Condenados a vivir (1972)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent

Writers:

Joaquín Romero Hernández (story) &
Santiago Moncada (story) ...
(more)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller | Western

Tagline:

A nightmare on the loose

Plot:

A wagon load of convicts on their way to prison is being escorted through the mountains by a cavalry troop...

Plot Keywords:

Prisoner | Gold | Gore | Shot In The Head | Burned Alive

Cast

Claudio Undari	...	Sgt. Brown (as Robert Hundar)
Emma Cohen	...	Sarah Brown
Alberto Dalbés	...	Thomas Lawrence
Antonio Iranzo
Manuel Tejada
Ricardo Díaz
José Manuel Martín
Carlos Romero Marchent
Rafael Hernández
Eduardo Calvo
Lorenzo Robledo
Emilio Rodríguez
Xan das Bolas	...	Buddy (as Tomas Ares)
Francisco Nieto
Antonio Padilla
Simón Arriaga
Juan Antonio Elices
Mabel Karr	...	Mrs. Brown
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dan van Husen	...	Buddy's henchman (uncredited)

Directed by
Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent		(as Joaquin Romero Marchent)

Writing credits
Joaquín Romero Hernández		(story) &
Santiago Moncada		(story)
Joaquín Romero Hernández		(screenplay) &
Santiago Moncada		(screenplay)

Original Music by
Carmelo A. Bernaola		(as Carmelo Bernaola)

Cinematography by
Luis Cuadrado

Film Editing by
Mercedes Alonso

Set Decoration by
José Luis Galicia		(as Galicia)
Jaime Pérez Cubero		(as Cubero)

Costume Design by
León Revuelta

Makeup Department
Romana González	....	assistant makeup artist
Carlos Paradela	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Serafín García Trueba	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mariano Canales	....	assistant director

Art Department
José A. Hidalgo	....	sets assistant
Juan de la Flor	....	property master

Sound Department
Luis Castro	....	foley artist
José María San Mateo	....	sound mixer (as Jose Mª San Mateo)

Special Effects by
Pablo Pérez	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Teodoro Escamilla	....	camera operator
Salvador Gómez Calle	....	assistant camera (as Salvador Gomez)
Laureano López	....	still photographer
Julio Romera	....	electrical equipment supplier

Editorial Department
María Luisa Hernández	....	second assistant editor (as Mª Luisa Hernández)
María Dolores Laguna	....	assistant editor (as Mª Dolores Laguna)

Other crew
Rosa Biadiu	....	script supervisor
Juan Mauricio Matías	....	second production assistant (as Mauricio Matías)
Manuel Sánchez	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Films Triunfo S.A.

Distributors

• Ambassador Film Distributors (1973) (Canada) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Regia-Arturo González Rodríguez (????) (Spain) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (????) (UK) (theatrical)
• Liberty Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Estudios Roma  sound studio
• Cornejo  wardrobe
• Mateos  props
• Luna  props
• Mengíbar  props

Also Known As:

Bronson's Revenge (USA) (video title)
Cut-Throats Nine (USA)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | USA:R | West Germany:(Banned) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Aragonese Pyreneo, Huesca, Aragón, Spain

Company:

Films Triunfo S.A.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 4 (1997) (V)

Only The Most Ruthless Survives!

Joaquín Romero Marchent's "Condenados A Vivir" aka. "Cut-Throats Nine" is a raw and uncompromising film about survival, hate and violence, that has the reputation of being the most violent Eurowestern. And for good reasons - The most violent or not, it certainly is the goriest Eurowestern out there (I'm not calling it a Spaghetti Western since the film is Spanish and Claudio Undari is the only Ialian actor involved in it), and the movie is full of entirely despicable characters and a constant atmosphere of hate, greed and brutality.

Sgt. Brown (Claudio Undari) is to escort a bunch of dangerous criminals through a mountain wasteland in a cold winter. The Seargant's beautiful daughter (Emma Cohen) is also traveling with her father and the prisoners, who are chained together. Convinced that it transports gold, a gang ambushes the coach in the middle of nowhere, and the Seargant, his daughter and the seven murderous, blood-thirsty prisoners are forced to walk...

"Cut-Throats Nine" is a gruesome Eurowestern that is, in some aspects, atypical for the Western genre. There is not too much gunplay, for example. Gore-fans will be pleased to hear that there is a lot of more explicit violence, such as cutting, burning and stabbing instead. The (well-deserved) reputation as the goriest Eurowestern is not the only reason to watch his film, that not only Spaghetti Western enthusiasts like myself should enjoy. Any fan of brutal, uncompromising, pessimistic cinema should be pleased by this hero-less movie, in which almost every character is a real bastard. The bleak winter mountain setting reminds of Sergio Corbucci's masterpiece "The Great Silence" of 1968, although the locations and photography are, of course, not nearly as impressive here.

"Condenados A Vivir" may not be everybody's taste, but it is definitely a film experience that one is not likely to forget. Uncompromising, brutal and not for the fainthearted, "Cut-Throats Nine" is highly recommended to any fan of Eurowesterns and Gore-flicks!