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The Hellbenders – 1967 Corbucci
- A zoom-heavy camera, sadistic villains, greed, bad dubbing, and Ennio Morricone doing another great score (under alias Leo Nichols again)—yes, indeed- this is a Sergio Corbucci film
- Starts with an impressively shot montage of a massacre about 5 minutes into the film—made me think of Ledger’s Joker as Joseph Cotten (the villain here) shoots the guys who helped him with the robbery
- Like Django the year before a coffin plays a major part in the film here- it is their way of deceiving anyone who stops them (they need the cover of a widow as well which is a major plot point)
- At least twice, once at 61 minute there is a great shot of a cactus in the foreground—a William Wyler-like depth of field foreground/background shot from Corbucci- impressive
- It is not a big resume builder for Cotten- he doesn’t come off well—though I do applaud his dedication to working with interesting auteurs even late in his career – he’d work with Aldrich a few times too and Cimino in Heaven’s Gate still more than a decade after this.
- The frame at 70 minutes is a jaw-dropper (see above). It mirrors the lasting image of the final frame of Django. A total wow. Wish there were more.
- Recommend- perhaps R/HR border
Drake2022-09-11T17:48:43+00:00
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