Reviews

It's hard to put my thoughts into words about this film. I write about movies a lot, but this one stumps me in a way because it is such a punch in the gut. There is a beautiful, romantic, tragic sadness about it, a melancholia falling somewhere in tone between the trenchant, pessimistic sexual/political works of Mauro Bolognini and Francesco Maselli, the sharp mix of realism and dark satire of Elio Petri and Dino Risi, and the magical realism of Fellini. Romy Schneider is perfect in the role of a larger-than-life woman - a living legend - a crusading widow of a slain labor leader with nothing left to lose. Ugo Tognazzi is the bullheaded owner of the factory where she works. There is a general strike not just at his factory but at all the affiliated factories in a consortium of bosses/businessmen who care only about the bottom line and nothing about the welfare or safety of their workers. The two characters, activist Schneider and boss (and former worker) Tognazzi begin the story hating each other, gradually form a grudging respect for each other and finally have a meeting of the minds that forms an alliance that will break the labor dispute impasse. But the other factory bosses are unhappy with Tognazzi's reforms, and soon an ominous shadow of doom forms around Tognazzi, isolating him and pointing to possible tragic climax. Ennio Morricone supplies one of his most beautiful scores. The composer was obviously moved by the film and performances, and it shows up in his simpatico, subtle underlining of the romantic, melancholic mood. Elegiac and memorable.

Bunuel doing an adventure movie is fine in my book. Why do people have to be such snobs when it comes to pigeonholing directors? Some of the films Bunuel made during this period, he may have been personally disappointed because he might have rather been making pix with subject matter more of his choosing. Nevertheless the things that Bunuel brings to this movie - the subtle deadpan humor throughout, the irreverent politics, the surreal touches (especially in the last third of the film when our fugitive protagonists are in the jungle) -- make this a gem.

Plus Georges Marchal, Charles Vanel and Michel Piccoli are stupendous. And Signoret is in a class by herself. Not only was she one of the most stunningly gorgeous and sexy actresses in movies anywhere in the world in the 1950s, she was also a great actress and perfect here as the unrepentant, mercenary whore who falls in love. The last jungle sequence has some of the most beautifully surreal images in any film from the decade. The new DVD is highly recommended. A really perfect balance of elements.

This was a great idea for an updated Americanized version, but it really irks me that, at least in the writing credits listed on IMDb and all of the reviews I've read of this film in print and blog media, no one mentions that this is an uncredited updating and remake/rethink of Kazuo Koike's LONE WOLF AND CUB series (manga and movies and TV show from the 60s/70s). I know it was commonly acknowledged that that's what Collins' graphic novel was based on. But here in the movie credits - nothing (unless I'm seriously missing something). It is so obvious to anyone who has seen this film as well as the LONE WOLF pix. Hanks is Itto Ogami, his son is Ogami's son Daigoro and Newman is Lord Yagyu. I hate sh*t like this where there is no credit mentioned. Like Collins and his partner Rayner and screenwriter Self and director Mendes just came up with this idea totally out of thin air. It seems likely Fox must have come to some kind of financial agreement with Toho, Katsu Productions and Koike about the film because, to me anyway, the similarities really are enough to be actionable in a legal arena. It's an even more blatant copy and much more obvious than when Kurosawa adapted (also uncredited) Dashiell Hammett's RED HARVEST to samurai times in YOJIMBO.

