I crudeli (1967)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Sergio Corbucci

Writers:

Albert Band (story)
Louis Garfinkle (additional dialogue)

Release Date:

June 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

A coffin without a corpse... Crammed with millions in cash!

Plot:

An ex-Confederate and his sons plan to use stolen money as a way to revive the Confederacy.

Plot Keywords:

Confederate | Indians | Coffin | Bar Fight | Rain

Cast

Joseph Cotten	...	Jonas
Norma Bengell	...	Claire
Al Mulock	...	The Begger
Aldo Sambrell	...	Pedro
Julián Mateos	...	Ben
Ángel Aranda	...	Nat
Gino Pernice	...	Jeff
Julio Peña	...	Sgt. Tolt
Claudio Gora	...	Reverend Pierce
Ennio Girolami	...	Commander of Fort Brent (as Enio Girolami)
José Nieto	...	The Sheriff
María Martín	...	Kitty
Giovanni Ivan Scratuglia		(as Ivan Scratuglia)
Rafael Vaquero
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Simón Arriaga
José Canalejas
Álvaro de Luna
Claudio Scarchilli	...	Indian Chief
Benito Stefanelli	...	Slim

Also Known As:

Hellbenders (USA)
Los despiadados (Spain)
The Cruel Ones (USA)
The Hellbenders (USA)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Italy | Spain

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Alberche, Madrid, Spain

Company:

Alba Cinematografica

Trivia:

Selected by Quentin Tarantino for the First Quentin Tarantino Film Fest in Austin, Texas, 1996.

Quotes:

The Beggar: That fella in the coffin, he's better off than me. He's got a roof over his head.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Spaghetti West (2005) (V)

Not quite...

In the extras on my DVD, they have sort of a mini Corbucci biography where his is linked to Leone in several ways. The general message is that Corbucci and Leone were friends and sort of counterparts.

While Leone always succeeds in making your arm hairs stand up, with his amazing cinematography, music that works perfectly in the picture, and performances to blow the roof off, Corbucci takes more of a shocking, violent stance. The problem is, he doesn't take it far enough.

The first memorable scene in "The Hellbenders" shows a ruthless group of Confederate outlaws gunning down a squad of Union soldiers and stealing a coffin full of money. There is some blood and by the time it's over, you'll be a little taken aback. The problem is, that scene is never matched again in the movie. There should have been more. More blood, more guts more violence. It should be over the top and it never is.

All in all a very enjoyable spaghetti western, but it doesn't touch the works of Leone.

6 out of 10, kids.