New poll for the Hellbenders up top. 
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Just watched this one for the first time today!
For most of its runtime āThe Hellbendersā is a 4.5 out 5 star spaghetti western from Sergio Corbucci, but then the ending happens and my jaw drops on the floor and it becomes a 5 star classic even if its not as good as something like āDjangoā or āThe great silenceā!
It all plays out like an even meaner post-django spaghetti western version of the Anthony Mann western āman of the westā (1958) or a lower key western version of Mario Bavaās āRabid Dogsā (1974)!
All together great stuff, another banger from Sergio Corbucci!
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Ha, I like those comparisons!
Quite a few SW fans donāt like The Hellbenders very much (possibly because there is no lone gunman in it, no proper duel, quite different style of music?) but I always thought itās one of the best examples of those that stray from the standard formulas.
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Just rewatched this last night. Was one of the first non Leone spaghettis I ever saw and itās still one of my favorites. I agree with the consensus that it feels more American than most, as well as not being very Corbucci like, but something about it just really works for me.
I think Cotten is a very solid, above average lead but admittedly the rest of the cast isnāt particularly impressive (outside of Norma Bengell). Al Mulockās cameo is great and one of the major highlights; love the way his character fools the group.
(Spoilers in the next paragraph in case anyone hasnāt seen this yet)
The final twist isnāt exactly unpredictable but itās still executed very well. I love that itās Sanbrell in the coffin, after the exchange he had with Cotten at the fort; a nice little touch that I somehow didnāt pick up on until this rewatch.
Is the fort where they buried the coffin the same one that was used in the Deserter? It looked very similar to me but I couldnāt say for sure.
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Itās a different location - āThe Deserterā fort is in the south of Spain, in the Almeria desert ā¦ and the āHellbendersā location is somewhere around the north of Madrid.
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Ahh got it, thanks for the info. I feel like Iāve definitely seen the Hellbenders fort in another spaghetti but I could be wrong.
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Itās been in lots of other SW ā¦ and a few non westerns too.
I quite enjoyed this although a lot of the incidents were contrived (I guess deliberately so). The English soundtrack is pretty good. Cotten dubs his own voice and his dialogue sounds naturalistic American (the way he calls Bengell ādaughterā all the time for example) rather than a translated version. I noticed also that a lot of the supporting cast seemed to be mouthing English rather than Spanish or Italian. There is a ādialogue coachā credited - presumably to facilitate this - and an additional dialogue credit as well.
So I conclude that Band was deliberately tailoring this for the American market - released by Joe Levineās Embassy Pictures. The Italian box office results were terrible L174m I think which is way below average and in the bottom quartile. Though I suppose the money was in the American sales.
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Spoilers.
Hi I watched this on Saturday night having previously seen it maybe 15 years ago on a satellite channel. I had moderately enjoyed it first time and expectations were exceeded this time. I remembered only parts of it from before which helped me enjoy it more. Cotten is great as the family patriarch; a driven fanatic who will stop at nothing. The ambush is vicious and also the shooting of the two gang members they wanted rid of. The first widow is a major liability, unstable and heavy drinking none the less an interesting character, who sets up some great lines of dialogue.
I enjoyed the scene were Ben goes to the saloon and finds Claire, with a great bar room brawl to follow. Claire is a great character and is the moral compass of sorts, despite being less than angelically honest herself. She quickly realises she is in danger with the crew, particularly with the fanatical father and one of the brothers a deviant.
The various patrols that stop the wagon add to the suspense and i really enjoyed the scenes in the town with the priest setting up the service and the former comrade of the ādeceased soldierā.
Aldo Sambrell and Al Mulock have great cameos.
Look I enjoyed this very much. A great signature theme tune from Morricone, enough plot and suspense to drive the movie and something a little different from many staple spaghetti fare. Some great lines of dialogue mixed in with some corny ones. The ending a little reminiscent of Werner Herzogās āAguirre, Wrath of Godā perhaps!
