Dio non paga il sabato (1967) User Reviews

Interesting Spaghetti western, remade as MATALO! three years later.

[heybhc · 6/10 · 10 October 2009]

Larry Ward is toplined in this low budget Italian/Spanish oater for some reason; he has less screen time than the other male leads, except for Robert Mark, who disappears early on only to reappear toward the end. Ward was an American actor who had quite a few TV appearances, mostly in westerns, and appears suited to play the town storekeeper, or priest, or councilman, hardly a wandering adventurer. Mark has plenty of charisma as Randall, one of a quartet of killers who hole up in a wonderfully dilapidated ghost town, hiding out until they can escape over the border. Ben (Ward) and Judy, recently widowed, ride into town and are taken prisoner by the gang, who enjoy toying with them. Meanwhile the money has disappeared, Braddock (the fine Furio Meniconi), the leader, is growing agitated, and his lover Shelley is looking around for a better deal. This script was the blueprint for the later MATALO! which is virtually identical, with the addition of boomerangs. The remake is a little crazier, with the women dressing like hippies and wild camera-work, psychedelic music, and a Gothic atmosphere, but KILL THE WICKEDS is a good time for western buffs, available on a nice double feature from Wild East, teamed with KILL OR BE KILLED, also starring Robert Mark.

Italian/Spanish co-production full of frenetic action , peculiar roles , gun-play and lots of violence

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 5 September 2022]

Outlandish as well as violent Pasta/Paella Western that packs crossfire , rare events , action-filled with fierce fights , twists , turns , betrayal and exciting final . Saved his skin from gallows by two hoodlums , Braddock (Furio Meniconi as Men Fury) joins his saviours, Randall (Rodd Dana as Robert Mark) and Laglan (Massimo Righi as Max Dean) , along with his fianceé, Shelley (Maria Silva) . After robbing a golden-laden stagecoach, the bunch arrives in a scrawny village and they decide to hide the loot in a hidden location , where they perceive that there is something weird about it and only to realise that its only inhabitant is watching their every step. Meantime , a drifter (Larry Ward) helps a stranded widow and they accidentally walk into a band's hideout in the ghost town and he finds himself being tortured by the heinous cutthroats . Soon after , the band finds out that there only lives a suspicious old woman, crazy old Molly Verner (Vivi Gioi) , the authentic owner of the mysterious ghost town where dangers lurk and strange shadows show up . For money, for pleasure, for revenge, he doesn't care why he kills or how !

Atypical Spaghetti /Paella Western co-produced between Spain and Italy , plenty of thrills , violence , treason , and shootouts . Director Amerigo Anton achieved possibly his best work in a modest career , with some memorable scenes and shaky camera movement as the initial prologue and during the successive confrontations . Surreal Spaghetti mayhem at its finest , this meaty Western contains an interesting but twisted plot , violence , shoot'em up and results to be quite entertaining , though drags at times , balancing in ups and downs . It turns out to be a strange spaghetti Western , as you can bone up on the bloodier side of that genre ; including bloody , grisly killings in cold blood , crosses and double-crosses and anything else . It relies heavily on a complex narrative , a modern narration and an uneven screenplay , in which a former member of the gang bent on revenge, while a number of roles appearing and confronting along the picture such as a mysterious stranger, a beautiful widow, a nasty gang leader , a gunfighter woman , all of them having their hidden agendas. A good example of Latino western genre from Italy and Spain ; it is a daring , surreal scenario with an atmospheric God-forsaken ghost town . Being a notoriously exciting Spaghetti , so extreme in every way , it is one of the handful of great Italian/Spain Westerns that characterize for its peculiarity , rareness and offbeat events , such as : "Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot!" (67) by Giulio Questi , "Matalo¡" or "Kill Him!" by Cesare Canevari" , ¨And God Said to Cain" (70) by Antonio Margheritti or "Cut-Throats Nine" (72) by Joaquin Romero Marchent , most of them including eerie and terrifying elements . Stars the American actor Larry Ward as a fine Samaritan drifter who takes on the really villains at a ghastly town. Ward was a B-actor in a lot TV episodes from famous series as Cannon, FBI , MASH , Bonanza , Invaders or Gunsmoke . Then he emigrated to Italy and Spain to find fame and fortune , like Clint Eastwood and Richard Harrison , and where he played thrillers as Shadow of Death , Non sta bene rubare il tesoro and two Spaghettis : I'll Die for Vengeance and this Dio non paga il sabato(1967). Larry even wrote some films as The Deadhead virgin (1974) , Alfred Hitchcock presents (1955), Crackdown (1988) and The Dakotas (1962). Co-stars the attractive Maria Silva , a beautiful Spanish actress who at the time starred various Spaghetti/Paella Westerns such as : Los Cuatreros , Shades of Zorro ,Zorro the Avenger, Cavalry Charge , El Sheriff Terrible , Fedra West, Sartana Kills Them All .

