Hannie Caulder (4 Stars)

A British spaghetti western? Is that a contradiction? Let's put it differently: "Hannie Caulder" is a British western made in the style of spaghetti westerns. It was even filmed in the Spanish region of Almeria.

The film takes place on both sides of the border between the USA and Mexico. The date isn't stated, but in a cemetery we see a tombstone dated 1874, so I assume it's the late 19th Century. A gang of inept bank robbers, the Clemens Brothers, botch a bank robbery in Mexico, killing people but not taking any money. They flee across the border and arrive at the horse farm where Hannie Caulder lives. They shoot her husband, rape her and set her house on fire. She swears revenge, but how can she do anything by herself?

A bounty hunter called Thomas Price passes her farm, asking if his horse can have water from her well. She tells him what happened and asks him to teach her how to shoot. At first he refuses, but when he sees how determined she is he's worried that she'll get herself killed if she isn't trained.

Price travels with her to Mexico to visit a gunsmith called Bailey, played by Christopher Lee. He lives by the sea with a Mexican wife and his children. His only visitors are men who want to have their guns repaired. He makes a new gun specially adapted to Hannie's size and strength, a light gun that still has enough power to kill at close range.

When they return to America they find the Clemens Brothers in a small border town. Price wants to capture one of them to claim the reward. He kills him, but he's badly injured in the fight, so Hannie has to tackle the other two brothers by herself.

Most film critics don't like the film, but it has one big fan: Quentin Tarantino. He says that it was one of his main inspirations for "Kill Bill". The relationship between the Bride and Pai Mei is based on Hannie Caulder and the bounty hunter. There's also a parallel between the gunsmith and Hattori Hanzo.

But what do I think about the film? I have mixed feelings. It's a good story, but it's spoilt by the comic elements. The Clemens Brothers are stupid, and whenever we see them we have to laugh. The film would have been better if the Clemens Brothers had been efficient cold-blooded criminals. It would have made Hannie's victory over them more meaningful.

Raquel Welch is beautiful as Hannie Caulder, but she doesn't dress as sexily as she looks in the poster at the top of this post. She's always wearing tight leather trousers.

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