Cain's Cutthroats
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| Cain's Cutthroats | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ken Osborne |
| Produced by | Budd Dell Ken Osborne |
| Written by | Wilton Denmark Ralph Luce Ken Osborne |
| Starring | John Carradine Darwin Joston Scott Brady Robert Dix Tereza Thaw Adair Jameson |
| Music by | Harley Hatcher |
| Cinematography | Ralph Waldo |
| Editing by | James C. Moore |
| Distributed by | Fanfare Films Inc. |
| Release date(s) |  October 23, 1972 |
| Running time | 95 min. |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
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, Tereza Thaw, and Adair Jameson.
[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, and Rita (Adair Jameson), a former prostitute (and Tucker's ex-girlfriend), Cain systematically tracks down and kills the men. However, Cain becomes increasingly sadistic as he kills the members of the gang, and Simms begins to question whether Cain is more interested in justice or vengeance. After killing most of the men, Cain finds Billy-Joe and shoots him in the crotch several times, so that he dies a slow, excruciating death. This disgusts Simms and Rita, and they abandon Cain. Cain then sets out alone to kill Ameson, the last member of the gang, but Ameson is executed by a Union firing squad before Cain can exact his final revenge.
