Grindhouse Classics & Legendary Shockers

[venoms5]

I've seen or have most of those only I haven't gotten any reviews for them. I have an unfinished review for CANDY SNATCHERS though. Agreed Bolling didn't do enough movies. I've got LOTS of these movies in my collection. SAVAGE STREETS is a fave of mine.

[daTOAD]

Just got the following last night:

The Bus Is Coming-1973

Gang War In Milan

Candy Snatchers remasterd[i had a crappy old vhs copy]

The Brothers

and another i forgot the name of ,but its from a guy who had something to do with Shaft. Only one i havent heard of is The Bus Is Coming. its aboout corrupt cops in a black community that kill a viet nam vets brother so he joins a group similiar to the Black panthers to get justice.

[venoms5]

GANG WAR IN MILAN aka MILANO ROVENTE (1973) is Lenzi's first crime flick. It's pretty da*n good, IMO. Sabato impressed me in the mob boss role. He usually plays lovable good guy roles in his numerous spaghetti westerns.

Some great special features on that CANDY SNATCHERS disc.

Not seen THE BUS IS COMING but I haven't heard good things about it.

HEROIN BUSTERS I didn't like at all. Hugely disappointing, IMO.

THE EXTERMINATOR is classic exploitation!

[venoms5]

Here's a few Italo crime movie reviews I did some time last year...

MILANO ROVENTE 1973- aka GANG WAR IN MILAN

Antonio Sabato, Phillippe Leroy, Antonio Casagrande, Marisa Mell

Toto Cangemi (Sabato) is a wealthy crime lord who is behind Milan's biggest prostitute ring. The police cannot touch him but lie in wait for him to make just one mistake. Enter Le Capitaine, the Frenchman (Leroy) and a big time dealer in drugs who wants to form an alliance with Cangemi...whether he wants to or not. The Frenchman tries to force Cangemi's hand resulting in Toto bringing in an American gangster, Billy Baroni to take care of the Frenchman. Baroni tries to convince Cangemi that violence is not the answer but "diplomatic violence" will solve the problems. Several of Cangemi's hookers are found murdered but after Le Capitaine kidnaps and tortures Lino, Cangemi's right hand man (in a very excrutiating fashion) Baroni devises a plan to bring "final peace" between all the gangsters.

Umberto Lenzi's first foray into Euro Crime shows an adeptness for the material that is not as prominent in some of his later efforts which is not discounting any of those at all. Here, Lenzi appears to be channeling di Leo in style although the violence is more sleazy than in any of di Leo's films I have seen. There is a lot of torture in this movie and Lenzi proved throughout his career to be a master at depicting sadism onscreen. The double twist ending is slightly reminiscent of the one in di Leo's classic MILANO CALIBRO 9. It features a foreboding final line that hints at more violence lies ahead.

Sabato is very good here. Much better than anything else I've seen him in. He really plays the part well and reminds me of Mario Adorf's performance in LA MALA ODIA (1972). He is a criminal in every sense of the word, but at times, you get the feeling that a decent man resides within him. Coming from nothing, living in the streets then becoming a powerful crime figure he doesn't exhibit the nasty and brutally persistant methods of the Frenchman. Sabato displays genuine concern when his close friend Lino is captured and viciously tortured by the Frenchman and his henchmen.

Sabato also played a cop in Sergio Grieco's supremely nasty VIOLENCE FOR KICKS (1975). And only Grieco could make his good guy come off as a greasy unlikeable thug or just plain unlikeable as in Richard Harrison's character in Grieco's BEAST WITH A GUN (1977).

Phillippe Leroy who also starred as a maniacal cop in the same years BLOODY HANDS OF THE LAW (also starring Kinski), is all the while calm but incredibly ruthless when the need arises. Leroy is quite subdued here as opposed to his manic performance in the above mentioned film.

Casagrande as Baroni is what you would expect a stereotypical American gangster to look like. He has a scar under his left eye and smokes huge cigars. He also pulls the strings of Cangemi's organization. When Toto acts on impulse, Baroni is there to keep him under control only this plays against Toto later in the film.

Marisa Mell as Jasmine is as alluring as ever as Cangemi's woman whom he falls head over heels for. Amazingly, this being a Lenzi movie, she being the main female character, she escapes any indignities towards her character.

The finale is VERY similar to HK director Chang Cheh's style along with its themes of brotherhood among men whether they be good or bad.

Again, a fine first outing for Lenzi. Initially I had put off buying this because there wasn't a Merli or Milian in the film but after seeing it, this no longer matters.

