Director: Sergio Corbucci
Screenplay: Ugo Liberatore, José Gutiérrez Maesso
Based on a Story by: Albert Band, Ugo Liberatore
Starring: Joseph Cotten, Norma Bengell, JuliĂĄn Mateos, Gino Pernice, Ăngel Aranda, Claudio Gora, MarĂa MartĂn
Country: Italy, Spain
Running Time: 92 min
Year: 1967
BBFC Certificate: 15
Sergio Corbucci directed two of the most beloved and respected Italian âspaghettiâ westerns outside of the work of Sergio Leone, with Django and The Great Silence. These werenât his only forays into the genre though. Nestled somewhere inbetween these classics, for instance, was The Hellbenders.
This 1967 film was commissioned by Albert Band (father of Charles and Richard), who devised the project and seems to have based it on a film he co-directed himself a couple of years prior, The Tramplers. This slight disconnection from the material might explain why Corbucci didnât go all out to make another masterpiece, though some would argue that The Hellbenders is nevertheless well worth your time.
Well, viewers can now see for themselves, as Studiocanal are releasing the film on Blu-ray, as part of their Cult Classics range. Intrigued, I requested a copy, and my thoughts follow.
The Hellbenders is centred on a fanatical ex-Confederate officer determined to revive the Southern cause. Colonel Jonas (Joseph Cotten) is unwilling to accept the Southâs defeat in the Civil War and hatches a ruthless plan to finance a new rebellion. With the help of his three sons, Ben (JuliĂĄn Mateos), Nat (Ăngel Aranda) and Jeff (Gino Pernice), he massacres a Union convoy transporting army payroll money and hides the stolen fortune in a coffin under the guise of carrying the body of a fallen soldier.
Posing as grieving relatives, the family embarks on a perilous journey across hostile territory, their ruse constantly threatened by suspicion, bandits, and the Union army. Along the way, they enlist a woman, Claire (Norma Bengell), to impersonate the widow of the deceased in order to make the deception more convincing (after their first âwidowâ is killed for trying to escape). Ben takes a shine to her and attempts to keep her safe from his lecherous, violent brothers. However, tensions and betrayals within the group grow as greed and fanaticism begin to erode their unity.
The Hellbenders has all the ingredients of a great spaghetti western. Itâs tough, lean and delivers a healthy dose of action. That type of set-up usually has my name written all over it. However, I never fully warmed to the film.
Perhaps I was just tired and not in the mood, but The Hellbenders never rose above the level of âdecentâ for me.
Perhaps the lack of truly âgoodâ characters made it difficult to fall for, though that moral ambiguity was actually one of the more interesting aspects of the film. Ben is the âheroâ, I guess, but heâs still part of his fatherâs misguided plot and follows along for the most part. As such, the film has a grim inevitability about its narrative.
Itâs not one of the most stylish of spaghetti westerns, though the action scenes are well cut together.
The great Ennio Morricone scored the film but, strangely, under a pseudonym. Perhaps he wasn’t happy with the result. It certainly isn’t one of his best scores, but it’s not bad and its horn-led theme is undeniably catchy.
Itâs not a film I can dig too deeply into, to be honest, as it didnât have a lot of impact on me. However, I donât want to be too harsh on it either, as I couldnât pick many faults with it. Itâs simply a solid, mean, stripped-back spaghetti western that genre fans will likely enjoy, even if it wonât blow their minds.
Film: 
The Hellbenders is out on 6th October on Blu-ray, released by Studiocanal as part of their Cult Classics range. For the most part, it looks good, with pleasing colours and textures, but there are one or two washed-out, faded sequences. Perhaps it was sourced from two different masters/prints. These weak sections are only brief though. Iâve used screengrabs throughout this review to give you an idea of how it looks, though these have been compressed. You get English and Italian audio options. I opted for the former and thought it sounded decent.
Special Features:
– 4K restoration
– NEW Hell on Wheels: Howard Hughes on the Making of Sergio Corbucciâs The Hellbenders
– Audio Commentary by filmmaker Alex Cox
– Interview with Filmmaker and Assistant Director Ruggero Deodato
– Introduction by Jean-Baptiste Thoret
– Original trailer
– Italian Trailer
– Stills Gallery
– Includes 4 art cards
Alex Cox provides a commentary. It’s largely an analytical track, with the filmmaker and historian looking at Corbucci’s techniques. It’s a decent listen.
There’s also a 22-minute interview with assistant director Ruggero Deodato. He admits The Hellbenders is the film he remembers the least from those he made with Corbucci, but he still tells some fun stories about his career and what little he can recall from the shoot.
Howard Hughes provides a video essay. In this, the film writer goes through the production history of The Hellbenders in detail. It’s an interesting piece.
In his introduction, Jean-Baptiste Thoret argues that The Hellbenders is not the minor work in Corbucciâs career that most believe it is. He didnât sell the idea to me in his short piece, but heâs got some interesting things to say.
Overall, itâs a strong package for a film that didnât wow me but is still worth watching for spaghetti western fans.
Disc/package:
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