tcaramela Cut-Throats 9 (1972) is by far the most gory western ever made. Is it as scary and gory as they hyped it to be by issuing terror masks the answer is no. I don't know what these reviewers are griping over name another American or Eurowestern so gory and violent together? The Wild Bunch violent yes not gory. The story is good and to me well written it grasps your attention from beginning to end and unravels a subplot of why the Sgt. had these particular men selected to be escorted 400 miles to Fort. Green. I also thought it was clever how they made the chains out of gold disguising them as ordinary chains from the gold mine to Ft. Green to fool the bandits as well as the prisoners. It seems there has been quite a few mixed emotions about this later SW but lets face it the genre was fading out fast most ideas where out played and director Marchent gives us a breath of fresh air with the ingredients of mixing the cold terrain with violence and gore and fresh new story ideas made a fantastic little movie. I was very impressed with Robert Hundar's acting as well as Emma Cohen who played his daughter. The best of the bad guys was Dandy Tom (Alberto Dalbes)who was sensational. The music was good with eerie whistles and sounds. I don't know what there is to dislike about this movie but SW fans well like the ending and should understand why the Sgt's daughter did what she did. in her frame of mind to lose everything why go on living (family, lover, and dignity).

Michael_Elliott Cut-Throats Nine (1972) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Spanish Spaghetti Western has a large cult following but in the end I was pretty much letdown after reading all the hype. Seven hardened criminals are heading to a prison camp being led there by a man (Claudio Undari) who is also taking his daughter (Emma Cohen) along for the trip. Soon the seven men bust free and of course set their eyes on freedom and the daughter. This film has a somewhat legendary following due to some gore that is sparkled throughout the film. This gore is certainly the highlight of the movie but it also somewhat takes away from any atmosphere or plotting. I think the biggest problem I had with the film was its story, which I found to have an interesting concept but the final payoff really wasn't there. I also thought the dialogue was rather weak and since there are all sorts of dialogue scenes this just made the film slow down and at times drag. I think the biggest goof in the plot is the fact that this man would take his daughter with him on a trip that contained seven deadly men as well as incredibly bad weather. This plot point might not bother most but it got on my nerves as it meant the daughter was just there for some nudity and to be attacked. Even with all that said, the film is still somewhat entertaining due to a strange and surreal tone that runs from start to finish. The film has a really low budget and I think this also helps things well. The performances are also rather good and I really enjoyed Undari as the father.

spider89119 This is a really riveting film. I found it to be somewhat hit and miss, but it's good points definitely outweigh the bad points.The best part of the movie is the story itself. The plot is quite original. Although it involves both gold and revenge, it is not your typical quest for gold or revenge tale, and things don't happen the way you think they are going to. The movie really draws you in as the motivations, interactions and relationships between nine very violent individuals unfold as they make their perilous trek across the wintery landscape.I think the splatter aspect of this movie has been over-emphasized in descriptions of the film. It is quite violent, and it has some gore, but it's not The Texas Chainsaw Massacre by any means. Don't watch it expecting a horror movie, because it's really just a western with a gory violent streak. There is a really cool scene where one of the criminals thinks he sees a ghost. It would have been even better if they had made the ghost real instead of just a figment of his imagination.There is some really good camera work and interesting use of flashback scenes that add a touch of surrealism to the movie, although a couple of the flashback scenes involve the gambler murdering a woman from his past and have absolutely nothing to do with the story. Those particular scenes should have been left out because they only serve to confuse.The biggest disappointment here is the music score. I know this is a Spanish western, but I would have liked it to have a more spaghetti sounding score. Instead it sounds like a very good Hollywood style score, which puts it several notches below the average spaghetti western score in my book.This is still a great movie overall. It doesn't have as many stylistic touches as a lot of other Eurowesterns, but this incredible story will keep you glued to the edge of your seat.

rmahaney4 Conedandos a vivir (1972) was and is marketed purely as a violent exploitation film. Viewers approach it that way and either find it terribly vacant and crude or enjoy those aspects of the movie that are hyped up by hucksters. As the euro-western was widely marketed as violent and cynical, this advertising tactic that often blinds viewers to what is actually occurring on-screen. This is unfortunate as this movie is actually a well thought out and decently executed western that provides the nihilistic capstone to an interesting series of Spanish westerns made in the mid-to-late 1960s and early 1970s. Viewed in that tradition, as the terminal point in a genre narrative that began much earlier in films like Joaquin Marchent's own El Sabor de la venganza (1963), it is a moving and fascinating movie.Contrary to the reputation of the "Mediterranean westerns" made in Italy and Spain in the 1960s and 70s, these movies are not simply absurd and extreme distortions of the original American genre somewhat like Red River (1948) or Rio Bravo (1959) projected into a hall of mirrors. Instead of warped conventions without significance, these movies contained their own views of society and morality. Many of the westerns written or directed by Spaniards have a very interesting perspective of the nature of violence that is central to plot and character. Violence is a contagion that consumes everything and everyone in it's vicinity. In movies like El Hombre que mató a Billy el Niño (1967), El Sabor de la venganza (1963), or Garringo (1969) victims are transformed into victimizers through the alchemy of good intentions in a corrupt society. There is always a character who has a close personal relationship with the victim-turned-victimizer who both opposes the political corruption and also it's products, including their friend or brother/son. Outlaws are portrayed in bestial terms, a pack dominated by the most brutal one. These movies always end with an ambiguous sacrifice to necessity.With Condenados a vivir, this formula reaches it's fullest development. Isolated in the wilderness, there is nothing to stall the corrosive assault of brutality. Every member of the group is degraded and virtually every on-screen character is dead by the final credits. Sarah Brown (Emma Cohen) is the only character who opposes this effect in any way, though her response is ambiguous as it involves a hopeless and absolute nihilism. In this series of movies, the typical genre ending of a shoot-out in the street or synonymous act becomes endlessly complicated. The exorcism of violence by violence must, according to the logic of these narratives, only perpetuate the contagion – an inescapable circularity.This movie has a sort of resurrection of the dead hero in the manner of the Italian brand of western, but here it occurs in the delusions of an insane fugitive. However, whereas in the Italian movies this return-from-the-grave is followed by a sort of liberation of a community, in this movie this is only a guilt-ridden and confused hallucination.As in most of these Spanish movies, the technical execution lags far behind the narrative sophistication. The "gore-effects" will strike you as laughable if you are in the right mood. However, all-in-all, this movie is a successful and sincere b-movie, and as such I recommend it. With El Sabor de la venganza, this is Joaquin Marchent's best western.Top spaghetti western list http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849907Average SWs http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849889For fanatics only (bottom of the barrel) http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=21849890