Straight to Hell

Straight to Hell is a 1987 independent action comedy film directed by Alex Cox and starring Sy Richardson, Joe Strummer (frontman of the Clash), Dick Rude, and Courtney Love. The film also features cameos by Dennis Hopper, Grace Jones, Elvis Costello, Edward Tudor-Pole, Kathy Burke, and Jim Jarmusch. Band members of the Pogues, Amazulu, and the Circle Jerks are also featured in the film. The film borrows its title from the Clash's 1982 song of the same name. The film has been called a parody of Spaghetti Westerns, and concerns a gang of criminals who become stranded in the desert, where they stumble upon a surreal Western town full of coffee-addicted killers. The film is based on Giulio Questi's Spaghetti Western film Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot! (1967), which Cox was given permission to adapt. Straight to Hell received few positive reviews upon release, and was not a commercial success, although it later gained a cult film status. A soundtrack was also released. On 14 December 2010, an extended cut of the film, titled Straight to Hell Returns, was released on DVD, featuring additional footage and digitally enhanced picture quality. This version of the film, under the collaboration of Alex Cox, was also screened at several cinemas as part of a midnight movie theatrical run. Plot Three hitmen, Willy, Norwood, and Simms are staying in a posh Los Angeles hotel. After failing a job, they take off in a car with a pregnant woman named Velma, who is in on their scheme. They flee to Mexico to escape the wrath of their boss, Amos Dade, and rob a bank along the way. While driving through the desert, their car breaks down. They bury their suitcase of money and begin to walk.