This release from Dagored is in Italian with English subtitles and appears to be sourced from video tape. The packaging is very nice but the film presentation reeks of bootleg. No matter, the print is decent enough and it least it's available.

[venoms5]

FROM CORLEONE TO BROOKLYN- 1978

Maurizio Merli, Van Johnson, Venantino Venantini

A big time crime boss heads to NY after some of his goons assassinate his rival in the streets of Corleone. Lt. Berni finds out his whereabouts and when Beressi (Merola) learns the cops in NY are on to him as well he decides to put a hit on the two people left who can put him away for good- the man who carried out the assassination (Pelligra) and Beressi's girlfriend. Berni just misses saving the girlfriend but captures the hit man and plans to go to NY along with his prisoner to testify. Along the way Beressi's men try and take the two out and once they reach NY the obstacles become bigger. Berni just barely gets his witness to court in time (and alive) with the ending foreshadowing more trouble ahead.

Umberto Lenzi’s final, and surprisingly, most subtle cop thriller. Director Lenzi, who had dabbled in every genre imaginable, will always be, in America at least, most famous for his down and dirty Italian cannibal movies. It's a shame really. Lenzi has worked with John Huston, Henry Fonda, Henry Silva, George Peppard and Jack Palance to name a handful of great actors that have appeared in his movies. Lenzi excelled in the crime and war pictures. He really seemed most comfortable here. That's not to say these movies were any less violent and nasty, as many of them were.

Lenzi apparently was in love with New York during the 70s and 80s as many of his films feature scenes there. Here, a good portion of the movie is shot on the streets of Manhattan and good old Times Square. I believe a marquee for THE WARRIORS can be seen in the background at one point.

CORLEONE however, is Lenzi at his most subdued, opting for suspense and action instead of bloody violence. Famous Maurizio Merli even plays his final cop character much differently than before. Here, he is a law abiding, by-the-book cop as opposed to all his previous DIRTY HARRY modeled characters. Probably Lenzi's most polished cop thriller and one of, if not his best poliziotteschi.

[venoms5]

ROMA VIOLENTA 1975- aka VIOLENT ROME

Maurizio Merli, Richard Conte, Ray Lovelock, John Steiner

I understand very little Italian so this synopsis is from what I could make out as this DVD had no english track nor subtitles.

Commissioner Betti (Merli) transfers to Rome to help quell the abundant crime and violence in the city. His methods prove to be as destructive as the criminals themselves. He is relieved of duty and is ultimately hired out by a rich business man (Conte) to lead a private group of vigilantes to eliminate as much scum as possible.

Maurizio Merli's first Euro crime actioner is one mean mother and an outstanding start that would produce close to a dozen more violent Italo crime pictures. Merli commands your attention in every scene he is in and only needs to give an intimidating scowl to let you know somebody is about to get hurt. Merli, the king of the bitch slap gets to dole out mucho punishment here and director Marino Girolami (father to Enzo Castellari) gives him ample opportunity to do so.

The fight scenes are very good for a change and aren't as telegraphed as they are in so many Italian action films especially their westerns. Some of them are quite brutal such as the one where two men (including polizio regular Luciano Rossi) are caught after brutally raping Conte's daughter. Merli and his group viciously beat the two men with chains, baseball bats and crowbars. The beating Merli dishes out on a bus is also memorable.

The one scene that stands out most of all involves Merli chasing some crooks who have robbed a grocery store and murdered a woman and gunned down Betti's friend (Lovelock) in the process. Merli relentlessly chases the two men all over Rome. When they fail to lose him, they machine gun some women and children on the street in an attempt to get Betti to stop and see to the civilian casualties. Amazingly, Betti continues with the chase which ends up on the Freeway where the two villains attempt to lose Betti in the traffic. Needless to say, things end badly for the bad guys in what appears to be a modernized take on the famous gun duel seen in so many westerns.

Conte isn't in the film until 53 minutes in but his presence is welcome as he had become a regular face in these movies usually playing Mafia types similar to his portrayal in Coppola's GODFATHER.

Lovelock plays a character called 'The Blonde'(?) He takes a great deal of punishment throughout the movie for helping Betti nail the bad guys. The ending is a bit strange as Betti leaves Lovelock in the rest home and he foresees Betti gunned down in the street. As Betti turns the corner, we see a car approaching from behind him as the screen freezes before the credits roll.

An excellent Merli movie that desperately needs a US DVD release or at least a subtitled release from somewhere. There is an interview with Ray Lovelock here as well as a 7 minute doc on Italian crime movies by Daniele Magni and Silvio Giobbio who have apparently written a book on the subject bearing the title of Lenzi's THE CYNIC, THE RAT & THE FIST also starring Merli. The doc is specifically about Merli and shows shots from HIGH CRIME probably in lieu of the producers wanting a Nero look-alike for similar movies. Sadly, like the movie, none of these features have English subtitles.