I will echo most other sentiments here. This is one of those fallen-through-the-cracks classics that deserves to be rediscovered. Perhaps it has lapsed into obscurity because it was released by Allied Artists, a company long out of business, and the rights to the film are now owned by Warner Brothers. I am hopeful, since they have recently released other AA titles such as BILLY BUDD and will soon release some low budget AA sci-fi like THE GIANT BEHEMOTH, that perhaps there is a glimmer of hope this forgotten gem will once more see the light of day. It really remains one of the most haunting genre films ever made, solid as a horror film, but really transcendent of genre, much as James Whale's original FRANKENSTEIN. The film is quite moving without resorting to the sentimental. Albert Band's direction is straightforward, yet very poignant and insightful. Although Band shows Whitmore's character, though brain-damaged, is clearly harmless, through the atmospheric B&W photography, much of it at night, we are drawn into the nightmarish hell of Whitmore's existence and the small town mob mentality that makes it even worse. The level of acting is first rate, from James Whitmore as the tragically disfigured handyman to Cameron Mitchell as the doctor, his former employer, one of the only people who sticks by him after his fiery accident. The supporting cast is likewise superb, including Bettye Ackerman, Royal Dano, Richard Erdman, Lois Maxwell. The whole film has a very strange ambiance, perhaps working even better since it was shot in Sweden in late 19th century period locations standing in for small town America. The barely noticeable off-kilter feel of the architecture, the perpetual dreamy twilight of the night scenes, the exquisite music score by Erik Nordgren add immeasurably to the surreally nightmarish storybook feel. The ending is also incredibly moving without being push-button manipulative. A really superior little film. Write to Warner Brothers Home Video and tell them to release it on DVD! Originally posted the preceding remarks several years ago. I was hoping Warner Archive would have released this by now on their manufacture-by-demand service; but still NOTHING. And yet 50% of the more obscure B movies they release are forgettable programmers or, even worse, dreck. They're still dragging their feet on other releases, too, that you would have thought they would have put out by now (such as full seasons of the cult TV favorites "77 Sunset Strip" and "Hawaiian Eye"). Write them for a DVD release on FACE OF FIRE!

This movie is no sci-fi/horror masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination. But it is far better than most of the reviewers on IMDb would have you believe. It was originally released here in the USA on the second half of a double bill with the somewhat better ISLAND OF TERROR with Peter Cushing. I convinced my dad to take me to the drive- in for the bill when it was released, but it was a school night and he wouldn't tumble to staying for the second feature. Since then, it has been notoriously hard to track down. I finally saw it about a year ago and was surprised on how entertaining it was, especially considering how I had read various disparaging things about it in the interim. It does borrow elements from the earlier FLY pictures as well as the Karloff film, THE INVISIBLE RAY, and is by no means particularly original. However, since when does that really detract from the enjoyment factor of a low budget, sci-fi monster film? For the most part, you better resign yourself to that going in, or else stop watching films altogether. In its favor, it does move at a fast pace, has decent actors and color cinematography, some nice grisly shocks and certainly decent effects for a low budget sixties film from England. An added bonus, there is a distinctly assertive heroine scientist played by Mary Peach, a character who remains in possession of her wits, and aggressively intelligent without being obnoxious (her character is the sympathetic colleague of Bryant Halliday who becomes the tragically disfigured, death-dealing PROJECTED MAN) Undeserving of its bad rep.

Although I only read Superman, Justice League and Adventure Comics for a short period in the early 1960's as a kid, I have to say Richard Lester's SUPERMAN II, even with all its faults, is far superior in matching the feel of them to Donner's original first SUPERMAN. If Lester had never heard of nor seen Superman comics as one commentator here claims, there certainly must've been someone on the production who understood the comics (or else Lester did massive research catch-up). SUPERMAN II has the closest feeling to a comic book of all the SUPERMAN movies without the bloated self-importance and generic homogenized look of Donner's original. I know the first was photographed by the great Geoffrey Unsworth, but you could have fooled me. I saw the first film when it was originally released and thought it looked - well, dreary, half-baked. Seeing part of it again recently only intensified this impression. Unfortunately, Lester did really fall down on SUPERMAN III which was just plain terrible - if he really wanted to go totally absurd, he would have been better served in bringing in characters from the Bizzaro World alternate universe of the '50s/'60s era comics (something the movies have unfortunately never tapped!), rather than the totally-out-of-place and poorly conceived Richard Pryor character.

Another commentator was wrong about Lester never having directed any epics - he directed THE THREE MUSKETEERS and FOUR MUSKETEERS in the early-to-mid seventies which had stellar casts and just the right balance of action and humor as well as fairly well-done period atmosphere.

