And the final genre for my Deucember was War films and I chose this American film shot in Italy. Another which I’ve had unopened on my shelf for a while and which was a nice surprise. Manages to approach the theme of child soldiers surprisingly well while also having a total blind spot in the sexual politics department. Rock’s rape of the captive German doctor leaves a nasty taste and, frankly, is completely pointless in terms of the story. Anyway, that aside, it is a nice little war flick that feels decidedly more European than American.
Resurrecting this thread from last year for anyone not too fatigued from Spagvemberfest who wants to dive straight in to the pleasures of Deucember.
Last year I covered 31 different genres from the Deuce list but this year I’m going to stick to just a few I really like. I’ll also be trying to watch a bunch of Blurays I have that I still haven’t got around to opening since I upgraded to them from the DVDrs I previously watched.
I’m starting off this Deucember with a splurge of Polizioteschi and first up was one of the best. Milian in full on nutter mode and dragging blue eyed Ray Lovelock along with him. Henry Silva does precious little as the main cop but this is all about Milian really. And with a classic death scene in the garbage pile to cap it all off. Brilliant. I watched the Shameless Blu which also has some nice interviews in the special features.
Another cracking Poliotteschi for day 2. This time from the fantastic Years of Lead box set from Arrow. Italian Ivan Rassimov plays the French bad guy while Frenchman Marcel Bozzuffi place the Italian cop hell bent on foiling his psychotic bombing spree of terror. Anything directed by Dallamano is usually pretty dependable and this is no exception. Top drawer Italian crime stuff.
My monthlong dive into Grindhouse Cinema begins with this action/hixploitation flick from regional maestro William Grefé. And for him, this one is a near masterpiece. Two dirt bike riding couples in search of a hidden cache of confederate weapons stumble upon a gang of hillbilly pot dealers, and all heck breaks loose. Pretty slick for Grefé, filmed in Panavision, with a good cast including Christopher George, Roberta Collins and the ever slimy John Davis Chandler as the main bad guy. Also a catchy theme song from Charlie Daniels. Yes, there’s a bit too much riding around on motor bikes, and a hillbilly assault of the wives stretches the heck out of the PG rating. This is probably the most “normal” movie Grefé made, and while it’s still a bit rough around the edges, it was pretty entertaining. 7/10
A rare modern day epic for legendary Shaw Brothers director Chang Cheh, this features most of the Venom Mob before there was a Venom Mob and makes a great showcase for Alexander Fu Sheng. The version I watched is the complete uncut version with the original downbeat ending, and I really enjoyed it, despite there not being much kung fu until the pretty spectacular and suprisingly bloody ending. Most of movie supposedly takes place in a laughably inauthentic San Francisco, where Orange Julius sells noodles, “dog sausages” (hot dogs) are $5 and come with a free Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, and everybody drives on the wrong side of the road. There’s some comedy, lots of melodrama, some good martial arts , and Fu Seng is very appealing. Not one of Chang Cheh’s best but quite entertaining. 7.5/10.
David Cronenberg’s fun race car movie gets lots of hate because it’s not a body horror film, but I loved it. Bill Smith vs. John Saxon plus Claudia Jennings = winner.
Another from the Years of Lead box set and this time it’s Maurizio Merli with out moustache hurtling around like a Mofo in a film that is essentially just one car chase after another. Massi’s direction is excellent though and the whole thing is quite a lot of fun. The villain is French again and therefore driving a Citroen obvs.
And another Poliziotteschi for today but this time an 88 Films Blu. Neither Lenzi nor Milian’s best in my opinion but entertaining enough for a Saturday afternoon.
The Hawaiian madness of Andy Sidaris all started with this one. It’s much slicker and cooler than most of those to come, thanks mostly to the great cast lead by William Smith. Super fun, and yes, boobs!
Well if the question were who was the first actor to play a guy named John Rambo, the answer would be Milian. But John Rambo, the character created by David Morrell in his novel “First Blood,” it would be Stallone. I need to ask Morrell if he ever saw the Milian film.
Intense, melodramatic and brutal Native American revenge flick turns bonkers in its last 40 minutes when Victor Mohica goes after racist rancher Ralph Meeker and his redneck goons. From David F. Friedman & William Allen Castleman.
Another Polizio from the Years of Lead box but it didn’t really fit the Grindhouse vibe despite the vicious murder that starts it off. Very low on action but a really engaging story and well directed by Salerno who’s more famous brother Enrico Maria steals the show with his portrayal of the newspaper man who proves himself a better detective than any of his counterparts in the police force. Interestingly the ending was forced on the director apparently after the initial ending was considered too downbeat. The downbeat ending is definitely better.
If a black screen to cut out horse falls in Bandidos seemed excessive to you how about a black screen to cut out mice fighting. I shit you not. That is what is cut in this otherwise pretty inoffensive polizio but fear not, you can still see the cut scenes in the extra feature interview with director Vittorio Salerno. Mice sent psycho by being shut up in enclosed environments in the lab fight to the death with any other mice they are subsequently confronted with. This is the central deceit of the story as 3 young men go on increasingly brutal rampages in response to their daily life frustrations. This is actually a nice little film and again well directed by Salerno and again featuring his more famous brother. Mice or no mice, I’d recommend it.
The weakest out of the 5 films in the Year of Lead box set but still not bad. Starts off well but loses its way as it goes on and starts to be dominated by filler in the way that Fidani flicks inject horses riding back and forth or have over long fist fights. In this though the filler is various women stripping down or getting dressed or getting into or out of bed with various blokes. I don’t mind a bit of flesh in these films but it all seemed a bit pointless.
Took a day off yesterday from the Poliziotteschi and watched a British / German co-production from 1974 which has a nice premise of a guy (James Coburn) who sets out to get rid of 4 possibly incriminating associates by getting them all to kill each other. Plays out quite nicely and has a really nice score from Roy Budd.
Back to the Polizios yesterday and Maurizio Merli in fine form bashing people in the face left right and centre. Love the fact that Milian and Merli disliked each other so much they only agreed to do this film if they never had to see each other. Even the final showdown where Milian tries to run Merli down in a jeep was shot separately on two different days.with stand ins for long shots. Not the best film of any of them in this genre but plenty to enjoy nonetheless.
