8.0 其它 · 1969 · 其它 · 剧情片
卡罗尔·贝克,洛乌·卡斯特尔
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).
9.0 其它 · 1980 · 其它 · 恐怖片
雨果·史蒂格利茨,劳拉·特罗德尔
I am awestruck by this movie. Fast zombies that can use weapons, even guns, and are capable of intelligent thought. They plot a strategic offensive to take over the city, hitting the airport, then the TV stations and the power plant. If you love horror, gory, and violent movies and don't mind a little bad acting, then you will LOVE this movie. It is exciting and even a bit suspenseful. It starts out fast and hard and maintains a steady pace of mayhem and carnage. I can't believe more people haven't seen this film. I have yet to meet a horror movie buff that has seen this film before. It is a true gemstone of European horror and exploitation, definitely up to par with the classics of the genre such as Zombi 2, Demons, House by the Cemetery, etc. And it's even readily available uncut (92 minutes) on DVD from Anchor Bay (under the title Nightmare City) and on VHS under the title City of the Walking Dead. Super gory and violent, a must for fans of Italian grind house flicks.
9.0 其它 · 1972 · 其它 · 恐怖片
卡罗尔·贝克,艾伦·斯科特
This early 70's giallo by Umberto Lenzi is certainly among the best in his filmography and also in the whole genre. Personally I think Lenzi's best films are the funny cartoon-turned-film Kriminal, the stylish giallo Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, the explosive Napoli violenta and this. In the eighties he did plenty of film trash in form of Eaten Alive, Hitcher in the Dark or Black Demons, all of which are ripping something off andor very dull and slow moving. Knife of Ice came when the giallo boom was at its hottest and the result is convincing. Technically the film is superb, containing great cinematography in the beginning when we learn about the main character's trauma towards trains. From this point on, Lenzi shows us his ability to benefit the widescreen and, for example, the bicycle ride near the forest is genuinely beautiful! This scene also shows Lenzi's ability to build suspense, very slowly but meaningfully. After all, there aren't so many murders in the whole film, only the suspense circulating around the murderer's identity. One suspect is a devil worshipper which brings new aspects to the mystery. Since the final scene takes place in a church, one can wonder if Lenzi wanted to comment on something, maybe the hypocritical morale of church and superstition. The main character (Carrol Baker) is mute which demands a lot from her face and eyes. The actress works very well, giving us a believable performance circulating around the emotions of fear and mental pain. The other actors are good, too. The finally, however, may not give too positive a sight about female sex since they all are expressed rather negatively in the film, one way or another. Still this is easily among the most noteworthy in the genre, not as bloody as the Argento films, for example, but equally suspenseful and visually also interesting.
10.0 其它 · 1975 · 其它 · 动作片
托马斯·米连,约瑟夫·科顿,Maria Fiore,Mario Piave,卢西亚诺·卡蒂纳齐,圭多·阿尔贝蒂,费米·贝努西,Silvano Tranquilli,Shirley Corrigan,Antonio Casale,罗萨里奥·博雷利,卢西亚诺·皮格齐,马里奥·诺维里,布鲁诺·迪·鲁亚,Giuseppe Castellano,Tom Felleghy,伊妲·伽利,Adolfo Lastr
Umberto Lenzi is undoubtedly the king of Italian crime movies, but unfortunately; Syndicate Sadists is not the best examples of his work in this genre. Lenzi's crime flicks tend to be a cut above the rest because he makes films based on stories with a point, and they don't lack direction; but this film feels a bit too wayward to fully fit with the rest of his stuff. The film takes obvious influence from Sergio Leone's landmark western 'A Fistful of Dollars' (which in turn, took influence from Akira Kurosawa's landmark samurai flick Yojimbo), in that it features two warring families and a strong character at the centre. The crime that Lenzi focuses on is kidnapping, and we centre on a character called 'Rambo'. Rambo is dragged into the war between the two families after his brother is killed because of it. Rambo uses his brains and brawn to pit the two families against one another, in the hope of gaining revenge for his brother's death, rescuing a young boy that they've kidnapped, and ultimately letting the two sides destroy one another. The film's biggest asset is undoubtedly Tomas Milian. Milian was put to great use by Lenzi in almost all of his crime thrillers. The range of characters he has played for Lenzi is immense, and this one is easily one of the coolest. The character is called Rambo, which immediately sprang to mind the popular Sylvester Stallone character - but for once, the Italians actually haven't stolen this name as Syndicate Sadists was released first! As usual, the film is wickedly entertaining, as we get to watch Milian get himself involved in the usual array of car chases, shootouts and brawls. Lenzi has got him riding a motorbike this time round, and every scene featuring it and Milian is a real standout! However, the film often feels like it doesn't really have anywhere to go, and this means that the running time is stretched out more than it should be. Compared to the crime films of other Italian directors, Syndicate Sadists is more than above average; but in relation to Lenzi crime flicks such as Almost Human and The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist - it doesn't stand tall as one of Lenzi's best. Still, if you're looking for ninety minutes of testosterone fuelled mayhem - Syndicate Sadists will suffice!