Colorful Cinematogaphy in Eastmancolor by Giuseppe Aquari , being the exterior locations as the stage coach robbery and others filmed in Colmenar Viejo, Madrid, Spain, while the ghost town where much action takes place was shot in S. C. O. Studios, Acilia, Rome, Italy. As well as a thrilling and evocative musical score by prolific Angelo Francesco Lavagnino , including catching song : Il prezzo dell'oro composed by C. Danels and A. F. Lavagnino sung by Roberto Matano. The motion picture was professionally directed by Tanio Boccia , whose pseudonym was Amerigo Anton . "Peplum icon" Tanio Boccia hasn't exactly shown a lucky hand with his spaghetti westerns aside from the decent "They Shoot Themselves to Shreds" He made his SW debut with "For a Handful of Lead" , a western that can best be described as an average "A Fistful of Dollars" imitation. This was followed by "My Life for Revenge" and this ¨Deadly Trackers¨ . Boccia made all kinds of genres as Peplums, adventures and mini-epics , such as : Vendetta of Ivanhoe , La valle dell'eco tonante , Il dominatore del deserto , Maciste alla corte dello zar , I predoni della steppe , Sanson against pirates , Julio César,conqueror Gaul , Il trionfo di Maciste , Il conquistatore d'Orient , among others and of course , Spaghettis : Saguara , Kill or be Killed , Deadly Trackers and this Dio non paga il sabato (1967) . Rating : 5.5/10 . Average but acceptable and passable Spaghetti Western.

Movie had a wicked start, but it kinda killed itself toward the end.

[ironhorse_iv · 6/10 · 19 November 2014]

This movie made me absolutely livid, because this film honestly could had been one of the better Spaghetti Western films, I have ever saw; but instead, it plays out, really effervescence. 'Kill the Wicked' tells the story of a Good Samaritan drifter, Benny Hudson (Larry Ward) and a stranded woman, Jenny Matterson (Daniela Igliozzi), whom finds themselves being torture; when they accidentally walk into an gang's hideout in a ghost town. The ghost town backdrop gives the film, it's eerily unsettling creepy atmosphere, but the characters rarely act upon it. You never see them, show any fears of the place, they were staying at. The film could had use that as a psychology tool, showing the breakdown of the group, showing the complications and mistrust weaving its way into their plan. It could had play more of a paranoia factor cause by their lust of the gold. The movie doesn't capitalize on that, as it should have; because of this, the audience is left, wanting something really intense that never truly appear in the film. For the most part, the pacing is pretty bad. All the good action is in the beginning, as the movie continue to dull and hold off from the drama, until a badly deliver climax. Today, the psychedelic visuals are pretty dated. The haunted abandoned hotel looks like a cheesy left-over set from a Hammer Film Production. It was indeed low-budget. Director Tanio Boccia was sometimes called the Italian Roger Corman, because of his ability to make movies in no time, with hardly any money. The main lead, Larry Ward is a veteran American television actor, best known today for voicing the Jabba the Hutt character in 1983's Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. He was OK in the film, but his character is badly written. The movie tries to put a lot of religious metaphors with Hudson. He's a lame Jesus Christ archetype, character whom a drifter whom ride on a white horse, help people, only to get wipe, and tied down on a cross like tree. You see him get torture time after time, without much attempt to fight back. It got so lame in the action; that an animal and old lady had to do most of the work to save him. Once, he does, pick up a gun, he's does little to nothing, and let's most of the bad guys killed each other. He has little to no personality to claim for, and the movie kinda knows that, so they focus, most of time, getting to know the bad guys. The bad guys are well played. Men Fury AKA Furio Meniconi was great as the lead bad guy, Braddock. You really can't help, hating the guy. Massimo Righi AKA Max Dean plays the lunatic, a little bit over the top; that it's not convincing. He's probably the most familiar face to spaghetti western fans. Despite, getting second billing, Rod Dana AKA Robert Marks is barely in the film as Randall. His character really comes out of nowhere, just to make sure, the nearly pacifist hero, Hudson doesn't killed any of the bad guys toward the end. It's such a disappointment. One of the biggest drawn in the film is the erotica nature that comes from main vixen, Shelley (María Silva), who loves to sleep around to get closer to the gold. Maria is very attractive, indeed. Her near nude scenes were pretty sexy. Still, her character lacks anything else, besides a Femme fatale that is there to look pretty, and have catfight with All-American girl, Jenny. I like how the filmmakers put random shot of Jenny dropping a Bible is added in. We get it! The Ghost town is serving here as the catholic limbo, the flames of the final scene representing hellfire. The original title, '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. It's nice that they add religious overtones to the story; but they need to be craftier on it. Screenwriter Mino Roli would later, try to do this, by retelling the same story a few years later with producer/director Cesare Canevari in the 1970 film 'Mátalo!' with mixed results. The movie has one of the coolest opening credits to any Spaghetti Western film, with colorful animation sequence with title song about the price of gold. The song by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino & Gordon Scott is pretty catchy. Sung by Roberto Matano, the song seems more like a 1960s James Bond opening theme song, than a western theme. One of the biggest problems with the music is that the movie is overplayed, way too much, that it gets annoying. Other music throughout the film wonderfully enhances the atmosphere and action. The English dubbing isn't that, bad. It's a bit off, but not off-putting. Still, it was a bit weird that the English version left the production credits still stuck in the original Italian lettering. The movie is presented in an uncut version which I did watch. The picture is sharp, vivid and almost without much scratches. It was a decent transfer. Some versions of this film under the Wild East Distributors has this film as a double billing feature with the movie 1966's Kill or Be Killed, also directed by Tanio Boccia. Overall: It's a very uneven very amateurish little film. I can't recommended this film for Spaghetti Western fans. Watch 1970 film 'Mátalo!' instead.

