User Reviews

HANNIE CAULDER was released in America in the summer of 1972 and played for about a week and then was gone; I caught it on TV some years later, and being a total western fan, loved it. But HANNIE CAULDER is not your typical gunfighter out for vengeance movie, for the gunfighter is a woman and she's played by Raquel Welch, the most beautiful woman of the era.

As in all good westerns, the plot of HANNIE CAULDER is basic and simple: the title woman is brutally raped by the three Clemens brothers in the opening scenes after they have murdered her husband. Determined to get even, she implores Thomas Luther Price, a bounty hunter, to teach how to use a gun proficiently so as to exact payback on the villains who committed such an unspeakable crime against her. Price is initially not receptive to Hannie's pleas, but in the end goes against his better judgment and teaches her how to go up against a man with a gun and walk away alive with him dead. But Price warns her that the cost of retribution is high, even when well justified and deserved, and that she should just walk away. "Win or lose, you lose, Hannie Caulder."

Of course Hannie does not listen, there'd be no movie if she did, and inevitably there is a showdown with the Clemens brothers, revenge is had and the cost is taken.

This movie is a piece of total entertainment for many reasons:

Raquel Welch at the peak of awesomeness in one of her best roles, that a woman would stride through the Old West in poncho and tight jeans is a piece of pure fantasy; so is the makeup and permed hair she sports throughout the movie. But damn, she is a sight to see and we always keep expecting the breeze to blow that poncho up and reveal that she is going totally bra-less-a real 1970's thing. Raquel Welch was never considered to be a great actress, but I think this is a great performance, especially in her scenes with Robert Culp as Price, we totally understand why this wary bounty hunter would succumb to her ample charms.

A great supporting cast, starting with the villains, played by three of the toughest amigos of the day: Ernest Borgnine, Strother Martin, and Jack Elam, expert scenery chewers all of them. It's a real jarring contrast that the Clemens brothers are played for laughs after we are presented with a truly brutal rape scene. Director Burt Kennedy, who also did THE WAR WAGON and SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF, simply allowed Borgnine, Martin and Elam to play to their strengths, and for us fans of these three, this movie is a real treat. It's also a treat for us Christoper Lee fans to see him in what has to be his only western role as a former Confederate gunsmith living on the coast down in Mexico. Former British sex symbol, Diana Dors, makes the most of her few scenes as a whorehouse madame. Stephen Boyd appears in a cameo as the Preacher, a mysterious character, whom I've always thought of as an Angel of Death in this story, come to claim his own.

A great score by Ken Thorne, which ranks as one of the finest pieces of music ever in a western. And there is great dialog: "I wouldn't want to be you anytime."

The woman seeking bloody revenge plot was a novelty back in the early 70's, but I think no one has quite done it as well since; most pro feminist versions of this plot try to go way over the top and lack the humor of HANNIE CAULDER. And people who have a problem with rape being used as a easy dramatic device in novels and movies do have a point.

It's sad HANNIE CAULDER was not a big hit, it had everything needed to be a blockbuster. I think it was made about four years too late and by the time it came out, westerns were going out of favor with audiences. Too bad, see it now for the great entertainment it is.

HANNIE CAULDER is a real find. That it's well-made is not really surprising considering it's directed by the very efficient Burt Kennedy. What is surprising is that it's cast would lead you to believe there's a camp classic awaiting. Raquel Welch is Hannie, seeking revenge on the three creepy hooligans who've beaten her, raped her and left her for dead. Welch gives a terrific and spirited performance and she's helped out a lot by a first-rate supporting cast. Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam, and Strother Martin are the villains and Robert Culp is Hannie's reluctant savior/mentor. The film is full of odd touches and some of the killings are quite cleverly executed. The bizarre cast also includes Christopher Lee and Diana Dors, who plays a sympathetic madam.

This was like two different films that had been shot by different directors and then woven together.

On one hand we have a revenge movie where the nasty villains who are shown murdering and raping in graphic fashion. On the other hand we have a light-hearted movie with comedy villains doing and saying silly things. Even during the key rape scene where our heroine is brutally beaten and used by the trio of bad men there is still a cut-away to someone comically jumping through a window. And when our heroine catches up with one of the rapists and shoots him he falls through a window and flattens a woman who is walking by.

When our heroine is staying with Christopher Lee (playing a good guy for a change) a group of men turn up and for no apparent reason a gun fight starts. This is never explained.

And more strangely there is a man in black who for no apparent reason turns up at the final confrontation and saves the heroine's life. No explanation of his presence is given.

(the spelling & opinions in this review are all my own)

Is this Raquel Welch's finest hour? Perhaps.

She shows good depth and emotion here. She also elicits sympathy and you cheer for her when her revenge is complete, although it's tempered with sadness because the new man she loves (Culp) is dead and with her only in spirit.

