Already today I received the soundtrack CD for Kill The Wicked ! by Angelo Francesco Lavagnino.
The type of slow minimalistic beautiful themes (and two short faster ones), usually played with flute and/or organ with some guitar sometimes added,
I like most the music on track 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 (partly on 2, 3, 13, 14, 15, of the total 15 tracks).
The title song on track 1 The Price Of Gold is a totally different “pop song” but acceptable in the movie and of the same type as some other title songs on SW, for example on Cemetery Without Crosses.
However the also beautiful flute theme on the Kill the Wicked DVD’s Extras menu was not included. on the CD.
Anyhow it is tempting to upgrade Kill The Wicked to an 8/10 spaghetti-western because of the music and the movie otherwise is anyhow a new favorite of mine.
For the record that musical theme “Colt contro la luna” was not by Lavagnino, but by Gianni Ferrio and was part of the music in El Desperado/The Dirty Outlaws and can be listened to here YouTube Music
Paola Natale [as Paola Natali] is not listed on IMDb as an actor in Kill The Wicked! and I cannot remember her in the film. If she was there it was in the beginning as an extra, but impossible for me to identify. So it might be a mistake to include here.
Also watched this one and liked it a lot…I thought the opening was weaker than Matalos but ironically I think it went on to become the better film after that. Nothing too special I thought but pretty entertaining nonetheless.
Finally watched “Kill the Wicked!” after checking out “Matalo!” last week. Although different in style (the former a more of traditional western, the latter more artsy psychedelic), I really liked them both. This illustrates the strength of the premise. Though I think the weakness in the script that affects both for me is not really understanding the motivation for the characters to stick around in this town (at first they needed to wait for the girl, but after she arrives it becomes something about needing to wait before crossing the border… but can’t remember if it was ever explained why). It may seem like a small detail, but without more development it makes it feel like these characters are just artificially waiting for the next plot point. That having been said, I do enjoy watching these villains destroy each other in a morality tale that is best summed up through the wonderful theme song.
Though I would rank them both very closely, I do think I would give a slight edge to “Matalo” for its visual feasts and Lou Castell’s boomerang (which adds a fun layer to the man without a gun idea).
Yeah, that’s fine until certain moments arise, such as when the gang leader wants to steal the gold for himself, but for some reason, while everyone is sleeping, instead of riding out of town under cover of darkness, he takes the gold and… hides it in some hay?
There are small moments like that where the needs of the plot to keep them there seems to outweigh the wants of the characters, but it’s not catastrophic to the movie.
The first 20 minutes are nice but once the movie gets to the ghost town it completely runs out of ideas. It lacks any substance, it goes nowhere and it is just utterly boring. Weak 2/5.
