‘The Hellbenders’ opened in the United States in early September 1967.
Italy’s westerns drip with blood…
Sources below: (1) (Daily News Post, Monrovia, [CA], November 14, 1966) (2) (Monroe Morning World, [LA], September 3 1967)
In the UK it went on general release in April 1969. It first aired on UK television on 31st August 1974 (ITV 19:25 - 21:00).
The supporting feature at the CLASSIC is “The Hellbenders” starring Joseph Cotten and Norma Bengell. “The Hellbenders” is a Western in the grand Hollywood manner, made with the intimate touch of the Mediterranean filmmakers. This unusual and newsmaking combination is the result of a fruitful collaboration between an enterprising American producer, Albert Band, and a noted Italian director, Sergio Corbucci.
No effort was spared to make “The Hellbenders” an authentic Western, but the Confederate Army stagecoach used in the picture is unique. Producer Band decided that a normal American stagecoach would be too banal for the central task of the coach in the film - that of transporting a coffin through the entire picture. So he decided to have one built by modern Spanish craftsman that would have an eerie quality. Dark and portentous in appearance, it inspires dread as it rattles across the desert and up and down mountains with its strange cargo. (South Copeland Evening Mail, 20th May, 1969)
Source below: (Manchester Evening News, 18th April, 1968)
