Matar ou Morrer

This film won't appeal to everyone, it's more for people that watch a LOT of movies and tired of formulas.

I can't quite tell you what this film is, at best it's a Weird Western and a good one. I did not know what was going to happen next, and the villains were the protagonists so that different as well.

The strong point is the dialogue, Graves and Meeks have created a patois that is completely captivating. I don't know that it's historically accurate, but it felt like it came from another time, and it made a lot of the scenes work.

Someone else can summarize the film, and those reviews are easy to find. I think that it's more important to set the proper expectation for this film. It doesn't fit neatly into any genre and it isn't predictable. If you can live with that, you're going to like this film.

What we have here is a good old-fashioned Western riddled with the ringing bells of mystery. It seems a simple tale starting with a prison break heading towards a mound of ill-gotten gold. What it ends up being is a mysterious semi-horror bodyfest with Indie gold written all over it.

I'm not a fan of Westerns, with only a few exceptions. I watched this on the recommendation from a friend, and glad I did so. After the first 10 minutes I was worried I would grow bored with the movie and eventually turn it off. However, as I continued to watch I got sucked in deeper and deeper until there was no turning back.

This movie entertains throughout with rare a dull moment. The ending is quite a surprise that I'm betting not many of you will see coming. While it's not a perfect film, it is a great watch that any fan of the genre will appreciate. Good use of budget, good scenery, decent acting (for the most part) and a great story make "Kill or Be Killed" a movie worth watching, even for folks who may not be huge fans of Westerns.

First of, let me say that I really don't understand the ratings any more! How is it possible that a redundant piece of CT... like 'the hateful eight' has a rating of eight while this name worthy spaghetti western only reaches four and a half?

Please, do not believe for a second that this score resembles anything of what the movie really is.

It had me going for the whole nine yards... The actors all fitted more than well for a western. They all did what they had to do and gave (although somewhat clichéd) their characters that distinguished touch.

From the very start it takes you on the ride and never lets you out of its grip. It's rough, bloody, humorous, a dash of mystery and even a little surrealistic touch near the end.

The dialogue never annoyed me because it was always straight to the point and never got out of touch with what was happening.

And hats of for the fact that the whole movie resides around the villains. It's not like I was really connected to them, but still I constantly was curious about what was going to happen next. Maybe you'll think I'm stating the obvious here, but let's be honest, if it was that easy to keep your audience interested, then there would be no bad movies.

They even did a very nice job with the music. No masterpiece, but still giving that spaghetti feeling all the way. It just felt good...

So, if you are in doubt and are reading this humble opinion, then please do not hesitate, just watch it! You will not regret it!

They left one little hole (definitely no pun intended) with that 'fine little whore', but it was nothing that bothered me in the end. I merely got a 'hmm, I wonder why she did this or said that'. Nothing severe though.

And yes, maybe I am overrating it with a nine, but I had to withhold myself for not giving it a ten because the current rating (I know, I'm repeating myself here, but I have to...) is truly despicable and totally unfair toward the makers! To those whom were feeling compelled to give this less than a seven I have only one thing to say: asinine.

There, I spilled my guts and if you watch the film, you'll know why...

Greetings again from the darkness - from the Dallas International Film Festival 2015. Co-writers and co-directors Duane Graves (from San Antonio) and Justin Meeks manage to hit all extremes with comedy, violence and drama as they trek across some of the roughest Texas terrain. Tongue-in-cheek westerns are rare, and this one never falls into true parody, but instead uses hyper-dramatic music and dialogue delivery to balance the gun play and hardened outlaw activities.

Mr. Meeks also stars as Claude "Sweet Tooth" Barbee, who is leading his band of outlaws across Texas in an attempt to re-claim the gold from a previously botched train robbery. The character name is from a real life outlaw and the actions are loosely based on real life train robber Sam Bass. Meeks is clearly having a ball playing the type of colorful bad guy that actors dream about.

Screen veteran Pepe Serna has a brief but memorable role, and one that is crucial to story development. He too, seems to relish the chance to play a nasty guy. The rest of the cast, many of whom were present at the screening, all seem to have bought into the vision … whether their character is quickly filled with lead or manages to eke out a line or two or three. Every movie lover will quickly recognize the actor playing the Doc as Michael Berryman from The Hills Have Eyes (1972).

The ringing of a bell, a young ventriloquist, twins, prairie land nightmares, a hooker with an ulterior motive, and family revenge all play a role as this group of outlaws is hunted by more than just the Sheriff as they make their way to the coast. With unusual lines of dialogue such as "Shut that puppet up", and a misleading sign that reads "Lodgers Welcome", Graves and Meeks deliver an unusual look at the old west and those that inhabited this rugged land.

The main problem for me is that I confounded nearly all the characters, all the actors, because I know any of them. The directing and acting are not awful but really bland, flat, only the story proposes something unusual, where there is no real heroes, no villains, no separation between both. That's pretty interesting. But this western looks very like all the other ones we can see since two decades now. I mean, forget the old fashioned classic Hollywood westerns, there is no connection at all with the fifties and even sixties American westerns, even Italian spaghettis westerns. This movie is not garbage junk though, not at all, that depends of what you seek, what you look for. I love this kid of unusual plot, despite all its weaknesses. I forgive everything.