This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

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.

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.

Shaw stars as a mysterious Padre of a small fortified town affectionately called Bastard, initially ruled by bandit Don Carlos (Savalas) until he's deposed in a mutiny by his right hand man (Lettieri). Widow (Stevens) and her minder (Sutton) are searching for the man who killed Stevens' husband, a notorious but elusive revolutionary named Aguila. Army colonel (Landau) rides into town with his outfit also in search of Aguila and the townspeople are made scapegoats until Aguila's true identity is revealed. Confusing plot twists, erratic narrative continuity, cropped cinematography and banal dialogue are elements of director Parrish's film that are evidently lacking. Stevens is cute but fails to carry-off the 'black widow' portrayal, Savalas is fun to watch but not nearly nasty enough to warrant the knee-trembling reputation he has amongst his posse, while Landau's crazy eyes and expression get a good work-out. Michael Craig also appears sans his own voice as a double-crossing freedom fighter in a very strange flashback. Other recognisable faces include Fernando Rey in a key supporting role as the man who can identify Aguila and subsequently save his townsfolk from the hangman.There's a number of quirks that make this film memorable, notably Shaw's cherub-cradling preoccupation with mending everything that's broken and his final soliloquy of Shakespeare esque proportions that has no place in a western let alone a film of such dubious quality. There's a couple of laughs, some reasonable action sequences and a few deep insights to ponder and if perchance you discover Aguila's identity then that's a bonus that will make it all the more worthwhile viewing.

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.