"Great Downbeat Western from the Director of DJANGO"
Studio Canal are releasing a 4K restoration on Blu-ray, with extras and a set of art cards, of Sergio Corbucci's THE HELLBENDERS, one of the films he made in between his classic DJANGO (1966) and THE GREAT SILENCE (1968), .
The American Cilvil War has just ended, but Colonel Jonas (Joseph Cotton) and the remains of his regiment of confederate soldiers known as the Hellbenders, is determined to help the South rise again with the aid of the money they steal from their former enemies during a raid and which they store in a coffin they then claim belongs to a confederate captain.
They've even brought along Kitty (Maria Martin) to pretend to be the captain's widow, but when things don't work out and she ends up stabbed by one of Jonas' sons they pick up Claire (Norma Bengell) from a nearby town to play the part. Will they make it back home with the money? Or will one of the numerous hindrances they encounter stop them?
THE HELLBENDERS fits into that transitional period where westerns were becoming bleaker and more brutal but hadn't yet reached the grim depths of movies like Don Medford's THE HUNTING PARTY (1972). The film doesn't suggest you should take any sides, but instead just watch as Colonel Jonas' party tries to get through a post-war landscape with a stack of hidden cash.
An Italian-Spanish co-productions, fans of European cinema of the period will enjoy spotting familiar faces such as Norma Bengell (Bava's PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES), Ennio Girolami (TENEBRAE, THE BRONX WARRIORS) and Julio Peña (WEREWOLF SHADOW, HORROR EXPRESS). The music score is by Ennio Morricone (credited as Leo Nichols) and the film is written by Albert Band (ZOLTAN HOUND OF DRACULA ) and Ugo Liberatore (DAMNED IN VENICE).
Extras on Studio Canal's Blu-ray include a commentary track by cult director (and Italian western expert) Alex Cox who covers much of what is also to be found in Howard Hughes' 20 minute piece on the making of the film and its antecedents. There's a 22 minute interview with assistant director Ruggero Deodato (of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST infamy) from 2021, and a seven minute introduction to the film from French critic Jean-Baptiste Thoret who, as with Cox's commentary, argues that THE HELLBENDERS is the third Corbucci western that could be considered a classic. There are also a couple of trailers and a still gallery.
Sergio Corbucci's THE HELLBENDERS is out in a 4K restoration on Blu-ray from Studio Canal on Monday 6th October 2025
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