trinity series with Terence Hill, Bud Spencer) who does an excellent cinematography with barren outdoors, dirty landscapes under a glimmer sun and photographed in Eastmancolor with negative regularly processed for that reason is necessary an urgent remastering . Interiors filmed at Italia , Cinecitta studios , and outdoor sequences shot on outskirts of Madrid La Pedriza , Colmenar Viejo , and of course , at Almeria, Spain. In addition , there are many fine technicians and nice helpers as appears as assistant direction Ruggiero Deodato future author of Cannibal Holocaust and fine Art Direction by Perez Cubero. Sergio Corbucci's direction is well crafted, here he's more cynical and violent and less inclined toward humor and packs too much action , but especially this moving Western contains broad violence .The movie contains gun-play, action Western, bloody spectacle and fist-fights . The other Sergio made several Spaghetti classics as ¨ Django¨, ¨The great silence¨, ¨The specialist¨ , and Zapata Western as ¨The Mercenary¨, ¨The Compañeros¨ and ¨What am I doing in middle of the revolution¨ . In addition Sergio directed other inferior S.W. as ¨Far West story¨ ,¨Johnny Oro¨, ¨The white the yellow an the black¨ and ¨Minnesota Clay¨. It's an offbeat , surprising and uneven Western but will appeal to Corbucci aficionados . Rating : 7 , riotous Western in which there's too much action and violence and enough excitement

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 himself made. Indeed, Corbucci directed several acclaimed Italian westerns such as "Django," "The Grand Silence," "The Mercenary," and "Companeros" that 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 Theatre crew. Capable American leading man Joseph Cotton, its rugged outdoor Spanish scenery, some memorable dialogue, and Ennio Morricone's somber but flavorful orchestral soundtrack enhance 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 to be destroyed so that the Treasury can be replace it with new notes. They massacre these men 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 that he can reorganize the Confederate army, attack the Union, win back the South, and form a new government. Clearly, Colonel Jonas isn't dealing with 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 coffin, but Jeff strangles her to death. An unhappy Jonas dispatches the best of his sons, Ben, to the nearby town of Denton to find a replacement for Kitty. Ben finds 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 an adequate storyline jammed with surprises, especially the 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 a lot of gunfire, 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"—that 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 later 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 worth a look-see if you are either a fan of the genre or a Corbucci buff.

Joseph Cotten is an ex-Confederate soldier who would like to see the South rise again. To finance such a venture, he and his three sons rob a Union convoy carrying $1 million. The money is placed in a coffin and disguised as the dead husband of Cotten's "daughter" - really just a woman he has hired to play the part of a widow in case they get stopped. The group will have to evade not only the Union Army, but also Mexican bandits, revenge minded Indians, a posse, and each other if they are to get home with the money.After having seen Hellbenders, I'm convinced now more than ever that if it weren't for Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci would be the recognized master of the Spaghetti Western. Hellbenders fits nicely beside Corbucci's other genre masterpieces. It may not be as over-the-top as Django or as beautiful as The Great Silence, but in it's own unique way, it's almost as good. Hellbenders takes it's own sweet time telling its story, and that's a good thing. You really get to know the characters and develop feelings for them. The acting, whether it's the crazed brother Jeff (Gino Pernice), the sympathetic Claire (Norma Bengell), or the always entertaining Cotten, is as good as you'll see in this kind of movie. The ending is marvelous. It's got to be one of the most satisfying twist endings I've seen in a SW.For those familiar with SWs, all I really need to say about the score is that it was composed by Ennio Morricone. That should be enough. The main theme is a trumpet-dominated mournful piece that grows in meaning throughout the film.

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.