Diagonaldi Very well executed

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Red-Barracuda If you read the synopsis for And God Said to Cain you would be forgiven for assuming it was another archetypal Spaghetti Western. The story starts with a man called Gary Hamilton, being released by Presidential pardon from a hard labour prison sentence. And from here he immediately sets about seeking out those who betrayed him leaving him imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Making matters worse is the fact that the chief villain, Acombar, has subsequently profited from his crime, making him a very wealthy land-baron and, to rub even more salt into Hamilton's wounds, has taken his wife as his own. It's a pretty straightforward and generic revenge narrative reminiscent of many an Italian western. But what sets this one out from the crowd a bit and gives it its interest factor is the way in which it goes about presenting this story.Probably the single most significant element is quite a simple one. Virtually the whole story happens during one stormy night. This might not sound like much but I was raking my brains to think of another western whose main body of action all takes place during the night-time. The western genre, be it American or Italian, has a convention for action taking place mostly under the unforgivably hot, bright sun. It's a fairly ingrained part of the iconography, so much so that when a film deviates from it, it's pretty noticeable. This movie builds up the basic set-up typically enough but by the half hour mark we enter the final act and we never leave the darkness. The fact that the showdown itself last a full hour is pretty unusual too it has to be said. In this part Hamilton has to contend with Acombar's thirty henchmen and he does so via a variety of methods.Director Antonio Margheriti was a solid, if unspectacular director who worked in a number of genres and made films such as the giallo Naked You Die. It's very possible that this could be his best effort though. He really cranks up the atmosphere in this one. The night setting sort of automatically creates a dark ambiance in truth but there are several details that really accentuate things nevertheless, such as the moody soundtrack from Carlo Savina that very much underscores the ominous tone that the director is going for. While there are some nice ideas that add an extra layer to the feel as well, such as the tolling bell that prefigures the villains doom. Even the ending is going for something interesting with a finale in a room full of mirrors.The action is maybe a bit samey in the middle section, however, with faceless villain after faceless villain being dispatched by the hero. And the constant darkness didn't always ensure the action was always too clear which was unfortunate, although admittedly, this could be due to a poor print and not the film itself. But on the whole, this is a western that stands out a bit tone-wise and this is a good thing. And, how could I end without mentioning Klaus Kinski? He normally played the villains in the westerns he appeared in. In this one, along with Black Killer from 1971 he was in an atypical good guy role and this film, like the others he starred in, benefits from his charismatic presence.

christopher-underwood Quite wonderful, doom laden, totally focused, Gothic horror, spaghetti western, extraordinaire. The revenge story is as simple as could be and indeed is more or less told to us in seconds three quarters the way through the film, but the manner of the telling with the oncoming storm and the tolling bells, and the matter of the lead actor. Sometimes Klaus Kinski disappoints because you expect so much from him and it is sad when for one reason or another, bad dubbing, bad direction or simply lazy Kinski, things don't quite come together. Well, they do here and my only hesitation in recommending this wholeheartedly to everyone is that not everyone enjoys spaghetti westerns and for those that do, this is certainly not a typical example. Still, if you fancy a real treat this is engaging from the very beginning, with all the bleakness of the chain gang and their rock breaking, to the sensational finale complete with a great Lady of Shanghai multiple mirror effect and general conflagration. Immaculate, but do find a decent print!

Coventry "And God Said to Cain" is the ultimate and irrefutable proof that Antonio Margheriti was the most underrated director of the Italian cult cinema era between 1960 and 1980. People almost solely refer to Mario Bava when listing the greatest Italian Gothic horror movies and to Sergio Leone for the Spaghetti Westerns, but Margheriti made multiple remarkable films in both fields as well. Moreover, with "And God Said to Cain", he made a near perfect amalgamation of the two genres and that is something that – at least to my knowledge – none of the other contemporary directors ever accomplished. I can't but wholeheartedly concur with my fellow reviewers who stated that this is probably the darkest Spaghetti Western ever made. The basic plot is simple and concise, but Margheriti upholds the mysterious truth until the very last moment and reverts to multiple Gothic horror tricks to generate an atmosphere of suspense and morbidity, like chiming church bells, terrible weather conditions and mirrors. Add to this a fairly silent but seemingly ghostly protagonist (dazzling role for the charismatic Klaus Kinski) who appears and disappears all over town through a network of caves and secret passageways, and you've got yourself the most horrific western fable ever told. "And God Said to Cain" is intense throughout and remains compelling from start to finish, and that certainly isn't an easy thing to achieve when the basic concept is so mundane and derivative. It already begins with the introduction of Kinski's character Gary Hamilton. He's a clearly tormented and nihilistic man with only one purpose left in life: vengeance. Hamilton is released from prison after serving a ten year sentence for a crime he didn't commit. He promptly heads out to avenge himself against the guy who framed him; the rich and influential Sir Acombar. Conveniently, Hamilton's arrival in town coincides with a harsh tornado which allows him to play a virulent cat and mouse game with Acombar's henchmen. Everything about this great spaghetti western just feels exactly right: the gloomy musical score, Klaus Kinski's embittered facial expressions, the continuous menace coming from the tornado, the fear on the faces of the henchmen and the drama linked to Hamilton's persona. It takes an incredibly long time before we finally find out why he spent ten innocent years in jail, but the reason is actually inferior to how Gary Hamilton is obsessed with his vendetta. The (fantastic) title refers to a Biblical text in which God disapproves such acts, but Hamilton is so entitled to his revenge that he for once even ignores God. "And God Said to Cain" features numerous brilliant sequences (like the ghostly entrance of Hamilton's horse in town) and a couple of inventive horror-like killings (the church bell!). The finale is even more nail-bitingly tense as the rest of the film, like it should be of course, and only when the movie is finished you'll be able to breath normally again! That's a great film! Kinski, in one of his best Spaghetti Western roles (and he starred in a lot of them) also receives excellent support from Peter Carsten as the relentless villain and Margheriti regular Luciano Pigozzi (nicknamed the Italian Peter Lorre for obvious reasons) as one of the petrified henchmen. Quite a lot of people around here complain about the picture & sound quality of available DVD-versions, but if you leave in Europe and speak a little bit of German and/or Italian: the German release, entitled "Satan Der Räche" is impeccable.

