The Cold Killer / Uccideva a freddo (Guido Celano, 1967)

[Mickey13]

Copied from the Spagvemberfest 2023 thread:

@Mickey13

This is more of an early style entry which is greatly variegated by the extremely cynical, psychopathic protagonist or anti-hero to be more precise; though the film introduces more of a regular leading man in the middle which subsequently gives rise to a romantic subplot of sorts, the motion picture predominantly relates the sanguinary vagaries of the central character who gains ground by means of murder, defraudation, manipulation and good manners and this is where movie’s primary strength lies; through employing the semblance of piety and probity, he wins the favor of the townsfolk and then proceeds to enrich himself through his arms trafficking scheme.

Although the execution turns out mostly standard without any prominently differentiating qualities, the unabashed psychopathy of its central character distinguishes the work; in spite of some superficial similaries to Black Jack in terms of how vile the protagonist is, that film likewise includes some mitigating circumstances and justification for the main hero’s savagery, whereas this oater’s leading man callously drifts through the storyline, disposing of people standing in his way and resolutely securing pecuniary advantages wherever and whenever he can with no scruples whatsoever. Though the flick does not really abound in action and tends to put more emphasis on drama, it succeeds by reason of its intriguing central character as well as of the satisfactory, albeit somewhat offbeat, story progression.