A Town Called Hell

Robert Shaw, Martin Landau, Stella Stevens and Telly Savalas star in this spaghetti western mystery drama about a Mexican-revolutionary- turned priest (Shaw) who becomes haunted by his past when a mysterious vengeful white woman (Stevens) arrives in the isolated desert town he is residing in. The woman has returned to seek revenge against her husband's killer years ago, and for reasons unexplained, she knows that he must be in town. Savalas plays Don Carlos, a sadistic town bandit leader who gets in the widow's way as he tries to threaten her stay in the town. Matters become complicated when the Colonel (Landau), Shaw's revolutionary comrade now a military officer, and his men, returns to the town to search for a fugitive named Aguila – the same man wanted by the mysterious widow. Who is this mysterious Aguila? Will the widow get her revenge? What will happen to the townsfolk, who have been terrorized for years by Don Carlos and his henchmen? And what will happen to the Priest?

A Town Called Hell is a slow-paced but quite interesting spaghetti western. Some subplots are not resolved, which leave viewers scratching their heads, like what happened to Don Carlos? What made Shaw become a priest and live in the same town where he ruthlessly killed the town priest? Who is the real Aguila? Despite these unanswered questions, the film is still worth a look especially if you like Shaw, Landau, and Savalas.

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.

When I see a late night film with 'bastard' in the title, I'm inclined to tape it and find out what it's about. (I've taped this twice and lost both, found it on DVD, seem to have lost that too). Yes it was listed as "A Town Called Bastard" by the BBC.

If you're one of those people who think a good Western needs Mexicans (e.g. The Wild Bunch) this has plenty: sombreros, moustaches, guns, tortilla-preparation, cruel laughter etc. A lot of these Mexicans die, perhaps somewhat gratuitously. So if you like guns and death in sunny Mexico, and you'd like to see Telly Savalas as the Mayor of a town called Bastardo - you'll love this.

e.g. "Who killed my husband?" demands the pale blonde: cue an old woman to shout the name from a high building - gun out, excellent shot (like shooting ducks at a fairground), another one bites the hot dry dust...

The rest has already been well covered by other user comments, worth watching if this is your sort of thing.

There really is no substitute for a Sergio Leone to make this style of film work properly, and even "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" could have bombed out badly if there had been any uncertainty about the direction and editing.

That seems to be the problem with "A town called Bastard". The theme has great potential, and the cast are just the ticket for the job. The locations and sets are pretty good and much of the camera work is impressive. However, it somehow just doesn't seem to integrate as it should. Too many loose ends maybe.

Leone would have been more diligent about making sure the audience knew in what direction the film was heading, even if the destination was not revealed until the very last scene.

Parts of the film are quite memorable and it does help to watch it at least three times; but the point is that you shouldn't have to if the director is doing his job properly. Robert Shaw and Martin Landau play their parts faultlessly and at least the director gives these masters of their craft a free hand to develop their characters; but good acting alone doesn't make a successful film.

Overall a disappointment but still good to view again from time to time. Could be well worth a remake to get it right. Maybe Tarantino could do something with it ?

R. B.

This star-studded British/Spanish co-production looks great, what you can see of it. I have three versions, two VHS, one DVD, and all are terribly cropped, so badly that it looks as if buildings are having conversations with each other. Few films suffer as badly from pan and scan as this one, as director Robert Parrish seems to have been so enamored with the widescreen process that he tended to use both sides of the screen at once, neglecting the middle. Another user comments that we see the entire inhabitants of a church massacred at the beginning; not in any of the copies I have. There are some abrupt cuts of peasants firing their rifles, one Mexican officer is shot, Shaw and Landau celebrating, and that's it. We never find out why Shaw has become a priest (if he really is), we never find out what happens to Don Carlos (Savalas) although I suspect he was called home to star in Kojak, as his departure seems arbitrary. And there is a strange flashback sequence where Michael Craig (Mysterious Island) is dancing around in a bowler hat and bad suit in the great old English music hall tradition to the 1960 hit BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS, not sung by Johnny Horton here but with some lyrics I've never heard before. On the plus side, the location is great, a huge old ruined fortress with Escher-style stairs leading nowhere, some nice scenery-chewing by Robert Shaw, and good performances by Stevens, Landau, Lettieri, and Telly Savalas as Telly Savalas. I didn't really like this film, but I haven't exactly seen it. I will seek the widescreen version and make my decision then.