Recommended, though there is one big problem

[Wizard-8 · 26 December 2012]

If you are a fan of spaghetti westerns, chances are that several of the ingredients in "Kill The Wicked" will be very pleasing to you. The movie is greatly atmospheric, for one thing, with the ghost town setting providing an eerie backdrop. Much of the movie's violent sequences pack a real punch as well. Also, Angelo Francesco contributes a musical score that is very flavorable, adding to the movie's grim and eerie mood.

The movie is not without fault, though. Actually, there is only one problem, but that problem is a pretty big one. The fault is that the movie is VERY slow and drawn out. There is probably only enough plot for about sixty or so minutes, but the movie is stretched out to almost ninety minutes in length.

While I am recommending the movie, it's under the conditions that you are a fan of the spaghetti western genre and can accept some faults, plus you happen to be patient. If you fit those two categories, then the movie definitely will have some rewards.

An Okay Flick, Nothing New Though

[FightingWesterner · 6/10 · 7 February 2010]

After a bloody stagecoach robbery, a nasty gang of cutthroats leave a wounded compatriot to die on the plains while they go hide out in a ghost-town and begin making hostages out of whoever comes along.

A shoestring spaghetti western with a fairly thin plot, this benefits from it's bright, colorful look and the fact that this is pretty interesting visually. The story is told primarily in pictures, with only sparse dialog for the most part. If you turn off the sound, you'd still get the gist of what's going on.

One thing I particularly enjoyed was the gang's lone female member. She was really cute and looked great in and out of her leather pants! There's definitely better Italian westerns out there, but a lot worse too. This is worth a look for fans who've seen everything.

unusual recipe for a spaghetti western

[jjr-76474 · 8/10 · 16 August 2021]

I have viewed and enjoyed this movie from a slightly different angle than most of the review i read, i consider it to be a very good to great low budget movie, very unique in style and atmosphere.

First instead of being shot in south Spain, it was shot for part in studio in Roma and for the outdoors shots, i'll bet on Piemonte as some of the rock formations and their erosion are very reminiscent of the plains of the Po and its lower alps. The all color tonality and feel is therefore very different from the Almeria area usual views.

Second, it is a western just because that was what the industry was churning out at the time, but it could easily have been made as a film noir or even a Hammer production, and there are moments when it does have distinctive characteristics of those. It is doom laden like the best noirs, and characters could actually be ghosts in a different set up and are at times filmed as if they were.

Past the exposition scenes, it becomes a huis clos in a ghost town, the essential set up for the demise of people who have already been stripped of most of their humanity.

Third women are the real power players here, they manipulate or push these men who are mainly driven by their lowest instincts: greed, lust, be it for guns or females, sadism, cowardliness... It is very nihilistic in tone and there is absolutely no heroics in the violence, no manicheism in the gunslinging.

This movie is about people without god, literally. From the title which refers the weekly pays being traditionally handed to the workers on saturday evenings, The timing of god has nothing to do with human expectations, and throughout the movie, be it a bible discarded to the side of the road ("there is nothing of interest for us here" comments one character), to an ending in hellish flames, where people hellbent on killing each other can be reunited in death with a weird tenderness.

Of course the shortness of budget shows here and there, like a horse still breathing after being supposedly mercy-shot, but all in all i very much advise to check out this movie.

Note: the entire plot was re-used to make a more psychedelic over the top western called Matalo, 3 years later. An effort i find less interesting than Kill the wickeds/dio non paga il sabato.

Top-notch spaghetti

[pmtelefon · 9/10 · 11 September 2022]

"Kill the Wicked!" (that's the title I watched it under) is an excellent spaghetti western. Spaghetti westerns can be hit hit or miss but "Kill the Wicked!" gets a hit on almost ever level. The movie looks great. The sets and locations are just right. The cast is also good with the standouts being Furio Meniconi and Maria Silva. Meniconi delivers a very strong performance and Silva is so wildly dreamy it's impossible to take your eyes off her. The only character that doesn't really work is the old lady. It doesn't work because the actress is obviously much younger than the character. An actress closer to the character's age would have been a lot less distracting. Other than that small demerit, "Kill the Wicked!" was a very satisfying watch that I plan on watching again very soon.