zardoz-13 Versatile Italian director Antonio Margheriti appeared as much at home on the range calling the shots on westerns as he did at breeding goose bumps in his horror chillers. Not only did Margheriti helm at least five westerns during his career, including "Dynamite Joe" (1967), "Vengeance" (1968), "And God Said To Cain" (1970), "The Stranger And The Gunfighter" (1974), and "Take A Hard Ride" (1975), but he also made a number of horror movies, too, among them "Horror Castle" (1963), "Castle of Blood" (1964), "Web of the Spider" (1971), "Seven Deaths in a Cat's Eye, " (1973) and "Cannibal Apocalypse" (1980). Mind you, Margheriti did not redefine the western either like Sergio Leone of "A Fistful of Dollars" trilogy or Sergio Corbucci of "Django" did, but he worked within the bounds established by the two Sergios and made some above-average oaters. Margheriti managed something that neither Sergio attempted; he combined western elements with horror elements. All five of Margheriti's westerns are also examples of solid craftsmanship. "And God Said to Cain" stands out as one of his best sagebrushers. This represents the best example of the invincible western hero this side of the grave and spawned Clint Eastwood's supernatural sagebrusher "High Plains Drifter."The Spaghetti western "And God Said to Cain" is a straightforward but powerfully told revenge yarn and its invincible hero wields death with the same finality that Jason and Michael Myers did in the slasher horror movies of the 1980s. This western casts perennial villain Klaus Kinski as its hero. Gary Thompson has been wrongly imprisoned; he has spent ten years of a life sentence in a brutal prison before the U.S. President gives him a pardon. Kinski's performance as a Union officer framed and convicted for a crime he never committed is a portrait in restraint. Since he is the hero of sorts, his dialogue is typically monosyllabic. He totes a Winchester repeating rifle, wears a red shirt, dark pants, boots, and a large black Stetson tilted back on his head like an historic gold rush forty-niner. The Kinski hero here is as inexorable as death itself; his Winchester serves him like the scythe serves Death. He sets out to kill only the bad guys, and he never deviates from his objective. Although he is severely outnumbered, Thompson displays no sign of fear. Somehow, because he is the hero, Gary Thompson manages to be in all the right places at all the right times. He emerges out of nowhere like a Jason or a Michael Myers on the prowl for their next victim and kills without a qualm. Indeed, the West Germany title for "And God Said to Cain" is "Satan der Rache." In the Giovanni Addessi & Antonio Margheriti screenplay, Thompson has payback in mind for Acombar (Peter Carsten of "Dark of the Sun"), the double-crossing polecat who framed him for robbing a stagecoach during the Civil War. While Thompson sweated away in prison, Acombar lived in the lap of luxury. He owns a sprawling house, has an army of henchmen on his payroll, and has enough money to buy off anybody no matter how seemingly influential that they may be. Thompson meets Acombar's son Dick (Antonio Cantafora of "Baron Blood") on a stagecoach and we learn that Dick is fresh out of West Point Military Academy. Young Dick knows nothing about his father's devious past. Once Thompson starts knocking off Acombar's minions, the son discovers that his dad was evil incarnate. From the moment that Thompson launches his attack on Acombar, he never makes a wrong move and he dispatches the villains in cool ways. He exploits the Indian burial caves under the town to appear anywhere and kill. Meanwhile, Acombar earns his villainy. He shoots an unarmed preacher twice in cold blood. He is a son of a bitch. Addessi and Margheriti employ symbolism to good effect. A tornado predicted to be the worst ever experienced sweeps into town about the same time that Thompson arrives; this serves as a metaphorical reference to the inexorable potency of our hero. After Thompson enters town, he jangles Acombar's nerves by having the church bell toll until the white-hat wearing villain is about to go berserk. The bell tolling here is Acombar's conscience just as the heart ticking away to the killer in the famous Poe short-story. These two touches enhance the dramatic value of the film. Furthermore, Margheriti shuns the traditional bells, whistles, and whip crack music that accompanied virtually every Spaghetti western made. The musical cues belong to a horror movie as do the consistently dark interiors and exteriors. Although Kinski is the hero of record, the end credits suggest something entirely different, and the Australian VHS title is "Cain's Revenge." This implies that the heroic Thompson is an anti-hero destined to wander the Earth for an eternity. The chief problem with "And God Said to Cain" is that the DVD versions available in America are abominable. This movie came out as a widescreen film, but the full frame DVD version ruins the artistry of the compositions on every shot. Moreover, the picture quality is abysmal. The action occurs predominantly after dark and the images are so muddy that only the close-ups register with any clarity. If you watch this DVD movie with the lights off, you may not see anything for long stretches. These significant technical flaws aside, "And God Said to Cain" still ranks as a worthwhile western.