Man, it is hard to digest some of the bile and acrid animosity of many of the comments here. I saw this when it first came out right as I was about to graduate high school in 1970, and I loved it. I had not read John Barth's novel, so I had no prejudice about the approach. I have watched the film a couple of times since on video (though it is virtually impossible to find) and must testify it more than holds up. Stacey Keach really gives a great, subtly nuanced performance (perhaps the best of his career when he was still getting 'serious' roles) as the guy plagued by occasional catatonia, and James Earl Jones is also fantastic as a brilliant, maverick innovator of psychiatry (think Wilhelm Reich by way of Malcolm X) who, at the end, may be a bit too godlike for his own good. I personally think Terry Southern is a wonderful writer, and I love all of the films from his work from the more favorably acknowledged, like DR. STRANGELOVE and MAGIC Christian, to the less so (CANDY, which is probably my favorite). There are some crazy juxtapositions here as well as absurd humor (that would do the 1920s-30s surrealists proud), but the humor is not stupid by any means. Director Aram Avakian and Terry Southern were a good pairing. It's too bad that they never did another film together. I can only guess that this dark, dark comedy that is about America in the sixties and about human vulnerability, hubris and arrogance touched many raw nerves with not only some of the IMDb commentators, but the few people who saw it on its initial release. A totally uncompromising picture with the courage of it's twisted convictions. The intention of director, screenwriter and cast was to rattle complacent, uptight people's cages -and, judging from the invective here, I'd say they succeeded in spades. I will echo: whomever owns the rights to END OF THE ROAD, put it out on DVD - NOW!

This is a really superb neo-noir and simultaneously realistic look at downtown Los Angeles in the beginning of the seventies. Jason Miller is perfectly cast as Cooper, the morose ex-carny-roustabout-turned-lower-echelon-crime figure. He functions as a semi-independent mob overseer of the storage and fencing of stolen merchandise for an eclectic variety of underworld thieves that cut across all racial divides. The crux of the story involves Cooper trying to close a deal on the purchase of a whole block of abandoned rail warehouses in the derelict 5th and Alameda area of downtown L.A. If he can't pull it off, it may mean the end of not only his career but his life. Director Robert Mulligan is an extremely uneven director having helmed decent pictures like TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, THE SPIRAL ROAD, UP THE DOWN STAIRCASE and BABY, THE RAIN MUST FALL as well as sleepers like THE OTHER. But he's also had his share of clunkers like SUMMER OF '42. However, THE NICKEL RIDE is his masterpiece. Many of things that others seem to find fault with in the film is exactly what makes the picture so unpretentious and sublime. You really have to pay attention to the dialogue and interaction of characters to get the back story and relationships. Something that most viewers are either unable or unwilling to do. They want everything handed to them on a silver platter. The beauty of this film lies not only in the exceptional, low-key, non-showy performances from every single actor involved, but also the visceral evocation of the dying-on-the-vine area of downtown L.A. -- whole blocks of which have not changed much since the making of this film. Equally brilliant is the almost imperceptible building of suspense through the gradual ratcheting-up of understandable paranoia in Cooper's character. By the time of the climax the unseen aura of impending doom -- a feeling which is so borderline we're not sure if Cooper is right-on or is imagining the whole thing -- is really disturbing. There are a couple of violent shock sequences in the last third of the picture that really pack a wallop because of the orchestration of elements. As mentioned by someone else here at IMDb, THE NICKEL RIDE does take the same low-key genre approach as similar neo-noir FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE and HICKEY AND BOGGS -- and it stacks up very favorably alongside them, easily equaling their masterpiece status. Highly recommended. However, the movie was such a flop on initial release I doubt Fox will ever release it on DVD. But keep your eyes peeled because they do run it occasionally letterboxed on the Fox Movie cable channel.

It seems like everyone's opinion on this movie is evenly divided. People either love it or hate it. Personally, I am not a Chevy Chase fan by any stretch of the imagination. But I like many of William Friedkin's films so I wanted to give this a chance and went in without too many preconceptions.

It obviously can't stand up to a comparison to DR. STRANGELOVE as a few here have done. However, it still remains a fairly on-target, unflattering satire of the weapons industry and by extrapolation, other mass production industries that love to sell the government and public crap product cosmetically hyped as the next great answer to all their fears and desires, product that ends up being useless or obsolete within a year (if it even works properly in the first place). There are some pretty funny scenes sprinkled throughout and I was pleasantly surprised through the whole film how much dark, subversively funny jabs Friedkin gets away with. Especially in a big studio movie.

There's one scene in particular that makes the film well worth seeing --Gregory Hines (I believe it was him) gets into a verbal altercation with another extremely hotheaded driver (a maniacal Tony Plana) (over a fender bender? it's been a while since I've seen it) -- the verbal sparring quickly escalates into a life-threatening situation and the emotional dynamics the two actors bring to the scene is scarily believable while remaining extremely funny. This scene alone provides a microcosmic metaphor for the provocations of nations going to war and perfectly illustrates the pointless absurdity of aggressive behaviour in general. Also of note, it's great to see the underrated Vince Edwards in a large supporting role as the ruthless air weapons manufacturer.

