Kill the Wickeds Review: Difference between revisions

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* 1967  
* 1967  
* Dir: Tanio Boccia
* Dir: Tanio Boccia
* Cast: Larry Ward, Rod Dana, Furio Meniconi, Massimo Righi, Daniele Igliozzi, Vivi Gioi, Lisa Gastoni, Maria Silva
* Cast: Larry Ward, Rod Dana, Furio Meniconi, Massimo Righi, Daniela Igliozzi, Vivi Gioi, Lisa Gastoni, Maria Silva
* Music: Angelo Francesco Lavagnino
* Music: Angelo Francesco Lavagnino



Revision as of 13:58, 9 May 2013

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  • 1967
  • Dir: Tanio Boccia
  • Cast: Larry Ward, Rod Dana, Furio Meniconi, Massimo Righi, Daniela Igliozzi, Vivi Gioi, Lisa Gastoni, Maria Silva
  • Music: Angelo Francesco Lavagnino


The second spaghetti western of director Tanio Boccia, sometimes called the Italian Roger Corman, because of his ability to make movies in no time, with hardly any money. Some of his films are said to be awful, others quite enjoyable, and his fans (he seems to have a small but loyal cult following in Italy) call this his best movie. And yes, it is one of those hidden treasures the spaghetti western genre still has in stock for die hard fans, willing to look for the proverbial needle in the hay-stack. The film was almost completely overlooked when it was first released. Actually, it got so little attention that writer Mino Roli thought it was safe to sell the same story a few years later to producer/director Cesare Canevari, who turned it in one of the most bizarre genre entries of them all: Mátalo!


The criminal Braddock (Meniconi) is about to be hanged, but saved by a gang led by two of his lieutenants, the charming but lethal Randall (Mark) and the sadistic psychopath Laglan (Righi). After Braddock is saved all other gang members are killed, and the threesome plan a stagecoach robbery, with the help of Braddock’s girlfriend Shelley (Maria Silva). During the robbery Randall is wounded and left for dead, because Braddock is afraid Shelley is attracted to the younger man. The two men and the woman decide to bide their time in a ghost town and wait for the right moment to cross the border. At this point, influences of horror and erotica start to sneak in. The Ghost town is not completely deserted: at night a spectral old woman is haunting the place, starting small fires to frighten the visitors. And the breathtakingly beautiful Shelley, a long-legged, hip-swinging redhead, uses all her charms to drive Laglan crazy. Being a very suspicious man, Braddock hides the loot in a place only known to him. Things get even more complicated when a mysterious drifter (Ward) and a woman who has lost her husband in an accident ride into town. The two women hate each other from the start (and will have a delicious cat fight), while the man is brutally tortured by Laglan, but finally gets the better of him, thanks to his horse. New alliances are sealed and the widow and the stranger seem to get the upper hand, but then Randall pops up, his wounds healed, and things look different again…


Kill the Wickeds is an odd, uneven film. It most certainly suffers from its reduced budget (especially the stagecoach robbbery looks very amateurish) but at the same time it’s atmospheric, very violent, and often compelling; the pace is deliberate, leading to some sluggishness in the movie’s mid-section, but there are enough twists and turns to hold your attention and the finale is a direct hit. The ghost town is wonderful: dilapidated houses, overgrown with garlanding plants, the interiors hung about with cobwebs. Angelo Francesco Lavagnino’s score is a bit repetitive, but you won’t get that theme song out of your head for days. The cast of unknowns must have frustrated the film’s chances. The Americans Ward and Dana aren’t even B-actors and Righi, who plays the lunatic (and does so convincingly) is probably the most familiar face to spaghetti western fans. Gioi, who plays the older woman, had been a star in the previous decade and this performance was part of a brief comeback; she still looks far too young for the part of the spooky old witch (she was 49 at the time).


The Italian title Dio non paga il sabato (God doesn’t pay on Saturday) is an Italian saying, referring to the old custom of paying wages on Saturday night. The idea behind it is that God is not committed to any earthly habit, but will sooner or later pass his judgment on all mortal souls. The Ghost town is serving here as the catholic limbo, the flames of the final scene representing hellfire.


# Kill the Wickeds v. Matalo!

It cannot be denied that some things are done better in Matalo! Some of the characters are better defined and the part of the old woman is played by an actress of the right age. The stagecoach robbery is far more exciting and the horse kicks more convincingly (but it still is an very odd scene). Today the psychedelic visuals and score may feel dated, but to generations grown up with Timothy Leary, Easy Rider and Woodstock it was familiar fare. See for an analysis of the movie: Matalo! Review. Kill the Wickeds, on the other hand, is a more straightforward spaghetti western, despite those religious metaphors and influences of horror and erotica. It’s also the more nitty-gritty one: just compare the torture scenes in both films. The scene in which Meniconi is slowly, very slowly killed by Ward is particularly gruesome for a film made in ’67. Although I don’t dislike Matalo! I prefer Kill the Wickeds. It’s not a masterpiece, it has its share of flaws, but it’s a damn fine little spaghetti western, and warmly recommended.


--By Scherpschutter

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