[venoms5]

SPECIAL COP IN ACTION 1976- aka ITALIA A MANO ARMATA

Directed by Franco Martinelli (Enzo Girolami)

Maurizio Merli, John Saxon

A gang of thugs have kidnapped a bus load of school children and hold them for ransom. Commissioner Betti is relentless in his pursuit to rescue the children and find out who was behind the kidnapping only to learn that this and recent crimes are tied to a wealthy business man Albertini (Saxon). Betti is framed and ultimately placed in prison where he targeted by numerous thugs he had placed there.

Another installment in the 'Commissioner Betti' films that include VIOLENT ROME (1975) and VIOLENT NAPLES (1976). Oddly, on this english dub he is called Commissioner Berni throughout the film, the character he plays in Lenzi's crime swan song, FROM CORLEONE TO BROOKLYN (1979). A scene of a newspaper confirms his name as Betti. Not sure how this mix up happened but it is confusing. Even Saxon's dubbing refers to him as Berni.

Merli delivers another solid performance as his usual cop with excessive means mentality. Considering he played nearly all his cops the same way, I'm surprised the filmmakers didn't just make a single series out of all his films. There is even a bit of foreshadowing in a dialog exchange for HIGHWAY RACER the following year in which Betti's partner says he should be a race car driver! We also get several funny Merli bitch slap/beatdowns and numerous shots of his tilted head and gritted teeth just before a fight.

Saxon is barely in this movie and again impresses as a villain who, by the end, is targeted for elimination on several occasions by the criminal organization he works for not to mention dodging Betti at every turn. Saxon is one of my favorite performers but I'm beginning to see that he is equally as good if not better as bad guys as he is at playing hard nosed cops. Considering the many later films he did playing policemen, it's funny seeing him playing gangsters in Italian polizio thrillers.

Girolami directs an unusually action packed film that may even have more thrills than VIOLENT NAPLES. In fact, there are enough car chases, shoot outs and violence for two or three of these movies. Considering that many of these movies seldom contained more than one (if any) major set piece, instead relying on scenes of violence to hold attention, Girolami does an outstanding job. Either the man had a bigger budget or he was an expert at pulling off lots of flamboyant (for the time) stunts and explosions for little time and money. Really, this movie more resembles an American action film of the day with its near non-stop parade of well staged action sequences.

All the staples are here-- bank robberies, rub outs with those instantly recognizable machine guns and so many car chases and a handful of explosions. Definitely the best poliziotteschi I've seen for its stunt work. The only misstep is the ending. It comes off as an afterthought as if it was thrown in at the last minute. A very enjoyable and exciting movie that needs a remastered DVD release along with the remainder of Merli's catalog.

[IronMonkey415]

These are great. I netflix almost everything you reviewed.

[venoms5]

These are great. I netflix almost everything you reviewed.

I got lots more to talk about and hopefully Alex, daTOAD and others do, too.

[venoms5]

GRIZZLY 1976

Christopher George, Andrew Prine, Richard Jaekel, Joan McCall, Charles Kissinger

Directed by William Girdler

A gigantic rampaging Grizzly bear slaughters and consumes vacationers at Yellowstone National Park. A determined Park Ranger, a helicopter pilot and a wildlife expert attempt to stop the killer grizzly before it causes any more deaths.

Ambitious and creative director William Girdler's most successful film, GRIZZLY (1976) was a surprise hit during its US release breaking box office records at the time as well as being a huge hit overseas. Seeing the film today, it's difficult to fathom what all the hoopla was about. It's not a bad film, but not particularly good, either. The violence is incredibly strong for a PG rated film and would garner an R today most especially for the graphic attack on a little boy in which the grizzly rips off his leg! The Georgia locations are fabulous and the photography is definitely one of the films strong points.

The acting in GRIZZLY (1976) is fairly mundane save for the main actors who all keep the film afloat. Christopher George was a fine choice as the rugged hero; his character being a close approximation of the Brody character essayed by Roy Scheider in JAWS (1975), the film that GRIZZLY (1976) is modeled after.

George appeared in a number of movies with his gorgeous wife, Lynda Day George; one of them being Girdler's other nature-gone-amuck flick, DAY OF THE ANIMALS (1977). George was also memorable for portraying Sergeant Troy in the WW2 television show THE RAT PATROL (1967) as well as several John Wayne western movies. George's co-stars Prine and Jaekel also featured with him in John Wayne's CHISUM (1970).