DEAL OF THE CENTURY is never less than amusing and has some extremely funny sequences -- much better than many of these IMDb reviews would lead you to believe.

Once again Umberto Lenzi and Tomas Milian deliver the goods. I was recently lucky enough to finally get ahold of an uncut Italian DVD of this (though the English version on it is dubbed not subtitled). It was my first time seeing it, and I was continually (and pleasantly) surprised at how the unfolding narrative, charging ahead like a runaway locomotive, confounded my expectations. This ultra-violent film has some of the most shocking moments from any film from the seventies and constantly grinds up cliches and spits them out like so much shredded celluloid. Utterly mesmerizing, in part due to the jawdropping performance of Milian as the psychotically sociopathic, wisecracking kidnapper. But Lenzi's direction and the script by Ernesto Gastaldi (veteran of some of the finest giallos)deserve credit, too. Although it's great to see Henry Silva in a substantial role as the doggedly pursuing detective, his performance is a bit uneven, unbelievably wooden in some scenes, over-the-top in others. Supporting cast Ray Lovelock, Anita Strindberg and Laura Belli are all great.

It's hard to believe that some of the folks supplying comments here found this boring! Thoroughly downbeat and uncompromising, refusing to deliver a happy ending for any of the characters, it's one of the great, gritty, up-from-the-gutter trash classics from seventies Italian cinema. Highly recommended. If you love this kind of movie and have still not seen it, search it out!

Richard Sarafian is a decidedly underrated director. After finally seeing this, it's satisfying to report his VANISHING POINT was not a flash-in-the-pan. FRAGMENT...does not move at the same pace, nor does it get the viewer involved quite as quickly, but once you're about twenty minutes in, you're hooked until the end as Sarafian and screenwriter Dehn continually manipulate reality and our perceptions of it, along with lead character David Hemmings' perceptions of it. Really brilliant in the way it portrays a matter-of-fact unfolding of events that seem like a conventional, yet still insidious conspired-murder-by-blackmail-ring plot. But then we're constantly shown by the dialogue and actions of other characters that these events we've just witnessed may never have occurred. As an audience, we're constantly being shifted back and forth, momentarily convinced that recovering-addict-turned-successful-writer Hemmings is undergoing paranoid delusions, then the next moment convinced there really is a vast conspiracy against him and his investigation into his rich aunt's death. Disturbing and constantly involving, sucking the viewer in until the shocking conclusion. Unfortunately, the film's one real liability, which may in fact be the reason for some viewers' antipathy toward this film, is its totally inappropriate music score. Not only is the score mixed too loud on the soundtrack, it repeatedly draws attention to itself, often diffusing the effects Sarafian is trying to achieve. If only they had gotten someone like John Dankworth who could have composed a similar jazzy score but much more subtly and in keeping with the film's rhythms. Of course, even better would have been Ennio Morricone, someone who had already scored many Italian giallo thrillers that had attempted to play with reality in a similar way. Whomever hired Johnny Harris made a big mistake. His score is the one thing that keeps this from being a genuine little masterpiece.

When THE KILLER ELITE'S in its first ten minutes or so, when James Caan's character is betrayed by his best buddy (Robert Duvall), one really believes they are getting expertly primed for something powerful, awesome -- but it's something that Peckinpah never delivers.

Occasionally what could have been shines through. But more often than not what one gets is convoluted plot, meandering flabby narrative (it goes on way too long during Caan's rehabilitation and then later during the nocturnal wharf standoff before the end) and empty macho posturing.

There are a few great moments here and there of cynical, sarcastic interaction between Caan's coldblooded superiors (Gig Young and Arthur Hill) but nearly everything else is a washout. James Caan is insufferably obnoxious. And what can one truly expect when Burt Young delivers some of the best lines? It gets worse -- more meandering story, lazy editing, lackluster music by Jerry Fielding who usually is at the very least competent and some of the worst fight sequences I've ever seen in an action film. The decent shootout in Chinatown right around the midway point is the only exception.

Admittedly this was before Yuen Wo Ping or other imported Hong Kong experts were choreographing Hollywood movie fights, but the kung fu and martial arts on display here aren't even on the level of some of the worst made-for-cable-only-shown-at-3 A.M. crap from the late eighties (which are nearly as pathetic). The final anemic, terribly-edited fight on board the ship at the end (with some of the wimpiest ninjas you'll ever see) is painful to watch.

