Réquiem por los que van a morir

IRA hitman Martin Fallon botches a hit, and accidentally kills a bus full of children, desperate to escape the life, Martin agrees one final hit, but is seen by a Priest, who tries to convince him to see the error of his ways.

I would class this as something of a hidden gem, and judging by the limited number of reviews, it sadly seems to have been largely forgotten.

One of my dad's favourite films, I'd watch it on a semi regular basis, and as of today, I'd say it hasn't lost any of its shock value, and certainly none of its grit.

It's a fairly bleak and dark story, the harrowing opening sequences set the tone, and remind us all just how bad 'the troubles' were, truly a violent and tragic piece of history.

Arguably it's a little corny in parts, and that ending is wild beyond belief, but the core of the story is excellent, and the cast all deliver terrific performances.

A pretty terrific cast, and Rourke, if ever you need reminding of just how good an actor he is, stick this on.

8/10.

Based on the Jack Higgins novel of the same name, A Prayer for the Dying follows an IRA hitman (Rourke) who has seen enough and wants to come clean. Chased the cops and the IRA as well as a notorious gangster, Rourke (as Martin Fallon) has to protect a priest who he has implicated in a murder. While some of the supporting actors aren't the most impressive, I think that this is Rourke's best work. He plays a man with a haunted past who wants desperately to put an end to the cycle of violence that has followed him for years.

Fine character portrayals by Rourke, Hoskins, Davis and Bates. If you don't generally think highly of him, don't be put off by Rourke starring; he shines in this ensemble piece . If you only think of Hoskins as a humorous figure, see this movie for a new perspective.

The plot is dark; the pace, at times, deliberate, but it maintains its intensity well, for most of the film, through to its satisfying, if somewhat abrupt, conclusion.

Recommended.

Harsh crime drama deals with a lonely IRA hit-man named Fallon (Mickey Rourke )sickened by the murder along with his partner (Liam Neeson) of innocent people in Northern Ireland . He is on the run but has to complete one last assignment , when happens to be witnessed by a priest (Bob Hopkins ) who becomes an unwitting associate when the killer hides out at the church . The execution is duly carried out , triggering off the rest of argument. Fallon long to quit , is a man with nowhere to run . He has come to London where is pursued by the Ira (Alison Doody) ,the police and a mobster (Alan Bates )and his brother (Christopher Fulfold) . Meanwhile the hit-man falls in love with the priest's blind niece (Sammi Davis).

This is a dramatic film , well paced , often interesting and never boring ; it's plenty of action , thrills, suspense , a love story and quite entertaining . This picture further afield both in terms of location and theme have not led to the full realization of his potential . Actors make a great job , Rourke sporting a decent Irish character , over-the-top Hopkins in a worthy role and fine performances from Alan Bates and Christopher Fulford as underworld kingpins. Very secondary acting of Anthony Head , subsequently famous as the teacher in Buffy Vampire slayer and Sammi Davis screen debut . The atmosphere is splendidly captured in steely color photography. Very good musical score by Bill Conti who composes a sensible and evocative soundtrack , much better than his Rocky saga . The drama that surrounded this film is all of interest and rarely tiring but small beer at box-office , then Hodges came to a grinding halt for some years . Furthermore , Mike Hodges and Mickey Rourke were not satisfied with terminated movie .

The motion picture is professionally realized by British director Mike Hodges of extraordinarily varied experience . After successful direction for TV thrillers , he encouraged to try for the big screen. He looked set for a solid career in urban drama after the success of his first movie ¨Get Carter¨ . He subsequently realized flops as the comedy ¨Pulp¨ and Sci-Fi as ¨The terminal man¨ and a lunatic farce as ¨Morons from outer space ¨. ¨Flash Gordon¨was his contribution to the big budget super-film until ¨The prayer for the dying¨ with action scenes are sharply , toughly staged , but achieved a limited success ; however being nowadays better deemed. Rating : Good 6,5 . The film will appeal to Mickey Rourke fans and thriller buffs .

Completely (and rather unjustly) forgotten today, this is an offbeat, interesting dramatic thriller based on a book that seems to lift its basic idea from Alfred Hitchcock's "I Confess" (actually, I haven't seen "I Confess" yet, but everybody knows its premise). The movie has a great cast and makes an earnest attempt to combine psychodrama with more traditional thriller elements. The main problem is that, once the basic situation has been (elaborately) set up, the story seems to get stalled and has nowhere to go. There is also a subplot, involving Liam Neeson in an early role as Mickey Rourke's old comrade in the IRA, that's ultimately just a waste of time. (**)