GRIZZLY (1976) closely follows the pattern set down by JAWS (1975) and considering JAWS was coined the first blockbuster movie, this may have been the central key to GRIZZLY's success. In light of the treatment ABBY (1974) was afforded, it's a bit odd Universal didn't go after this film. Possibly the completely different setting was what kept GRIZZLY (1976) out of trouble? Even the characters are amazingly similar. The aforementioned Ranger character notwithstanding, Prine's helicopter pilot is modeled on Robert Shaw's Quint portrayal in JAWS (1975) even down to a similar speech detailed to the other two actors revealing a horrible altercation witnessed by Prine's character. Of course, Jaekel's character is to Girdler's film what the Dreyfuss character was to Spielberg's movie.

A real Grizzly Bear was used for the film. Although it was the largest in captivity at the time (11 feet tall), the bear was hyped as being as much as 15 to 18 feet tall in the advertisements and in the film. Producer Edward L. Montoro was one of the most (if not the most) infamous and duplicitous movie producers ever in Hollywood. Having had an avalanche of lawsuits slapped against him for numerous cinematic endeavors he fled the United States sometime in the late 80's and has never been seen since. His production company, Film Ventures International was very successful for a time but the cavalcade of legal action brought about the burgeoning company's demise.

Director William Girdler toiled in low budget horror and fantasy for a number of years directing some choice films such as THREE ON A MEATHOOK (1972), (a film that predated THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 1973), ABBY (1974), (the Blaxploitation EXORCIST clone that got pulled from distribution by a lawsuit from Warner Brothers), SHEBA, BABY (1975) starring Pam Grier and his magnum opus-the star studded, OTT, jaw dropping sci-fi horror camp classic, THE MANITOU (1978). Girdler was very talented and got better with each successive film. He was killed in a helicopter crash on January 21st (my birthday) of 1978 while scouting locations. He no doubt would have went on to bigger and better things had he lived. His movies may not have been great accomplishments, but they will be remembered fondly by those who caught them in the theater or on the Late, Late Show.

[venoms5]

DAY OF THE ANIMALS 1977 aka SOMETHING IS OUT THERE

Christopher George, Leslie Nielsen, Lynda Day George, Michael Ansara, Richard Jaekel, Paul Mantee, Walter Barnes, Andrew Stevens

Directed by William Girdler

The increased depletion of the Ozone Layer causes animals living above altitudes of 5,000 feet to become extremely violent turning on, and ultimately attacking and killing humans. A group of vacationers hiking in the mountains fight for their lives to survive the ordeal, the horror of which has reached the town below and isn't necessarily restricted to animals.

Girdler returns to the killer animal genre with his superior follow up to GRIZZLY (1976). I never thought much about this movie when I saw it years back but upon seeing it back to back with Girdler's GRIZZLY (1976) it's the better film. Girdler shows a more assured hand in the character and suspense department. He manages to pull off some truly fine sequences of horror with the stand out being the attack on the survivors by a pack of wild dogs. A more difficult film to tackle just for the sheer number of animals wrangled including a group of vultures, rats, wolves, snakes, dogs and an encore by an attacking grizzly.

There are a couple of mistakes in the movie. On two occasions you can see the camera--once in a crane shot, the camera is visible in the windshield of a car, and the other the cameraman is visible in the window of a door. Another mistake is revealed at the conclusion. As the pack of wild dogs chases after the last few survivors, two crewmen are seen atop the hill in plain view as the dogs pass by.

Christopher George is again the hero but he is ably assisted this time by fine actor of television and screen, Michael Ansara who also played the good guy medicine man in Girdler's final film, the astonishing THE MANITOU (1978). Jaekel returns as well but the scene stealing performance belongs to Leslie Nielsen, the obnoxious and bigoted businessman on vacation who, once the animals attack, causes a rift in the group resulting in the hikers taking sides. A group goes with George's character and the other splits with Jensen (Nielsen) only to regret it when Jensen reverts to savagery himself killing the younger man and raping his woman just before taking on a grizzly bear in a death struggle! Nielsen is great here and unlike any of his other performances including his villainous turn in CREEPSHOW (1982). His usual purposely deadpan delivery is absent here substituting malice for laughs. Susan Backlinie, the first victim in JAWS (1975) is also the first victim here, as well as being the animal wrangler.