Not only is it hard to believe that Peckinpah directed this, it's equally hard to believe that Sterling Silliphant, someone who actually wrote some decent thrillers, was one of the writers. Unbelievably, Peckinpah directed one of my favorite American movies from the seventies right before this--BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA.

For a similar thriller with very similar themes, Peckinpah's vastly underrated, often trashed final picture, THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND, is so far superior to THE KILLER ELITE it's not even funny.

There are a lot of people who really hate this movie. Then strangely they go on and on detailing the things that bother them about it but that they also find fascinating and relentlessly hypnotic.

It's unfortunate that people are so rigid in their definition of what makes a 'good' movie.

Norman Mailer is by no means a terrible director. He actually does a very credible and commendable job of adapting his own novel to the screen. The dialogue is at times overblown and purplish, but it is never boring and frequently it's downright brilliant.

Every performer acquits themselves well, even Debra Sandlund as Patty Laureine, Wings Hauser as the sociopathic macho police chief and John Bedford Lloyd as the eccentric, messed-up millionaire, all of whom can be accused of overacting. But ultimately their performances are completely in tune with their insane characters and draw us into a nasty labyrinth of twisted emotions and nightmarish memories. Ryan O'Neal actually gives one of his finest performances as an alcoholic loser who has messed up his life and who is so prone to blackouts, he's not even sure if he's killed someone. Lawrence Tierney is excellent as his tough guy dad who helps him make sense of the chaos in their small-shut-up-for-the-winter-and-consequently-spooky-as-hell Provincetown coastal neighborhood. Isabella Rossellini is also great in what appears to be an, at first impression, thankless role, but who in fact turns out to be the character who gets the last word and the best revenge.

The great thing about this film is it manages to have its cake and eat it, too. It's not only an at times very creepy modern film noir, it's also a frequently hilarious black comedy. Also, contrary to some people's perceptions, the film has a complex narrative structure that pulls the viewer in, much like the best mysteries. If you go in not expecting a conventional mystery thriller but more of a cross between David Lynch, Roman Polanski, Jules Feiffer, Hal Ashby and maybe Arthur Penn(when he directed NIGHT MOVES), I guarantee you you will not be disappointed.

Despite the other good comments here, I was really shocked at the number of others who put in their two cents who hated this movie. I saw it in a theater shortly after its original release, then several times on video in the late eighties. I hadn't watched it again until a couple of nights ago, mainly as a reaction to seeing some of the imbecilic remarks here. It's scary because after seeing the film again I realize that Hollywood has alot to answer for in manufacturing twisted junkfood audience expectatations with their atrociously slick homogenization of already shallow stories, push button audience emotion manipulation... oh, well, you get the idea. People fed a constant diet of McDonalds don't recognize a good steak when they bite into one.

PADRE PADRONE integrates nearly documentary footage seamlessly with a very realistic, often funny, often poignant but never manipulative depiction of what it's like to grow up the first born son of a nearly impoverished Sardinian shepherd. The beatings the boy receives from his tyrannical father are convincingly shown but in such a way that, especially if you've ever been on a set or involved in filmmaking, you can see that the punches and slaps could be easily pulled without the audience knowing it. The boy's struggle as he grows into a man to express himself and learn how to read and write, no matter how fierce his father's opposition, is truly inspiring because it is so matter-of-fact, so intense but without a shred of the narrative tricks (such as treacly music cues) that Hollywood would pull to needlessly manipulate cheap audience emotion.

There's one scene right near the end just before the young man leaves home again for the final time where he has to go to retrieve the family suitcase from under his parents' bed. His angry, powerless dad sits on the edge as his son gropes under him for the suitcase. The two have already come to blows and life-threatening words. Suddenly the young man sinks his head against his father's leg in a brief second of weary contradictory affection. His father instinctively moves his hand to, at first, comfort the boy. But before his fingers can even touch his son's hair he is possessed by temper and raises his hand to strike him instead. However, we don't see if he strikes him or not because the Tavianis cut to black then we next see the son leaving town, going on to his destiny as a linguist and bestselling writer. This simple scene is one of the most unbearably moving in any film from the last thirty years and indicative of the general excellence of the entire movie. The Taviani brothers have made many other good films from ALLONSANFAN with Marcello Mastroianni, through this, through NIGHT OF SHOOTING STARS and the excellent, 3 hour long anthology of stories by Pirandello, KAOS.

