Five for Hell (1969)

Must See Movie...

Masterful Movie

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

1969 music. Gymnastics. Softball (as a weapon.) Tap dancing. Very much like a spaghetti western except it's a WWII flick. Giving it a 5 because it's hardly a classic but I've seen worse. They actually did a good job with the weapons, uniforms, and vehicles. Sure, there are some nits to pick, but I give these guys credit for at least trying. The plot details were a bit fuzzy but the film gives you all the basics you'd expect for a raid. The dubious goal almost gave it a sci-fi feel at points. Kudos too in that the Germans actually spoke German, although the number of Germans with Hitler mustaches exceeded the allowed quota in the realm of believable cinema.

I found 'Five For Hell' immensely enjoyable. I purchased it for .79 cents on amazon marketplace and anxiously awaited it's arrival. When I saw this film I was consuming large amounts of bourbon and I must say, this greatly increased the enjoyment of what is unfairly called 'The Worst film ever made" by the previous reviewer. If you are a fan of fun, guys on a mission type War films, which avoid dramatic elements, and are loaded with excellent action sequences; then 'Five For Hell' is just the ticket. This film is not high art by any means. And for the record it is done in the vein of most Italian Exploitation/Action/War flicks. Pick this baby up and stop off at your local liquor, gun store. I suggest bourbon and shotgun and at least 3,000 rounds of ammunition. I would also suggest Castellari's 'Ingolorious Bastards' if you find this film appealing.HG

The graphics (lol) are pretty offish for its time--but you know, for some reason, they seem to improve over time. (For instance, if the camera is shooting from a distance, the guys look really tall and skinny. Up close, it looks more realistic.) Any points of interest? Well, a couple of softballs are used in this movie--not to mention a pretty nifty knife-throwing technique near the end of the movie. (And loads of action sporadically located throughout the movie)!But that's all I can tell you for now...Plot: A GI leader picks four or five men to go on a mission to Germany in order to obtain "Plan K" and refute a plan from the German army to crush US forces.

While Germany worked furiously on secret weapons like the V-2 rocket and jet engines, America matched them with the invention of a portable trampoline and lead filled baseball. See machine gun nests knocked out by a gymnast that flies higher than the Luftwaffe! Exclaim as a GI takes out Nazis with sniper-like precision with a baseball! Gasp as Klaus Kinski acts like he always does in most any film... sleazy! This Italian made Dirty Dozen clone has its up and downs. For the most part it flows through as any low budget Italian WWII film. Expect inadvertent humor at times that are supposed to be serious and many flubs. Note that the movie is based around a collapsible trampoline and weighted baseball and the commandos that use them. Dancing commandos at that! Watch for the Fred Astaire like moves of the trampoline wielding commando that dances to the movies theme on the radio. Note that few woman can escape the fate that awaits theme in a scene with Klaus Kinski in any film. Almost as an apology to the general awfulness of this film the climax is actually well filmed and runs well as good WWII actions scenes. One of the more amusing Italian b-grade war films.