AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

ShangLuda Admirable film.

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Wizard-8 This isn't a spaghetti western as some people have labeled it to be, seeing that there was no Italian involvement. Instead, it was a co-production between the United Kingdom and Spain. However, it all the same looks and feels just like a spaghetti western despite having an American (Robert Parrish) in the director's chair. Parrish certainly gives the movie a nice gritty feeling. Unfortunately, he seems unable to do much with the script. The story starts off making a reasonable amount of sense, but eventually starts to get very confusing thanks to the multiple characters and the various twists and turns. It doesn't help that a lot of the dialogue is poorly recorded, making it hard at times to figure out what the characters are saying. In the end, the movie becomes somewhat boring due to the confusion, as well as the fact that there is a lot less action than you might think. It also wastes a very interesting cast, who all seem to know they are stuck in a lesser movie and give half-hearted performances as a result.

classicsoncall If the movie leaves you somewhat confused the first time around, you might try fast forwarding through it a second time like I did to pick up the pieces. That might clear up a a thing or two, but you'll still have to put up with some of the unresolved issues the flick has to offer. Most notable of these is the fate of Telly Savalas' character Don Carlos. In keeping with the erstwhile religious backdrop of the story, Don Carlos is crucified and left hung out to dry after being shot by one of his own henchmen. But what ever became of him - did he die? Interestingly, Savalas' entire screen time in the first half of the movie was played shirtless, but it did look pretty hot out there.There's a great scene of Stella Stevens in one of the Priest's (Robert Shaw) dream-scape recollections, that of an angel of death bearing a dagger. It's too bad nothing ever came of that tidbit. Alvira (Stevens) arrives in town seeking the one who murdered her husband, tricked out as a coffin sleeping vampire wannabe. But again, the astonishing symbolism is allowed to fritter away to nothing, even after someone offers - "Now do we kill the witch girl?"One thing for sure, the movie never goes where you think it might. Martin Landau appears as a Colonel on the trail of the mysterious revolutionary Aguila/the Eagle, and with the help of a blind man, identifies Robert Shaw's Priest as the one who killed the man in the Montes grave. The Priest concocts a story for Alvira Montes that he helped her husband kill himself so his name would live on as a martyr for their revolutionary cause. I say concocts, because if you study the flashback scene with the young and hairless faced Shaw, a man who looks like Alvira's husband in a picture shown earlier simply dies from bullet wounds, and quite unceremoniously at that. I'm open to other interpretations however.If the picture wasn't surreal enough, you'll find yourself going 'huh?' right as it breaks into a party scene to the tune of "The Battle of New Orleans". It's not Johnny Horton's voice, and it's got additional lyrics compared to the commercial version. Dropped in where it is makes it seem like a mid film intermission.But hey, if you're not in too serious of a mood, you might have some fun with this one, even as it teeters precariously on the traditional spaghetti Western fence. I can say this at least with some certainty, it's the only movie I've EVER seen where a character picks his nose on screen (a Mexican near the beginning of the film). The title of the movie would probably have been better served up as one of Clint Eastwood's spaghetti classics, but "High Plains Drifter" sounds a whole lot cooler.

Theo Robertson I'm not going to write a synopsis for this movie because 1 ) Unlike many reviewers I don't normally write a synopsis 2 ) I'd have to understand a movie in the first place The problem with A TOWN CALLED HELL is that lot of things happen but none of them seem to tie in with the plot . The film opens with a bunch of Mexican revolutionaries attacking a town in 1895 then the story jumps forward to the same location ten years later where the revolutionary leader is now a priest and someone who the audience has no knowledge of rules the town in a similar manner to Mr Kurtz in HEART OF DARKNESS . A woman arrives offering a bounty for the body of the man who killed her husband . Other things happen that make little sense and the story is made even difficult to follow by characters continually appearing and disappearing . For example did Don Carlos live or die ? Your guess is as good as mine . We are also shown a lengthy flashback sequence and it only becomes obvious that it's a flashback after the fact This is a badly developed , badly edited and confusing movie but not one that is unwatchable . Indeed it's a fairly entertaining movie if you can stomach the sadistic attitude and what a lesser film this would have been without Telly Savalas executing everyone who gets in his way with the most memorable sequence being the hanging scene . Just a pity we never find out his fate for certain . Also of worthy note is the sentry getting killed via barbed wire and LOVEJOY's side kick revealing himself to be a mean assassin . Does this all sound very silly ? Of course but it's also entertaining in a morbid sense As a footnote this movie was often screened on British television under the title A TOWN CALLED BASTARD and the town is referred on screen as " Bastardo " so that title would be more accurate but I guess TV companies get a lot of complaints and now call it A TOWN CALLED HELL to save on the switchboard staff

MovieMan-112 "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.