Once again we have some disparaging IMDB user comments for a euro-or-otherwise-foreign-source film that does not conform to the user's safe, comforting criteria for narrative structure, sound (in this case the dubbing -- which is actually not bad), or subject matter.

This film is an extremely entertaining psychological thriller with Carrol Baker excellent as a rich American widow getting away from it all at a secluded Italian villa. Enter smart aleck down on his luck playboy, Lou Castel, who has some golddigging motives behind his slick hipster seduction techniques and has no qualms about how he gets what he wants. He encourages Baker's character's incipient alcoholism and dubious self-esteem, brings in his supposed 'sister' to help drag Baker even further into a maze of sick mind games, drug addiction and group sex, all culminating in a descent into near-madness and self-destructive depravity.

I won't give away anymore, suffice to say that the film delivers on its swinging sixties, Euro sleaze ambience and psychological suspense thriller credentials in spades. Director Umberto Lenzi's work has been, at best, uneven and he's churned out his share of crap. However, he made some quite good giallos and crime pictures in the sixties and seventies and this is one of them (other good films by Lenzi -- SPASMO, SEVEN BLOODSTAINED ORCHIDS, ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON, to name only a few).

Unfortunately this film is ofen confused with another okay but not-quite-as-good Lenzi film that was also released briefly here in America under the same PARANOIA title (but is more commonly known, especially on video, as A QUIET PLACE TO KILL).

This is an underrated, truly great film on the subject of slavery, sexual hypocrisy and the haunted, hothouse atmosphere of generations of white bad karma in the 19th century deep south. There are some who've commented here who get it, others who don't want to get it because it's just too truthful and disturbing. These folks undoubtedly would prefer a TV sanitized version of slavery as in ROOTS. It's a testament to Richard Fleischer's integrity that he was able to pull this off. All performances are excellent (well, that's not strictly true as Ken Norton stumbles his way through but Fleischer, through his direction and editing gets an adequate job from him), including superb James Mason (one of his most brutally fearless roles as opposed to the nadir of his career as one IMDB commentator puts it). One of the things that's most disturbing about the film is the depiction of the consequences of slavery, racism and hypocrisy on the white race, how it warps son, Perry King's natural tenderness towards Brenda Sykes into a horrifying insecure paranoia that evolves into aberrantly exaggerated jealousy and sexually motivated violence by the climax. And poor Susan George's character is driven totally mad by her husband King's neglect and jealousy and the semingly contradictory tender erotic ministrations of slave, Norton. Mason reaps what he sows at the end and King's upbringing (and inferiority complex) is ultimately too much for him in the end, taking him down the same road to hellish oblivion.

If one wants to see a truly lurid, exploitive treatment of the same subject (although very entertaining also with a great cast -- Warren Oates, Isela Vega, Yaphet Kotto, et.al.) one should look no further than MANDINGO's sequel, DRUM. However, MANDINGO is different. It does contain some lurid, super charged sexual images and shocking cruelty and violence -- but Fleischer's treatment is matter-of-fact, in-your-face and ultimately totally unpretentious. It walks a tightrope but courageous director Fleischer never stumbles. The gritty, extremely realistic location and production design add to the disturbing ambience. Unflinching, beautifully shot (I saw this in the theater when it was released and at a rare revival screening in 2000) and undeserving of it's pariah reputation.

I don't know how the uncut Italian version runs, but the American version released by Aquarius under the ASSAULT W/A DEADLY WEAPON title is probably one of the most fastmoving, violently over-the-top Euro crime movies you'll ever see. The closest thing I could compare it to would be Kinji Fukasaku's early 1970s yakuza movies like BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR & HUMANITY series(aka THE YAKUZA PAPERS) with Bunta Sugawara or Kosaku Yamashita's TRUE ACCOUNT OF THE YAMAGUCHI GANG (released here in fastmoving but severely edited form as THE TATTOOED HITMAN). Although not as well written as its Japanese counterparts, Dardanco Sacchetti's screenplay is suitably deranged with Maurizio Merli portraying an apoplectic, hot tempered cop who makes Dirty Harry seem like a flower child. Super charismatic Tomas Milian is stupendous as the wisecracking hunchback psycho villain who occasionally likes to gratuitously machine gun innocent bystanders. My only problem with the English voice dubbing is that they didn't have Milian, who speaks English and dubbed many of his films himself, do his own voice. The guy who does it isn't terrible but it would have definitely added another aura of dementia with Milian's own vocal performance. Also unfortunately whomever the fast buck artists were who released the film here to USA grindhouses back in the 1970s created a completely fictitious credit list for the titles where Merli, Milian and even American movie veteran Arthur Kennedy receive no screen billing whatsoever. A crime! Likewise the adrenaline pumping, nerve pounding score by Franco Micalizzi and Umberto Lenzi's expert direction (this is the best film I've seen by Lenzi by the way) are credited to imaginary persons. Although it has a completely predictable cliche-ridden story, the treatment is fresh, the dialogue memorable (and often hilarious) and the ultra violence and degenerate depravity continous. Strangely satisfying and watchable as only the best of grindhouse cinema can be. As one of the other reviewers asked, where's the DVD release!?

