Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Steineded How sad is this?

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Bezenby It's thirty-seven minutes before a shot is fired in this film! That must be some sort of record for a non-comedic Spaghetti Western. Additionally, Klaus Kinski is the good guy! What is this, some kind of topsy turvy Spaghetti Western world where horses ride men and chickens eat Fernando Sancho?No, it's not. It's a deadly serious revenge film that takes place almost in real time, most of it at night, which means it's a good idea to seek out a decent version of this film or else you'll see next to nothing. Kinski is Gary Hamilton, a man we first see busting rocks in prison before being pardoned due to some loophole I didn't quite understand. Gary's slightly miffed because he was wrongly imprisoned and spent ten years in the pokey due to some guy called Acombar, so he lets bygones be bygones by getting out a jail, buying a rifle, and heading for town to kill Acombar and every single other person Acombar has hired to protect himself. Luckily, Gary bumps into Acombar's innocent, oblivious son on the way there and gets him to pass on the message, which leads to all kind of ominous staring. Even more luckily there's a scheduling conflict which means Gary will be arriving in town at exactly the same time as a tornado.That's the plot, more or less. It's kind of like Django the Bastard in the way that Kinski slinks about the place wasting loads of bad guys in a creepy fashion, except this one plays up the horror angle even more (or Gothic horror angle I guess), with the continuous ringing of the church bell driving the hired goons mad, the relentless darkness and Kinski's big weird face. Acombar's main chamber is made of mirrored walls, which reminded me of the giallo Libido (which also has Luciano Pigozzi in it).Speaking of Pigozzi, he suffers from one of the most unique and violent deaths in a Spaghetti Western, surpassed only by two incredibly horrible deaths in the film Django Kill…if you live, shoot! Ear-splitting song at the start too which might put some people off, but stick with it – this is one of Antonio Margeherriti's best films.

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.

classicsoncall Klaus Kinski is one of the few B list performers I'll go out of my way to see, and this Euro-West feature is a good example of his sinister presence on screen. You'll generally catch him as a villain since he so naturally looks the part, though in "And God Said to Cain' he portrays an anti-hero out for revenge against the man who framed him for a gold robbery during the Civil war. The film is a good one if you stay with the basic premise, but it's sure tough to follow the action as most, probably three quarters of the picture takes place at night. Complicating matters further, Kinski's character, Gary Hamilton, traverses the underground caves of Santa Maria while on his mission of revenge. A conveniently conceived tornado also hits town to lend a further atmospheric dimension to the story, though that doesn't amount to much more than a big wind.The picture provides a couple of cool elements I haven't seen in a Western before, much less the spaghetti variety. The dripping water in the cave in an early scene seemed to provide a natural musical accompaniment to the movements on screen just before Hamilton took out his first victim. Later on, I thought it was pretty clever the way Hamilton made a bell ringer out of Miguel, if you know what I mean.I'm certainly not as well versed on the genre as many of the other posters on this board, and I usually learn a lot about a film by reading what others have to say. What I found most interesting about this film's background was the horror influence inspired by it's director Antonio Margheriti. In the picture, those elements are used to good effect to enhance and build tension in the story. The outcome itself is fairly predictable, so it's up to the ride that gets you there to be as entertaining as possible.

bensonmum2 After serving 10 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, Gary Hamilton (Klaus Kinski) is released. Hamilton has had 10 long years to plot his revenge and he intends to get it. His quarry, a man named Acombar (Peter Carsten), has assembled something of an army to help protect him and his family. But Hamilton appears to have something on his side – God. Hamilton rides into town just ahead of the wind, dust, and noise of a tornado. It's quite an entrance! And God Said to Cain is a solid Spaghetti Western (SW) from often underrated Italian director Antonio Margheriti. With this movie, Margheriti put together one terribly effective SW. A lot of SWs include some sort of light-hearted, comedic moments. That's not the case with And God Said to Cain. It's as serious and dark as any SW I've seen. Margheriti doesn't allow a single moment of levity. Normally relegated to playing the heavy, Klaus Kinski gets a rare opportunity to play the lead. And he does a good job with it. He plays Hamilton as a man with a single-minded focus – get revenge. Before we as an audience even know who Hamilton is or what he's up to, he's killing people on a dark, stormy night. The action and shootouts are entertaining, the supporting cast is solid, the music is good, and the sets and locations fit the film nicely. What more can you ask for in a SW? The only negative regarding my experience with And God Said to Cain actually has nothing to do the movie, but concerns the budget label DVD I watched. What a terrible transfer! Much of the movie is set at night and it was often very difficult to tell what was happening. Who knows? I might have rated the movie higher had I not missed about a fourth of the action. So be warned – in this case you get what you pay for.