Honesty forces me to admit that the only other Sergio Cobucci film I have watched is THE GREAT SILENCE, which some reviewers rate the director' career best... but which I found excessively gelid and introspective, not least because male lead Jean-Louis Trintignant portrayed a mute pistolman and the action took place against a snowy, freezing-looking background.
I CRUDELI (The Cruel Ones, a more attuned title than THE HELL BENDERS) has to do with Confederate Colonel Jonas - convincingly and meanly interpreted by Joseph Cotten - and his psychotic trio of sons wanting to bankroll a revival of the Confederate forces even though officially Confederation had already accepted defeat.
The humane creature in THE HELL BENDERS is the character played by Brazilian-born actress Norma Bengell. She is not just spiritually wholesome, she is also delightful to look at - especially when she bathes in a rivulet in stockings.
There are well choreographed sequences, particularly those involving shooting action. Photography is of unusually high quality for a spaghetti Western, and the script brims with crisp dialogue exposing the cracks in relations between tough men, Jonas the father trying to keep his family unit intact whilst pursuing his Confederate cause to the end, with a decent woman caught in the flotsam.
I CRUDELI (The Cruel Ones, a more attuned title than THE HELL BENDERS) has to do with Confederate Colonel Jonas - convincingly and meanly interpreted by Joseph Cotten - and his psychotic trio of sons wanting to bankroll a revival of the Confederate forces even though officially Confederation had already accepted defeat.
The humane creature in THE HELL BENDERS is the character played by Brazilian-born actress Norma Bengell. She is not just spiritually wholesome, she is also delightful to look at - especially when she bathes in a rivulet in stockings.
There are well choreographed sequences, particularly those involving shooting action. Photography is of unusually high quality for a spaghetti Western, and the script brims with crisp dialogue exposing the cracks in relations between tough men, Jonas the father trying to keep his family unit intact whilst pursuing his Confederate cause to the end, with a decent woman caught in the flotsam.