A strong 4 stars for me - I donāt even respect the living!
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I like The Hellbenders alot, itās not in the top 5 of Corbucciās best but I like to look at his filmography as a whole because they all have something unique to them that I wouldnāt want to be without. Hellbenders is just as important as letās say The Great Silence or The Mercenary to me.
It certainly feels more American in style. I like to think about it a little bit like a Spaghetti Western version of The Searchers, not that the story is similar but it feels like Corbucci had the visuals of that film in mind with alot of the shots. It also has the feel of a Cavalier Western to me, in particular the shoot out across the river.
But then again we have shots like this that just oozes of pasta 
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yeah it feels like a 40s/50s american revisionist western in a lot of ways. Itās a much simpler movie than most spags, like 50s american western are, thereās not much to it beyond the plot which is in itself very simple as well, but it has some of the best cinematography Iāve seen in a spaghetti western, so damn good.
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Another Western Allāarrabbiata rewatch, but this one doesnāt get better. A few well directed scenes at the beginning, but they donāt add up to anything.
A mediocre script, uncharismatic actors, an imo uninterested director (still well enough made in parts), a good Morricone score with a nice trumpet motive, good photography by Enzo Barboni, a solid but unremarkable film.
Overall a lesser Corbucci.
I like this one. Maybe my fifth favourite Corbucci behind The Great Silence, The Mercenary, Companeros and Django.
I like Navajo Joe and The Specialists much more, and also prefer Minnesota Clay and What am I Doing in the Middle of the Revolution a tiny bit.
Makes I crudeli the # 9 of the 12 Corbuccis.
I agree that NJ is better, but I donāt think itās fair to compare them. This one is more comparable to something like the searchers or any other 40s/50s American revisionist western. Itās a simplistic movie because itās an American western stylisticallyā¦ Really brings into question what defines a spaghetti western, is a western produced by Italians automatically a spaghetti western, or is the style of the film also a factor?
I compare every film mainly by its entertainment value, so itās not much of a problem to compare every film with every other film.
And I crudeli becomes a bit boring in the 2nd half.
Itās not meant to be the type of film that has you paying attention to every secondā¦ just like a John Wayne western, the story is deliberately simplistic and basicā¦ Perhaps you just donāt like American westerns? American and spaghetti westerns have practically nothing in common, I consider them as separate genres altogether.
Yes, they are kinda separate, but being all westerns they have still a lot in common.
Hmm, what has a John Wayne film to do with me not finding much of interest in I crudeli?
And people who donāt like I crudeli are not interested in US westerns?
And are all Wayne westerns iyo ādeliberately simplistic and basicā?
Well the story of I crudeli is not exactly the kind of story which is suitable for a SW, but there are SWs which work with a not so usual SW plot. But for me this one here doesnāt.
I just rewatched The Ugly Ones, and that one combines SW style with a story based on a US novel, and it works.
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Yes, they are kinda separate, but being all westerns they have still a lot in common.
Only the setting really, nothing beyond that that isnāt stuff thatās common across genres. Even the aesthetic is very different despite sharing the setting. The spaghetti western is closest to a samurai film, but even then it has many major differences, but not as much differences as it has when compared to american westerns.
Hmm, what has a John Wayne film to do with me not finding much of interest in I crudeli?
And people who donāt like I crudeli are not interested in US westerns?
Well stylistically itās an american western, so it would only be a logical conclusion.
And are all Wayne westerns iyo ādeliberately simplistic and basicā?
Yes, inherently so. Basically all american movies during hays code hollywood have deliberately simplistic writing to abide by the ridiculous rules hollywood had at the time.
Well the story of I crudeli is not exactly the kind of story which is suitable for a SW, but there are SWs which work with a not so usual SW plot. But for me this one here doesnāt.
I just rewatched The Ugly Ones, and that one combines SW style with a story based on a US novel, and it works.
To each their own man.
Yes, itās a bit of an oddity in Corbucciās oeuvre from that time.