A Town Called Hell (1971)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Robert Parrish

Writers:

Richard Aubrey (screenplay)
Richard Aubrey (story)

Release Date:

1972 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Drama | Western

Tagline:

They called it HELL ... They called it VIOLENT and EVIL!

Plot:

A group of Mexican revolutionaries murders a town priest and a number of his christian followers. Ten years later, a widow arrives in town intent to take revenge from her husband's killers. |

Plot Keywords:

Mexican | Revenge | Priest | Revolutionary | Widow

Cast

Telly Savalas	...	Don Carlos
Robert Shaw	...	The Priest
Stella Stevens	...	Alvira
Fernando Rey	...	Old blind man
Michael Craig	...	Paco
Martin Landau	...	The Colonel
Al Lettieri	...	La Bomba
Aldo Sambrell	...	Calebra
Dudley Sutton	...	Spectre
Paloma Cela	...	Paloma
Maribel Hidalgo	...	La Perla
Cass Martin	...	Jose
Antonio Mayans	...	Manuel
Francisco Marsó	...	Julio
John Clark	...	Quiet American

Also Known As:

A Town Called Bastard
Una ciudad llamada Bastarda (Spain)

Runtime:

95 min | Spain:97 min

Country:

Spain | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 (video rating) (1982) | Finland:K-16 (1996) | UK:15 (2000) | UK:X (1971) | West Germany:18 (nf) | Australia:MA | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Norway:(Banned) (1972-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Benamar-Zurbano Productions

Trivia:

Michael Craig writes in his memoirs that his character scenes were shot a couple of months after the rest of the film was finished.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in High Plains Drifter (1973)

Soundtrack:

La batalla de Nueva Orleans

An entertaining mexican western with an all-star cast

"A Town Called Hell" is a wonderful western that takes place in Mexico, circa 1905. Telly Savalas plays a memorable role as a villain looking for a mysterious man named "Augila". There is some good footage of hanging people. Telly Savalas's death scene is hilarious as it is brilliant. Martin Landau plays a jewish/mexican colonel who gets to wear a funny-looking brown mexican uniform, but no beanie. Robert Shaw, known for his classic performance as Quint in "Jaws", plays a priest.... or is he? Stella Stevens, a has-been, plays a blond prostitute. There are some good action scenes and Johnny Horton's "The Battle Of New Orleans" can be heard in the soundtrack in a flashback scene at a mexican dance party. A man hiding underneath a deck tries to obtain a fallen coin above with a stick. A satired attack on a church opens up the film. Everything in it is fabulous. This is a hard to find film, along with 2 other mexican western classics, "Blood and Guns" and "Villa Rides". See it, you'll laugh yourself silly.