Contrary to some of the other imdb users' comments, CITY OF LOST SOULS is one of Takashi Miike's most entertaining films. While not possessing quite the same intensity or shock value of other Miike masterpieces like DEAD OR ALIVE, CITY...nevertheless is fastmoving, balances comic book tall tale surrealism expertly with plenty of violence, sick humor as well as the doomed love story -- what more could you ask? It is NOT the run of the mill generic, mediocre, forgettable action film that most great action film directors are turning out these days. And it involves you with the characters (a multi-ethnic melting pot -- which, as astounding as it may seem to some incredulous viewers, is what major Japanese urban centers are like in this day and age -- by the way, Brazil, home country of lead halfbreed character,Mario, has one of the largest Japanese immigrant populations in the world). If you enjoy Miike, don't miss this. It's his most romantic film (!) without sacrificing any of the blood, the dark, dark humor or bizarre imagery we've come to expect from this unpredictable genius.

The best of the Zatoichi series, with Shintaro Katsu appearing very spry for someone who was almost sixty at the time. If you watch expecting non-stop swordfight pyrotechnics, you're going to be disappointed -- although there are several spectacularly choreographed swordfights, especially the massacre at the climax as well as some surprisingly bloody gore (it should be remembered Katsu produced the Lone Wolf and Cub movies starring his real-life brother, Tomisaburo Wakayama). This is very much a saga type picture, with blind masseur Ichi approaching elderly status but still wandering the backroads of 1860's Japan, gambling and being pursued by bounty hunting yakuza and lone wolf killers. One of the rewarding things about the film is that Katsu encounters old friends like beachcomber Norihei Miki. He also befriends a destitute artist samurai (Ken Ogata) who is conflicted by the bounty on Ichi's head but dismayed because fatalistic, wisecracking, warmhearted Ichi is the only person he can relate to! There are many other great character actors here such as pockmarked Yuya Uchida as one of the craven yakuza bosses. Katsu's real-life son, Takanori Jinnai appears as the scarfaced young upstart rival boss out to take control of the whole territory. A beautiful film that is very poetic and poignant as well as being exciting. Very evocative of the period, unlike many other samurai films made since the mid-80s, and, in my opinion, far superior to Akira Kurosawa's final samurai pictures, KAGEMUSHA and RAN. Contrary to one of the other reviews here, this is anything but a mishmash of elements from earlier entries.

A funny, genuinely bizarre little gem about a lunatic family living in a dilapidated mansion in the remote California countryside. One of the few horror comedies that work. Although the acting is occasionally a bit amateurish and the pacing sometimes lags, this compares very favorably with James Whale's OLD DARK HOUSE -- contrary to what the other imdb review says here.

To my knowledge this was not supposed to be a zombie film nor was it marketed as a gory zombie, living-dead-type picture as some people may think. It IS a scary, atmospheric ghost story that builds slowly but very effectively. There are creepy sequences throughout the film and the only liability is the guy's voice who dubbed lead actor, Lavia. Otherwise it's one of the few movies from the 1980s from Europe or elsewhere that really stands up as far as creating an atmosphere of supernatural dread. Has a similar feel to some of the latest Japanese horror films such as Hideo Nakata's RING and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's CURE, SEANCE and PULSE. Well worth seeing, especially if you love horror films. Also check out director, Pupi Avati's latest ARCANE ENCHANTER, a great period ghost story. Unfortunately, Avati's scariest film, THE HOUSE WITH WINDOWS THAT LAUGHED is extremely hard-to-find in the U.S. in any form.