1 million $ par meurtre

This was one of the b-thrillers of the '70s released when there was the craze of the ''Dirty Harry'' movies (until the mid-1980s), and it has an unusual plot.

A sniper (Victor) hops around in a town where he kills people and demands that he wants money so he can stop his killing spree! So a tough law enforcer tries to stop the killer with every possible solution.

This thriller is very tame in comparison to flicks like ''Mitchell''; there is no blood, no sex scenes, and not much bad words. The problem is the script full of holes; Victor is a sniper (and former swimmer) that has a bone to pick with the USA because of his Vietnam war experience. His motives are explained in the end credits song, and to complete the weird stuff, he dresses as a native American and kills his victims with a jagged crossbow! So the city folks hire macho detective McCormick, and then the movie unfolds in a slow pace, with cheesy action sequences and subplots about the characters. But the ending it's a bit surprising, and the hero ends his killing spree with clean hands and with the money. It seemed to me that they compensated the plot holes with some nice shots of the Phoenix mountains in Arizona!

The actors are the true high-lights of the movie: Oliver Reed steals the scene with his bombastic appearence, but his only flaw is that his drunkness has the first focus on the movie instead of the plot, and in certain scenes talks like growling. By the way, Oliver Reed even here gives a great performance, and it's also funny to look at in some scenes. It's supported by few famous actors of those years: John Ireland, James Mitchum as a tracker, and Stuart Whitman as an arrogant milionaire are very good in their roles.

If you want to look some '70s thrillers of the Dirty Harry type, pick this one. It's a decent time-passer for an hour and a half.

This is a silly flick, but hell, I just love Oliver Reed. Here he's a badass called Nick, a mercenary whose main fighting skills are his steel glance and incredible poker face. These alone are worth your time. All the rest is bonus: Paul Koslo's unbelievable turn as the Native American assassin named Victor, the okay chase scene half way through (with a cowboy chasing Victor in a convertible, shooting him and yeehawing), Jim Mitchum's deadpan role as a tracker, a hip jazzy soundtrack, a Roger McQuinn song about maniac Victor, a couple of bloody killings by crossbow, one weirdo pre-credit sequence in which the killer shoots a couple of lovebirds Zodiac-style and one particularly effective sequence in which Victor stalks an arrogant millionaire played by Stuart Whitman in his mansion. Not a great flick by any means, but it's got a good pace and it's never boring. And hey, Oliver ff-ing Reed!

Assault on Paradise (1977)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A small town full of rich people find themselves being terrorized by an Indian who is shooting and killing people with a crossbow. He offers to stop the killing in exchange for one million dollars. The rich people decide to bring in Nick McCormick (Oliver Reed), an expert in tracking down people like the killer.

ASSAULT ON PARADISE was also released under the title MANIAC but no matter what you call it the film itself is fairly entertaining if a bit brain dead. I say that it's a bit brain dead because it's not quite clear what the killings are for and it's not quite clear what all the rich people are hiding. Everything is pretty much being done in secret yet there's really no explanation of what is happened and why.

The film's strongest point are the cast members who turn in very fun performances. Reed could play a role like this in his sleep and I'm sure this was just a paycheck to him but he still manages to turn in a good performance. I thought he was quite believable in the part and he made for a good lead. Veterans Stuart Whitman and John Ireland add some nice support as does James Mitchum in his role as a tracker. Deborah Raffin plays a somewhat love interest but her character and the motivations are about as strange as the killers. Paul Koslo plays the killer.

The film's biggest problem, other than the screenplay, is the fact that the direction by Richard Compton doesn't really get any suspense from the material. I would have liked a bit more tension but that's just not to be found anywhere. The film also shows some signs of tinkering as the opening sequence was thrown on for no real reason and it sticks out like a sore thumb. With all of that said, if you're a fan of the cast then there's some entertainment to be found here.

I am a great fan of novelist James Hadley Chase, a prolific writer of crime stories, between the late thirties and mid eighties, stories about psychopaths of all kinds, gumshoes, rogue cops, femme fatales, where greed, greed was the key word, where characters were lead only by gold lust, and certainly not love nor tenderness. That said, this very movie RANSOM, is not supposed to have been inspired by a Jim H Chase's novel. But for me, I am not that positive. Chase gave us WANT TO STAY ALIVE, back in 1971, which took place in a Florida town called Paradise City - in this film, the town where the action takes place is called Paradise - where an Indian born hoodlum decides to ransom rich people; if not the killing will begin. It is a violent but tense story, page turner topic, which is not exactly the same as this one, let's admit. The Olly Reed's character doesn't exist in the novel. This film is also very good, as good as the novel, believe me.

Paul Koslo appears to be a crossbow killing phantom, since he often shows up out of nowhere, with no obvious means of getting there other than wings. His meaningless rants about the wind, only deepens a total mystery regarding his motivation for extorting the rich. Either an awful lot of this film wound up on the cutting room floor, or this is one of the most underdeveloped scripts ever. Stuart Whitman and Oliver Reed are charged with ending Koslo's mayhem, but to no avail as they seem to be constantly chasing smoke that simply disappears. Throw in the fastest seduction on film between Reed and Deborah Raffin, car chases for the sake of car chases, and you pretty much get the idea. The movie is watchable, because the desert scenery magnificent, but believability is nowhere to be found. MERK