L'uomo della strada fa giustizia

MANHUNT IN THE CITY - not to be confused with another Italian crime film sometimes called MANHUNT and also starring Henry Silva in support - is a 1975 violent crime film directed by the inimitable Umberto Lenzi and starring Silva who goes on a ruthless revenge spree as he hunts down the gang members who shot and killed his little girl during a heist portrayed at the film's opening.

This film is very much in the mould of Lenzi's popular crime movies starring Maurizio Merli although it's not quite top-tier material. The impassive Silva ends up encountering all manner of low lives and bad guys but the futility of his vengeance is made more than apparent in the movie's downbeat scripting. Most of the time he seems to have stuff done to him rather than doing stuff to the bad guys. There's plentiful action here and a fast pace to boot, making this an effortless watch as always for the genre, but MANHUNT IN THE CITY lacks a little of the depth and the drama to make it one of the best of its type. It's perfectly watchable, just quite ordinary as these polizia movies go.

It's not often Umberto Lenzi shows restraint, but I'm really glad that he cut away right before those mobsters shoved a huge candle up that transvestite's arse.

This poor transgender person wouldn't have suffered such a fate if it wasn't for Henry Silva, but then how was Henry supposed to know that his endless search for the guy who killed his daughter would have negative consequences? His kid gets shot during an armed robbery (for no reason either - the robbers just let a couple of bullets fly while heading out the door), and now Henry has a single clue to go on, and no faith in the Italian police.

I thought it was a bit harsh that Henry got fired from his job while grieving for his kid, but that just left Henry more time to get madder and madder while watching the country go to pot as he's harassed by bikers, sees men drool over his wife, and sees a guy stealing stuff from a street market. To be fair, he does give that guy a right good kicking. How can Henry (eventually) get to the people who killed his kid?

Turns out he has a few allies - his friend is newspaper editor Silvano Tranquilli is one, and although the cops aren't too good at finding the killers, the chief inspector tries to be as sympathetic as possible. There's also the semi-sinister vigilante group who like to smash people's hands with sledgehammers. Lenzi doesn't pull away from that so consider yourself warned.

This film is kind of like Enzo Castellari's Street Law, but not quite as good. Henry Silva always makes a great killing machine, but lacks a little of emotion as a grieving father. Plus, he isn't really let off the leash until the end of the film. I can see that Lenzi was aiming for something with a bit more characterization here, but both his and Silva's strengths lie in all out action.

This is a fairly decent Italian crime movie but I was expecting something a bit more special from Umberto Lenzi. There are some good sequences, including a very good car chase and things get particularly nasty with the vigilantes but I was expecting more of a revenge movie. So when the beginning becomes rather drawn out with more and more going wrong for our hero, I imagine the eventual revenge will be that much more fierce. Doesn't really happen, we get a most depressing picture of Italy and Milan in particular mid 70s and in the end it all seems rather sad. Things are not helped by henry Silva, there is nothing really wrong with his performance but he's not the most charismatic of actors and here doesn't seem to be able to move up a gear. Music again is fine but its not Morricone.

Revenge, vigilante squads, police brutality, excessively violent heists going awry … These are all very popular and frequently used themes in the wonderful universe of exploitation cinema from the '70s! All these badass themes may have featured in Hollywood classics first (like "Dirty Harry", "The French Connection" or "Death Wish") but it were the genius producers & directors from Italy that capitalized on the audiences' hunger for blood and violence the most! Throughout the gloriously decadent 70s decade, Italy spawned literally more than hundred so-called "Poliziotteschi" movies and (almost) every single one of them is worth tracking down. One of the directors who reigned over this sub-genre was Umberto Lenzi. Even though this "Manhunt in the City" cannot really compete with the best titles he has directed (those would be "Almost Human", "Rome Armed to the Teeth" and "Violent Naples"), it's nevertheless another mature, harsh and exciting thriller. The born in New York actor Henry Silva starred in so many of these films that most people probably think he's an actual Italian! Here, Silva impressively depicts the tormented and heart-broken father David Vannucchi whose innocent 8-year-old daughter relentlessly got killed by gangsters during a jewelry heist. Like all citizens of Milan, Vannucchi thinks that the police don't make enough efforts to reduce crime and capture criminals, so he starts his own private investigation to find his daughter's killers. His search leads to dubious vigilante organizations, sleazy night clubs and drug traffickers, but also brings him in mortal danger. His ex-wife Vera and the tolerant Police Inspector beg him to stop, but Vannucchi's urge for justice is unstoppable. In comparison to the vast majority of Poliziotteschi movies, "Manhunt in the City" features relatively few virulent car chases, brutish shootouts and general perversion. Instead of all that, Lenzi comes up with an intelligent script that touches upon several sensitive but socially relevant themes and a truly unexpected and perplexing end-twist. Seriously, the ending of "Manhunt in the City" can be used as evidence to state that Italian exploitation cinema is a lot cleverer than people (especially surly critics) think! Lenzi's direction is tight, the performances are excellent and Bruno Nicolai hits the exact right tone with a powerful score.

This film begins with a young girl helping to guide a blind man into a jewelry store in downtown Milan, Italy. Once they go inside, however, he immediately produces a gun and along with a few other accomplices proceeds to rob the store. Upon leaving the jewelry store he shoots the young girl and she dies just minutes later. Needless to say, her parents "Davide Vannucchi" (Henry Silva) and "Vera Vannucchi" (Luciana Paluzzi) are overcome with grief and cannot understand how something like this could happen to their little girl. Yet, even though they both want those responsible to be held accountable, Davide is not nearly as patient as his wife and insists on an aggressive investigation by the police. That said, when he realizes how incompetent and inept the police are, has to choose whether to join a local vigilante group or hire a private detective instead. However, when the private investigator gets too close to these criminals and is killed for his efforts, Davide decides to take matters into his own hands. What he doesn't count on, however, is the cost he and his wife will have to pay as a result. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a decent Italian crime-drama which benefited from solid acting on the part of both Henry Silva and Luciana Paluzzi along with some good action and suspense as well. Admittedly, there are better "revenge movies" movies out there and Henry Silva isn't quite as good as someone like Charles Bronson or Clint Eastwood. But all things considered, he performed well enough for this particular film and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.