And God Said to Cain

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Antonio Margheriti directs. Luciano Trasatti behind the camera. Carlo Savina scores. Nella Nannuzzi cuts. Produced in Germany, Italy. Dialogue in Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 156 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 2International production across 2 countries: Germany, Italy.
• 3Directed by Antonio Margheriti, shot by Luciano Trasatti. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Carlo Savina. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Nella Nannuzzi shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Klaus Kinski and Peter Carsten and Marcella Michelangeli carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "The darkest western ever made".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0064273 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Only 65 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

Luciano Trasatti

Original score

Carlo Savina

Editing

Nella Nannuzzi

Production design

Mario Giorsi

Costume design

Mario Giorsi

Runtime

101 min · 1h 41m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

IT

Certification (US)

U

IMDB

And God Said to Cain (1970) ↗

Also by

Antonio Margheriti

• 
  Manone il ladrone

  1974 · ★ 9.0
• 
  Whisky and Ghosts

  1974 · ★ 8.5
• 
  Castle of Blood

  1964 · ★ 7.1
• 
  Mr. Hercules Against Karate

  1973 · ★ 6.8
• 
  I Love You

  1968 · ★ 6.5
• 
  Treasure Island in Outer Space

  1987 · ★ 6.4

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2013-12-14
  ★ 8/10

  For Whom the Bell Tolls. And God said to Cain (E Dio Disse a Caino) is directed by Antonio Margheriti, who also co-writes the screenplay with Giovanni Addessi. It stars Klaus Kinski, Peter Carsten, Marcella Michelangeli, Guido Lollobrigida and Antonio Cantafora. Music is by Carlo Savina and cinematography by Riccardo Pallottini and Luciano Trasatti. When Gary Hamilton (Kinski) receives a pardon from his sentence at a prison work camp, he has only one thing on his mind; revenge on those responsible for his unfair incarceration. A ghost returns and he'll have, he'll have only one desire in his heart, only one thirst: Revenge. How wonderful, a Spaghetti Western/horror hybrid with scary Kinski as an avenging angel good guy! For the first 30 minutes the film looks to be building up a head of steam for a standardised Spaghetti Western, but things shift once Hamilton approaches town and night begins to fall. From here the film plays out as a Gothic horror involving Western characters, resplendent with big creepy mansion set in a shifty looking town that is cloaked in murky moonlight. The whole town teeters on the edge of panic as they know who is coming to visit on this dark night. Atmosphere is tightly coiled as things move in the shadows, windows blow open, strange sounds emanate on the impending storm, and the stench of death is everywhere. A bell tolls ominously, birds flee the vicinity, all while Hamilton moves about the town with deadly silence, even using a network of catacombs under the town that were left over from an aged Indian cemetery. The production value isn't high, but Margheriti maximises what is at his disposal to great ends. The sound effects work is simply terrific, with the shrill of the birds and the dripping water in the caverns playing a tune being particularly striking. There's inventive deaths, sublime scenes (love that rider less horse sequence and the Orson Welles mirror homage) and Kinski being ace as a ghoulish phantom taking a string from the bow of the Count of Monte Cristo. It's also great to find that Margheriti and Addessi give strength to the picture by way of psychological smarts within the characterisations. This is not merely a spooky revenge story, a chance to pile the bodies up, there is substance to the main players, their motives and means, their frailties and family fractures brutally laid bare. The dialogue is sometimes naff, the cliche's of Spaghetti Westerns rife, and of course not all the visual effects work like they should, but this is one moody and memorable movie that is well worth seeking out if you can see a decent enough print of it. 8/10

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• JPV8522021-08-12
  ★ 8/10

  Last one in the "Vengeance Trails" Arrow box set and probably the darkest one of the four. Really entertaining spaghetti western with more revenge, this one with Klaus Kinski as Gary Hamilton, coming back to town after being framed for a crime he didn't commit. Plot wise, not much different from what I've seen before, but the kills were pretty brutal (and can imagine especially so back in 1970) and never let up to the very end. 4.0/5

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• PR

  Produziones DC 7

• D.

  D.C. 7 Produzione

• PE

  Peter Carsten Produktion

  DE

Key crew

• ProducerGiovanni Addessi
• EditorNella Nannuzzi
• Production DesignMario Giorsi
• Camera OperatorGiorgio Di Battista
• Camera OperatorSergio Martinelli
• Assistant DirectorEva Koltay
• Set DecorationMario Giorsi
• Costume DesignMario Giorsi

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• spaghetti western
• eurowestern

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1970-11-04U

Also known as

International titles

• Cain's RevengeAU
• Y Dios dijo a CaínES
• Satan der RacheDE
• Et le vent apporta la violenceFR
• Un homme, un cheval, un fusilFR
• ...E Deus Disse a CaimBR