The ending is well done and agreeably vague as the white suited decontamination squads enter the town to begin the clean up operation. They find all the animals dead but are unsure as to why, or if this type of deadly incident will happen again leaving the viewer with some unanswered, but frightening notions. The whole storyline is told in such a way that it is entirely believable that such a terrifying occurrence could indeed happen and on a much grander scale. Another interesting touch implemented by Girdler is that anybody can die at any time. Many people you think will live in fact die at the hands of the rampaging animals. Judging by the way the movie ends, the groups decision to split up and either head back down the mountain or make for the ranger station proved to be an equally dangerous endeavor.

When the film was released in 1977, it didn't fare as well as GRIZZLY (1976) and died quietly at the box office only surviving for years as a regular on television broadcasts. A shame as it's a better made and acted movie than the more popular grizzly movie.

There's two versions on the Shriek Show/Media Blasters DVD--a theatrical print bearing the title SOMETHING IS OUT THERE that's in bad shape but is represented in 2:35 widescreen. The TV version under the DAY OF THE ANIMALS moniker is in much better shape but in 1:78:1. The only difference I noticed between the two is some minor damaged film that cuts off some pieces of dialog.

DAY OF THE ANIMALS (1977) is a taut, sometimes suspenseful nature-gone-amuck picture for nostalgic horror fans who are sick of the onslaught of bad CGI killer animal movies crowding the weekend lineup of the Sci-Fi Channel. DAY OF THE ANIMALS (1977) is a well made little horror picture from a director who was taken from tinseltown far to early.

[venoms5]

Here's some grindhouse/exploitation/fantasy film posters I have...

The Paramount studio blaxploitation rarity...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

Lucio Fulci's classic tale of zombie horror that made more money than Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

[venoms5]

A favorite of mine and I was lucky enough to nab a copy of the two disc complete film score; James Horner's then most personable score...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

The fourth Doug McClure fantasy picture from Kevin Conner and John Dark and the only one not based on a story by Edgar Rice Burroughs...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

[venoms5]

Another childhood favorite...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

A nifty ALIEN style movie originally titled TITAN FIND. The film bears similarities to Corman's IT CONQUERED THE WORLD and also starring Klaus Kinski!

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

[venoms5]

Another great movie with a memorable score...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

This is an Italian directed movie that played television here as THE DEADLY TREASURE OF THE PIRANHA. Excellent cast, too...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

[venoms5]

Interesting that nothing like this happens in the movie...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

Nifty often times overlooked Tobe Hooper horror...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

[venoms5]

The "sequel" to DEATHRACE 2000...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

One of the best and goriest barbarian movies. Cleaned up big time at the summer box office in 1982. Love the sword with the projectile blades. Richard (Bull from NIGHT COURT) Moll plays the Sorceror who rips people's hearts out with his magic glowing fingers! Stuntman Ben Tyree was killed during a stunt gone wrong.

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

[venoms5]

Raunchy comedy that embarrassed star Ron Liebman and MAD Magazine that they had their names removed from the film. Some prints still retained the MAD logo as well as the appearances by Alfred E. Neuman. The recent DVD reinstates those bits but Liebman's name is still off the film. Directed by Robert Downey Jr.s dad. Jr. is also in the movie. Awesome punk/rock score...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

Another Kevin Conner film with Doug McClure but no dinosaurs! This one is pretty sleazy for a big studio film. Vengeful Japanese samurai spirits wreak bloody vengeance on the new owners of a Japanese home with a gruesome history. Great cast...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

[venoms5]

The wild sequel to MANDINGO...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

Excellent cast and history behind this movie. Tobe Hooper began as director but was replaced VERY early in production. Originally a slasher flick but changed midway through filming into an alien/sci-fi/horror movie...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

[venoms5]

An Italian monster from the deep flick with one of the most prestigious casts ever assembled for a movie of this sort--Shelley Winters(!), John Houston(!), Henry Fonda (!)...

By venoms5 at 2008-05-25

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

[venoms5]

Without this movie, Roger Corman couldn't have made about a dozen others what with the pilfering of footage and music from this all star hit that was an outer space version of SEVEN SAMURAI...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

[venoms5]

This is a HUGE 39x55 Italian poster for ROME ARMED TO THE TEETH (1977) also known as ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON, BRUTAL JUSTICE and THE TOUGH ONES...and the film lives up to all of them...

By venoms5, shot with Digimax A503 / Kenox D503 at 2008-05-25

[Alex]

sweet posters

i recently just picked up a copy of Violent Rome with subtitles, pm me if you want me to point you in the right direction

[venoms5]

PM sent...

[daTOAD]

Cant believe they took theyre names off Up The Academy. Classic in my book along with Weekend Pass and Up The Creek[believe this is the title- the one with the boat race and mikey the dog].