Senza ragione

...I'll take this almost intolerably nasty 1972 Italian drive-in movie, which features Mark Lester (of OLIVER! fame) as a kidnap victim who gets into scrapes that, in their uncut version, would probably get this movie in Federal chickenhawk-busting trouble today. Franco Nero and Telly Savalas are the two conscienceless galoots who are the movie's anti-heroes; Savalas re-ups his giggling hillbilly cretin from THE DIRTY DOZEN, here caricatured to beyond a fare-thee-well. Savalas is the cherry on the cake of what may be the most remarkable set piece in all seventies Italian exploitation: calming a tourist family, packing them in their mobile home, then untethering the trailer and singing a gospel hymn as the terrified Germans plunge into the drink. If I'm not misremembering, there may be a little jig involved here as well.

Although I fully enjoyed Mark Lester's performance in "Oliver", I was quite unnerved by the rather dull role he was made to play. Having viewed "Night Hair Child" (the uncut version of "What the peeper saw") and now "Redneck", I realize that Mark Lester probably found it too. The plot of "Redneck" has been correctly resumed by Snider82, and it made me buy the film, so I won't add much. I just wanted to stress the fact that it's quite unusual to find a film showing the fascination real action can produce in a boy having a far too dull life. I was not shocked at all by the scene where Mark undresses, as it was part of a plot, here Mark wants to prove himself he can make it, be part of the gang. "Redneck" is a far more convincing film that most of the US thrillers of that kind I have got the opportunity to see. No comparison at all. And Mark Lester is simply great.

This is truly a marmite film - people love it for the madness that's contained within, and other people hate it and dismiss it as a foul piece of exploitation. It's a Euro-crime film but only barely, as it's really a twisted road trip film with a bunch of weird characters.

Franco Nero plays dumb robber Mosquito, who hooks up with insane robber Memphis (Telly Savalas) in order to rob a jewellery store. After being in the store about ten seconds, Memphis loses his rag and shoots the owner multiple times, setting off the alarm and causing the robbers to grab the nearest cases and run. Things go from bad to worse when dumb getaway driver Ely Galleani crashes the car straight into a hearse, causing a coffin to smash through the window. After further crashing in a market, the trio finally grab another car from a rich lady and set off into the countryside, making for the border.

This isn't as easy as it first seems, as it turns out that they have unwittingly taken the rich lady's son with them as he was hiding in the back of the car. After a strangely slapstick scene of the trio chasing Mark Lester around a field (where he kicks Telly Savalas in the balls) we see why people might hate this film. When he finds out he's being watched by a young Shepherd boy, Telly Savalas coldly murders him - then blames the Shepherd boy for running away!

Yep, this is grim stuff alright. We also find out that Lester's parents are so removed from their child that they cannot agree on what age he is, so he's not exactly the most stable child either. The mother however does identify both Memphis and Mousqito, and a huge manhunt ensues. After the discovery that they have stolen a load of useless cutlery, things become even more strained, and Memphis becomes even more unhinged as everyone heads for the border...

Although Telly Savalas' southern accent comes and goes, his performance as a nutcase is really quite good. He often sings to himself, refers to things his mother told him, and constantly blames other people when he murders folks, including the dead people themselves. He also spends the last third of the film with his scrotum ripped open for some reason.

Nero's character is less insane but still as strange. I guess most people will be wondering why his character shaves naked in front of Mark Lester, and to be honest it is a head scratcher, but I guess the best answer is 'It was the Seventies'. Ely Galleani has a larger role than usual too, and when she is murdered by Savalas (spoilers), Nero ends up wearing her fur coat for the rest of the film. Also - check out the guy on the IMDB who is offended by the nude scene but goes into minute detail about the whole thing, while also constantly referring to actor Franco Nero as actor Fabio Testi - maybe if they spent more time looking at the actor and not the actor's arse they might have noticed that. Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

Anyway - strange film, strange decade, I enjoyed it. Stimmerung!

Very bad Italian crime thriller that is also strangely and inappropriately dubbed into German!

Moskito (GOLDEN GLOBE nominee Franco NERO), his girlfriend Maria (Ely GALLEANI) and the crazy Memphis (Telly SAVALAS) rob a jeweler. The horses run away with Memphis there, so there are no deaths. During the chaotic escape, the trio has to spontaneously change the getaway vehicle. What the three tough guys don't notice: Little Lennox (Mark LESTER) is hiding in the back seat. A child in the power of three gangsters on the run...

This film is really a crude mix! Criminal farce with borderline moronic dubbing, youth drama and psychopath panorama all in one! ACADEMY AWARD nominee Telly SAVALAS really lets loose and leaves a good trail of blood behind. One tourist family from Germany in particular has to suffer badly. Also strange is the role of Mark LESTER, who appeared in OLIVER! (1968) and DER ZEUGE HINTER DER WAND / THE WITNESS BEHIND THE WALL (1971). His character turns out to be a severely neglected child who also develops a type of Stockholm syndrome. A quasi-nude scene by Mark LESTER in front of the mirror is also very borderline. You wouldn't ask a 15-year-old to do something like that in front of the camera today. Rightly so! In Italy in the 1970s, a lot more (in terms of nudity and violence) was possible, which makes these films generally very interesting. But it is a good thing that this era is behind us.

What remains is exciting riot and terror cinema: What you always wanted to see but didn't dare imagine...

This proved to be a rare case of a poliziottesco made with British funding; unfortunately, the result is undistinguished (except by its exceeding unpleasantness and borderline-camp approach) despite stars and director. The former is led by a wooden Franco Nero and an ultra-hammy Telly Savalas as a couple of would-be robbers (if anyone is able to believe either actor – who generally exude cool – as a duo of bumbling crooks, he's more gullible than I am!).

Their 'job' goes awry (ending in murder and saddled with cases of cutlery instead of jewels!) – however, the mismatched criminals see an opening to their dilemma when they inadvertently 'kidnap' the son of a British diplomat (a miscast Lester, who even gets to kick trigger-happy Savalas where it hurts at one point). Still, they never actually ransom him and their sole intent is to cross the border into France; tagging along with them is Nero's girlfriend (a wasted Ely Galleani): soon enough, though, she's had enough and decides to run away while the others are sleeping; the crazy Savalas notices this and, following the girl, kills her. In the meantime, Nero and Lester have woken up – the former thinks his accomplices may have double-crossed him, so he goes on the lam with the boy in tow; after a brief spell at a rich old lady's country estate (which features totally gratuitous rear nudes by both Nero and Lester!), Savalas catches up with them. They continue their trek, where the trio run into a family of German campers: the situation degenerates to the point where Savalas shuts them inside their trailer and tosses the lot into the river – though he's badly hurt in the process himself; typically, it all ends with the 'heavies' getting killed just as they're about to reach the border.

The film, therefore, contains most of the genre's typical elements – sleaze, sadism, violence, chases (the aftermath of the opening robbery when the getaway car causes havoc in the city's narrow back-streets and even disrupts a funeral procession is downright farcical), etc.; one mildly interesting aspect to it is that, by the end, Lester himself is seen to have been definitely (irrevocably?) marked by the experience – coming to feel excitement when an act of violence is committed.