Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

morrison-dylan-fan When a friend of mine recently passed over two Giallo films to me,I was surprised to find that they had also passed me a third film,which I had heard nothing about.After having asked my friend about what this film is,I was thrilled to find out that it was an Italian Crime film.During my viewing of the film,I became extremely intrigued by the surprisingly different execution of the films story,which makes it really stand out from some of the other Italian Crime films that I have seen.The plot:With having been given a twenty three year prison sentience for murder, (after his girlfriend and some of his "friends" have given valuable evidence to the police,which they used to prosecute him) Nanni Vitale decides that he does not want to spend the next twenty three years of his life in prison.So when Vitale and three other prisoners see an opportunity to escape,they instantly jump at the chance.This leads Vitale and the gang grabbing a prison officer,and using him as a hostage.Although some of the other officers try to grab Vitale as him and his gang drive away,they,and the hostage all end up getting left for dead.After having (for now) gotten away Scott-free,Nanni Vitale becomes extremely determined that he and his gang our going to show all the "rats" that betrayed him,that they will never be able to get away from him,until they are dead.This leads to Vitale getting hold of one of his former "best friends".When he gets a hold on his friend and his friends girlfriend,Vitale orders the rest of the gang to "stay back" so he can have all the "fun" with them on his own.Whilst Vitale beats the life out of the rat (who ends up getting an acid-type substance poured on him),he decides that killing the girlfriend,is a far too "soft" option,so he instead brutally rapes her,whilst her battered boyfriend has to watch.Mean while,Commisionner Giulio Santini becomes very nervous about Vitale striking back at the people that put him in prison,especially due to the fact that Santinis dad was the judge that sentenced Nanni Vitale to jail.With hardly any leads,Santini struggles to find out about any of Vitales plans.Suddenly a girl walks into the police station,who tells Santini that she is being kept as a "helper"/hostage for Vitale to help him succeed in getting a huge amount of cash,out of her very wealthy dad.Realising that time is of the essence,Santini feels that he has to make a move for Vitale as soon as he comes out to commit the crime,but with Nanni Vitale having his wits (and guns) on him,it is going to be a far from easy aeriest.. View on the film:For the screenplay to the film,writer/directer Sergio Grieco makes the film firmly stand out in its genre,by giving the movie a completely different structure to most of the Italian Crime film that I have watched before.Unlike the other films,which spend the whole of there running time following the criminals and focusing on their activates,Grieco instead divides the film into two,and gives an equal amount of time showing the stories of the criminals and the cops,which really help to increase the tension of the film,due to Sergio showing us Comisionner Giulio Santinis increased desperation in nabbing gang leader Nanni Vitale.Happily,along with the entertaining plot,Grieco is also able to make this film stand out by injecting a strong "Grindhouse" element into the action and violence of the picture.And although some of the slow-motion and Foley sound effects in the film,slightly take you "out" of the movie,due to them seeming to have been pasted on from a very rusty old Kung-Fu film!,the blending of the genres (mostly) works very well,with the ending scenes of Vitale holding a gun and,later on a knife to the chest and throat of a woman,whose father ruined Vitale life by giving him up to the police,being very gripping and extremely intense.Whilst Sergio Grieco does deserve praise for the movie,the film would not have been half as fun without the terrific performances of Helmut Berger and Richard Harrison.As Vitale,Berger gives an excellent enchanting performance,with Helmut showing that due to Vitale feeling completely betrayed by all of his close friends,he now feels that the only way that he can get back at them is to ruin their lives,so they can feel (just before he kills them) as much hopelessness as they have given to Vitale.Although his character is no where near as ruthless as Berger,Harrison is still able to give a fun performance as Santini,whose macho side really comes out as he gets closer,and closer to getting his hands round the neck of Nanni Vitale. Final view on the film:A fantastic Italian Crime/Grindhouse hybrid,that stands out in the Italian Crime film genre due to a very intriguing screenplay,an insanely catchy score and excellent performances from Berger and Harrison.

