Rotten Tomatoes

Movies / TV

    Celebrity

      No Results Found

       View All       Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

      Kill and Pray

      1967 1h 32m Western List
      Reviews 47% 100+ Ratings Audience Score The son of a Mexican bandit finds a village that is controlled by a former Confederate officer who steals from the locals. Read More Read Less

      Where to Watch

      Kill and Pray

      Prime Video

      Rent Kill and Pray on Prime Video, or buy it on Prime Video.

      Audience Reviews

      View All (6) audience reviews
      Audience Member Definitely above average, but not one of my favourite spaghettis. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Americans must of been so frustrated in the 60's, Italians take there genre and make films that are on a whole new level compared to there PG-13 westerns. I think that's why films like Requiescant (aka Kill & Prey) go under the radar, because the American cinema is jealous of its gritty portrayal of life in the bleak and dangerous West, today practically any of the few westerns being pumped out of Hollywood today have learned to embrace there counter-parts, embracing spaghetti westerns as there 2nd cousin and using it great aspects in there own films. I'm gonna use it's alternative title because it roll off the tongue better, Kill & Prey is the ultimate spaghetti, gun shots, an unbelievably poetic characters and vengeance. This film had me at the beginning, the humble Mexicon family's rolling down the hill to there demise, the death would echo through the film until Requescant (the main protagonist) returns with the hand of god to strike down vengeance upon the. This films plot rolls down the hill top like a bat-out of hell without stopping, then by the end of its journey it stumbles and then falls into the rabbit hole. This film losted me, unexpectedly when for no reason, the working woman (prostitutes) help get Requiscant out of the clutches of the main villain for now reason at all. This film is 25 minutes to long, there is moment were the editor should have stopped had a smoke and talked the director into cutting out a whole load of un-needed, scenes, that almost destroy the films rolling motion from scene to scene. It loses a rhythm it has been following from the begging. But tries really hard at the very end to redeem itself. It's what you expect from a generic Spaghetti-western in the end, but does come close to getting back on it's horse and ride into the sunset. An okay western. But I defiantly like it. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member Starts strong enough, then it gets a bit too carried away with it's political agenda. Castel's character forgets about his initial reason to find Ferguson, and the speeches about aristocrats and the proletarian fill the second half. There are some great sequences, including a game of "rope", and Ortolani's score gives a good mood. Mark Damon's villain is cool, dracula cape and everything, more polishing in the story and this could had been even better. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member A religious figure that turns to violence? Sounds like a fine Spaghetti Western concept for me! Actually Kill and Pray is one of the best of the "forgotten" spaghetti westerns I have come across. By "forgotten" I mean not easily obtainable in the home video market and since it is so rare to find not many people have seen the damn thing. Hell the DVD I have from Wild East Entertainment is even out of print and I recently saw a copy sell for over $140. Yikes! That's a shocker especially I obtained mine for only $20 3 or 4 years ago. Our film opens with a slaughter and a young boy is traumatized by the killing of his family and friends. A passing pastor and his family find the boy and take him in. He is raised to be religious and in turn has become a pastor himself. All is well until one day he runs into the man that slaughtered his family and he then becomes tempted to stray from his strict religious life to get revenge! This isn't the first or last time a film will have a plot that revolves around a religious figure turning violent (hell it's most recently seen in the grand Book of Eli) but despite it's familiar story Kill and Pray (better known overseas as Requiescant) is made very especially considering its budget. Lots of sharp cinematography and stylistic shots supplied by Carlo Lizzani. I especially dug the final act which takes place in a burning church. My one complaint of the film would be our lead character portrayed by Lou Casteel. Lou Casteel has never impressed me in any spaghetti western and I found his portrayal of the torn religious gunfighter lacking. I never felt the emotional turmoil the character was feeling as he was tempted into violence. His portrayal gives me a little of a "what-ever" vibe. I however was impressed with Mark Damon's creepy portrayal as our head villain with homosexual overtones. This wouldn't be the first time a villain would have these overtones (see also Django, Kill!) but never before with this subtle creepiness! If you're a spaghetti western fan then I highly recommend this forgotten classic of the genre. I feel even casual spaghetti western fans will find aspects to like here. Is it worth a $140... well I wouldn't recommend anyone spending that kind of dough on a DVD. It's worth the hunt if you can find it for a reasonable price. It's just a damn shame it isn't more widely available so more fans can discover it. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member thanks mr. Carlo Lizzani for giving us such a treat good humor,good photography,good actors and Lou Castel is wonderful in the role of Requiescant Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member Requiescant aka Kill and Pray is a superior Spaghetti Western. I first came across it via Alex Cox's Moviedrome season on BBC 2 late at night in the early 1990s. It's a good shoot-em-up in its own right, but its also got some unusual plot aspects that make it stand out too. Eg, I've never seen the hangman duel re-enacted anywhere else in a movie. The film deserves to be better known and more widely available than it is. There doesn't seem to be a DVD version and it is rarely on TV. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

      Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew

      Photos

      View All Kill and Pray photos

      Kill and Pray

      Kill and Pray (1967) Kill and Pray (1967) Kill and Pray (1967) Kill and Pray (1967) View more photos

      Critics Reviews

      View All (3) Critics Reviews
      Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com It's a quality genre flick that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. Rated: 3.0/4.0 Sep 21, 2020 Full Review Sean Axmaker Seanax.com Thanks to the power of spaghetti western conventions, you don't need to know the history to get the message, and you don't need to embrace the message to appreciate the brutal justice. Feb 15, 2017 Full Review Christopher Machell CineVue A luxuriantly brutal film with a thematic fixation on conflicting moral codes. Rated: 4/5 Jan 17, 2017 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis The son of a Mexican bandit finds a village that is controlled by a former Confederate officer who steals from the locals.
      Director
      Carlo Lizzani
      Screenwriter
      Lucio Battistrada, Adriano Bolzoni, Franco Bucceri, Andrew Baxter
      Genre
      Western
      Original Language
      Italian
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Jan 28, 2017
      Runtime
      1h 32m
      Most Popular at Home Now