1969, Italy. Starring Klaus Kinski, Joaquín Blanco, Antonio Cantafora, Peter Carsten, Lucio De Santis, Guido Lollobrigida, Marcella Michelangeli, Luciano Pigozzi, Giuliano Raffaelli. Directed by Antonio Margheriti.

You know things are going to be weird when Klaus Kinski is your hero. Without even trying, Kinski is one of the creepiest stars to ever grace the screen. Never mind that he, like another creepy liittle guy by the name of Dario Argento, managed to apply his gene pool to an absolute wonder of a daughter (in this case, Nastasia Kinski). When Klaus steps into a scene, it immediately acquires a sinister edge. Being able to exude that sort of subtle influence is quite an accomplishment, though it must make him a real downer at parties.

Spaghetti Westerns generally rely ont he age-old "vengeance seeking stranger" plot. A mysterious wronged man rides into town and starts offing the evil men responsible for the injustices he has endured. Something like 95% of all Spaghetti Westerns adhere to this formula, which was pretty fun for a while. But you can only watch so many gunslinging angels of death before you start wondering if maybe they shouldn't try something else.

Well, that something else isn't And God Said to Cain, which is about a vengeance seeking stranger. The stranger in this case is a guy named Gary (Klaus Kinski). I know, I know. Gary isn't a very heroic or tough name. I bet in all the annals of cinema you would be hard pressed to find many heroic Garys (or is that Garies?). Not that there's anything wrong with being named Gary. It's a fine name. But it's not like being named "Maximillan Savagewood" or "Jack Deth."

Gary is doing hard time for a crime he didn't commit. When a presidential decree sets to releasing convicts who are veterans of the Civil War, Gary gets his ticket to freedom and hops on a stagecoach ridin' headlong into the bloody red sun of revenge. How's that?

The guy who framed Gary for a robbery is now living the posh life as a rich guy, which is par for the Spaghetti Western course. No one ever sets up their friend and then generally has a bad time of it. No, they must always go on to lives of gluttonous prosperity so the hero can come and shoot their bourgeois ass dead. And that's what Gary is going to do. Of course, in another convention of the genre, the evil robber baron type has a noble and honest son who is unaware of his father's treachery and dark past. Oh yeah, there's also a wicked deceitful woman and a crazy old coot.

In fact, Spaghetti Western formula requires that the old coot and a beautiful but lower class Mexican woman help our hero out. And they sure do. You're life is pretty good if at every turn you have the help of a beautiful Mexican woman or a crazy old coot. You just know everything is going to be okay as long as you have the senorita and some jig-dancing, grizzled old bearded codger in red ass-flap jammies.

So far there's nothing to set this film apart from the rest of the pack. It plays it pretty much by the book, with one interesting twist. Gary arrives to deal out deadly justice on the night of a big storm and tornado. He uses guerrilla tactics, stalking around in the shadows and burial catacombs beneath the town, popping up from time to time to give his shotgun a workout and fill the bad guy's lackeys full of lead. Occasionally, he takes time out from his stalking and killing to ring the church bell, much to the annoyance of the bad guys and probably anyone else within earshot.

The storm and catacombs lend the film a more gothic, almost horror setting, which is appropriate for the creepiness that Kinski can't help but exude even as a protagonist. In fact, adding elements of horror and surrealism is how directors tried to keep the vengeance seeking stranger plots going while providing a new twist, and for the most part I'm a fan of the move. No one, and I mean no one, can do spooky imagery like the Italians, with the exception of French surrealist-horror director Jean Rollin.

Of course, you can't talk about any Spaghetti Western without mentioning the music. Even the worst Spag Westerns often have amazing scores. And God Said to Cain has a decent soundtrack by Carlo Savina, though it's nothing that really sticks in my head. Kinda bluesy sounding in a lot of spots.

The horror elements, along with a brisk pace and solid acting make And God Said to Cain a thoroughly enjoyable, if not entirely outstanding, piece of cinema. It doesn't stray too far from the formula, and it has no interest in sub-plots or anything beyond "Klaus Kinski is going shoot them," but even a generic plot can be great fun when done well, and it's done pretty well here. The horror elements and lurking about in the church lend the film a differentiating element that make the movie among the more enjoyable vengeance seeking stranger films around.

Labels: Director: Antonio Margheriti, Spaghetti Westerns, Stars: Klaus Kinski, Year: 1969