Stacco

You may see this film under the title "Satanic Mechanic" I suggest to anyone who likes great bad films to view this little gem. The montage is absolutely insane. Fantastic dialogue. Porkchop sideburns. This film has it all.

Years ago, I was given a VHS copy of 'The Satanic Mechanic' from a friend who knew of my love of bad movies. My God..I thought I was ready for this but I just wasn't equal to the task. The dialogue...the filler....aaaauuuggg! There is a scene of Lee Van Cleef parking his car that goes on for 5 minutes! My all time favorite scene has to be where Lee takes on a gang of transvestites in a steam bath, after kicking their asses he leaves with the line "See you in hell kid!" This is the only semi-satanic reference that I remember. I have no idea why this was named 'The Satanic Mechanic'. Not once does Lee Van Cleef do anything remotely mechanical or satanical. The cover of the VHS had a great photo of Lee taken from his '80s TV show 'The Master' (more confusion). I challenge anyone to sit through all off this movie! It breaks the rules of the space/time continuum in the way that time seems to reverse itself during the viewing. I myself have watched it over a dozen times and feel all the lesser for it.

I prefer seeing Lee Van Cleef in this kind of euro crime than in a Spaghetti western. Of course that's not the best of Van Cleef, but this one is rather agreeable to watch because without any length, which is a good point. The scheme is over over used but still entertaining for action movies buffs, especially from this sixties and seventies period; very different in the making from the eighties or even later. Back to this one, the hired killer in charge to eliminate one of his friends reminded me VERTIGE POUR UN TUEUR, but I repeat, this topic is not new at all. Maybe the female characters presence was not always adequate to the story but it could have been far worse because of this. Anyway this film is not on the same scale as THE MECHANIC, another close scheme, more or less.

I am not sure whether I ever watched this film or not but based on the comments by other users of this Site, It seems I watched 20 Years ago here in Somalia. based on my vague memories of the Film, the Films ends with Lee Van Cleef shooting a woman dead as she climbs the ladder of a departing plane ( perhaps contributors of the comments on this Site which I have just read will confirm whether there is a scene like this ).

There is another scene where Lee Van Cleef drives a car very fast towards a man and a woman having sex on the beach with the intention of killing both of them and in another scene a man shoots a woman in her private organ ( Corch ) after having sex with her. will other Readers confirm that this Aka the Pefect Killer or is it another film that I am explaining.

Overall the film is watchable as it is full lots of crime and funny scenes. I would recommend it to any one with an appetite for such movies Mustafa

Betrayed by his girl and best friend, thief Harry Chapman (Lee Van Cleef) takes the fall for a racetrack robbery. While in prison, he is offered a chance to participate in an escape plan. What he doesn't know is that once he is on the outside, the group responsible for the prison break has Harry in their debt and they use him as a hit-man. Naturally, he grows tired of the job and splits because he is hellbent on getting revenge on the former partners. So the mob puts young hit-man Luc (Robert Widmark) on Harry's trail.

It is kind of surprising that Van Cleef didn't do more Italian crime flicks in the 70s. To my knowledge, he only did this, MEAN FRANK AND CRAZY TONY (aka ESCAPE FROM DEATH ROW), and THE SQUEEZE. As it stands, this one is just kinda average. It doesn't really pick up until the last third. However, there are some great stand alone scenes like an attack by razor-wielding cross dressers (shades of the previous year's STRANGE SHADOWS IN AN EMPTY ROOM) and the final beach showdown. The craziest thing is how every woman seems to find Van Cleef - sporting a really bad rug - to be hot. Tita Barker (aka Carmen Cervera) is the love interest and John Ireland is Harry's confidant. Director Mario Siciliano previously worked with Widmark (aka Alberto Dell'Acqua) on some SARTANA westerns and also did the odd horror flick EVIL EYE (1975).