Coventry On a day like today, "Beast with a Gun" was the best thing I possible could have stumbled on! Long and tiring day at work, depressing weather and no energy left at night to do anything else but watch a totally undemanding and adrenalin-rushing action thriller. Next time YOU feel this, watch this bonkers Italian 70's kick-ass movie! "Beast with a Gun" features non-stop raw and gritty violence, misogyny and gratuitous sleaze and an assemblage of the coolest villainous characters ever; led by the ultimate spaghetti bad-boy Helmut Berger. The plot is literally full of holes the size of shotgun bullets, but who cares when the film swiftly leaps from one spectacular action scene to the next? Helmut Berger plays the titular (ferocious) beast with a gun. Or the titular mad dog. He deserves all the bad-ass sounding a.k.a titles, because Berger truly is one of the meanest SOB to ever appear in a 70's exploitation flick. And, given the market supply, that must mean something, no? Nanni Vitali escapes from prison along with three other convicts. Well actually, the other three are too petrified to disobey Vitali's orders and help him eliminate the police informant who testified against him in court. He then literally commands a woman to sleep with him and help with a money heist. When that doesn't go according to plan, Vitali is so mad that he takes hostage police commissioner's Giulio Santini's sister and father. This is just a small listing of the main events in "Beast with a Gun", but there's a lot more going on. Every few moments or so, there's either a virulent beating or nasty gunfight going on, and Helmet Berger seems to get gradually more ill-tempered and rotten with every minute that passes. No wonder Quentin Tarantino referred to him and his character here in this film during "Jackie Brown". The dumbness of the script is quite often too bothering and, in all honesty, bring the overall quality of the movie down a little bit. How is it possible, for example, that an entire army of police officers cannot prevent that two people die during an anticipated heist and that all of the criminals get away with a van full of hostages? There are more senseless elements and defaults (like the fact that lead actress Marisa Mell entirely vanishes during the final act) but, to hell with it, I really don't feel like yammering about this 200% fun and exciting film. Oh and if you like Italian cult cinema, you WILL adore the terrific soundtrack by the relatively unknown (at least, in comparison to Ennio Morricone or Riz Ortolani) composer Umberto Smaila.

Woodyanders Sadistic no-count killer Nanni Vitali (excellently essayed with lip-smacking wicked relish by Helmut Berger) and three equally brutish hoodlums escape from prison. The foul foursome embark on a savage spree of rape, murder and robbery. Vitali even abducts and defiles frightened hapless lass Giuliana Caroli (a solid turn by the strikingly gorgeous Marisa Mell). Rugged police Inspector Giulio Santini (a properly steely performance by Richard Harrison) becomes determined to bag the despicable Vitali. Writer/director Sergio Grieco keeps the movie rattling along at a constant swift pace, stages the stirring action scenes with considerable rip-snorting brio (the occasional use of strenuous slow motion is especially effective and impressive), and does an expert job of creating and sustaining a harsh, gritty, resolutely tough-minded and nasty-hearted tone. Vittorio Bernini's crisp, handsome widescreen cinematography gives the picture an attractive glossy look. Umberto Smaila's funky, throbbing score likewise hits the groovy spot. Best of all, this extremely hard-edged winner certainly doesn't skimp on the excessive full-bore profanity, tasty female nudity, raunchy sex, and rough, unflinching, no-holds-barred ferocious violence. A satisfyingly sick and vicious little beaut.

HumanoidOfFlesh Helmut Berger leads a group of prison escapees on a rampage targeting cop Richard Harrison,who testified against him in court.After Berger rapes beautiful Marisa Mell("Danger:Diabolik"),then forces her to join the gang,Harrison hatches his own plan to stop dangerous Berger.The film is loaded with sleaze and violence,but it's not as nasty as it's reputed to be."Mad Dog" is well-acted,well-directed and has a fast pace from beginning to end.So if you're a fan of Italian crime flicks give this one a look-just don't expect something mind-shattering.