Cain's Cutthroats
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Cain's Cutthroats is a 1971, western-themed exploitation film. It is a story of brutality, betrayal, and revenge set in the period immediately following the end of the American Civil War. The film was released under the alternate titles Cain's Way, The Blood Seekers, and Justice Cain. It stars John Carradine, Scott Brady, Darwin Joston, Robert Dix, and Tereza Thaw.
[edit] Plot
After the end of the Civil War, Confederate army captain Justice Cain (Scott Brady) retires from the military. He becomes a farmer and lives a peaceful life with his son, Jody (by his deceased first wife) and his new wife, Angie (Tereza Thaw), the biracial ex-slave of Cain's former father-in-law.
Unbeknownst to Cain, a group of six soldiers previously under Cain's command (and known as "Cain's Cutthroats"), Ameson (Robert Dix), Billy-Joe (Darwin Joston), Mason, Tucker, Farrette, and Crawford, has recently been released from a Union prison. The former Confederate soldiers have become a roving band of homicidal highway robbers, and their ultimate goal is to re-form a squadron led by Cain and renew attacks upon Union targets.
The men find Cain and tell him of their plans, but when Cain refuses to join them, tells them that the "Old South" is dead, and derides their unrealistic plan to attack the north, they become enraged, attack him, and tie him up. Ameson, the leader of the group, rapes Angie while Cain watches helplessly. Billy-Joe, the most deranged and volatile of the men, attempts to rape her afterwards, but she fights him off. Fuming about what he perceives as Angie's sexual "rejection" of him, Billy-Joe kills her. Cain then screams insults at Billy-Joe, who shoots both Cain and Jody, killing the little boy instantly.
Realizing that Billy-Joe's uncontrollable rage has set them on the path of no return, the men attempt to cover their tracks by burning down Cain's farm, but they leave unaware that Cain is still alive.
With the help of Preacher Simms (John Carradine), a bible-quoting bounty hunter, Cain systematically tracks down and kills all of the men except Ameson, who is executed by a Union firing squad before Cain can exact his revenge.