Burt Kennedy filled this movie with tons of humor, courtesy of the Terrible Trio: Strother Martin, Ernie Borgnine and Jack Elam. As strange as this sounds, no account good for nothing,Strother Martin is a riot!

Chris Lee does a nifty character turn as a gunsmith, but it's Culp's cool professionalism along with Welch that drives this solid, entertaining Spaghetti-patterned western, which was produced by her then-husband Pat Curtis and England' Tony Tensor of horror factory, Tigon Films.

My friend Cindy and I saw it at the drive-in three times the week it came out.

Hannie Caulder is set in the American Wild West where three scumbag brother's Emmtt (Ernest Borgnine), Frank (Jack Elam) & Rusfus Clemens (Strother Martin) rob a bank & in the process kill a few people, they ride off chased by local soldiers. Eventually they find themselves at a ranch owned by Jim Caulder whom Rufus brutally kills, inside the house the three brother's find Jim's wife Hannie (Raquel Welch) & they take it in turns to beat & rape her before setting the house on fire & riding off into the distance. Hannie is left for dead but survives & by chance a bounty hunter named Thomas Luther Price (Robert Price) finds her, Hannie convinces him to show her how to shoot properly in an attempt to hunt down the Clemens brother's & take revenge by killing them...

This English production was directed by Burt Kennedy & was produced in part by Tigon films who were responsible for a slew of Anglo horror films such as Curse of the Crimsn Altar (1968), The Blood Beast Terror (1968), The Haunted House of Horror (1969), The Beast in the Cellar (1970), Blood on Satan's Claw (1971), Doomwatch (1972) & Virgin Witch (1972) so this cross between an exploitation flick & a spaghetti Western on the surface seemed like a strange choice of film for Tigon to make. Anyway, the script by director Kennedy & David Haft under the odd pseudonym of Z.X. Jones is an entertaining cross between a Sergio Leone Western & I Spit on Your Grave (1978) with a touch of Monty Python style slapstick thrown there for good measure. It's a curious mixture that isn't entirely successful but at the same time provides good entertainment, it's surprisingly violent & bloody on occasion which almost seems at odds with t's Three Stooges type slapstick antics of the main villains who one moment can be nasty pieces of work & the next bumbling idiots. The character of Hannie Caulder is kept to a minimum & she barely says a word, Robert Culp's bounty hunter is a good likable character who gets most of the dialogue. The film surprised me as it killed off one of it's leading character's which you don't see too often although it's not perfect as there are pacing problem's with the middle third of it being a tad dull, you never find out who the man in black is or what his motives are along with never discovering why that gang of Mexicans attack the gun-maker & anyone who has seen Hannie Caulder will know what I'm talking about. Overall though I' say this is a neat little Western with a commendably dark exploitative edge when it's not trying to be a comedy.

Director Kennedy does a good job, unfortunately I was forced to watch a hideously grainy, scratched to buggery blown up pan and scan version which frankly looked horrible where only the opening & closing credits were letter-boxed at it's correct ratio of 2:35:1 & I can only imagine how much better the film looks presented that way throughout. Set in America & Mexico it was actually shot in Spain which would have been cheaper for a British based company like Tigon. It looks nice enough with good period detail & some decent shoot outs & action. There's some gory gunshot wounds & a fairly explicit rape which is just about graphic enough to get it's point across without slipping into pure unnecessary exploitation. For those wondering Raquel Welch does not get naked in this film at any stage.

Technically the film is fine with decent enough production values, good sets, costumes & period detail although it does use the day-for-night process on a few occasions which I never like. The acting is pretty good by a strong cast including Diana Dors & an unusual role for Christopher Lee, Welch looks nice enough but isn't much of an actress so maybe it's a good thing she doesn't have to say a lot.

Hannie Caulder is a neat rape/revenge Western that has some oddball comedy moments in it as well, it's a mixture that doesn't always work perfectly but it's entertaining all the same & definitely worth a watch preferably in it's original widescreen ratio if at all possible. Overall I liked it, what more can I say?

What a terrible name. Hannie? Why not just Annie? That aside, I did enjoy this movie. It is a very basic rape/revenge story done as a Western. I don't think it was nearly as gritty as it was meant to be. When characters say things like, "You're a hard woman, Hannie Caulder," I felt like they could have done more to show how hard she had become, rather than just point it out with dialog. Also, there was a little bit of forced sentimentality, and some ill-placed comic relief that felt almost slap-sticky.

This is just nitpicking however. It was very satisfying and watchable, at least for one viewing. Raquel Welch, who I probably know best from her guest appearance on Seinfeld, was very striking as the damaged frontier woman. A lot of people seem to really like the character that helps train her as a gunfighter. I found him more functional to the story than interesting. Christopher Lee had a cameo that had me asking if it was really him. And there was one unresolved plot point in that as far as I could tell, they never explained who the mystery man in black was. If you are in the mood for a lighter, easy-to-watch western, this should go down nice. Just don't expect the depth of, say, "Once Upon A Time..."