I violenti di Roma bene

The dubbing of foreign films is already a giant crime against the nature of cinema to itself, but some people should actually be put in jail for the atrocious dubbing jobs they pulled off! The voices & synchronism featuring in "Violence for Kicks" are truly horrible and make it really difficult to even properly watch the film at certain points. As banal as it may sound, the voices often misfit the characters so badly you'll have trouble focusing on what they are saying, because you're too irritated. If the film ever receives a proper & fancy DVD release (fat chance that'll ever happen, though), I sincerely hope the original language print can be restored with optional subtitles in English. That being said, I also must admit being surprised at the extreme obscurity status of this film. It may not be the greatest Italian crime-thriller of the 70's but it's undeniably great entertainment, stuffed with sadistically violent images and long gratuitous scenes of sleaze and full frontal female nudity. If that doesn't appeal to avid Euro-cult cinema fanatics, then I don't know what else does! The two most encountered titles "Violence for Kicks" and "Terror in Rome" also immediately summarize the full story. A gang of young & ruthless bikers terrorizes the streets of Rome for no other reason than kicks and to kill their copious amounts of spare time. They purposelessly gang-rape random girls, beat up pedestrians, deal hard drugs, organize illegal street races, menace witnesses, murder city employees and commit violent heists even though they don't need any money as they're all the offspring of rich & eminent citizens. The tough police inspector De Gregori (Antonio Sabato) rapidly becomes very frustrated because each time he arrests the arrogant gang leader Stefano, his daddy's attorneys arrange a release warrant the exact same day. But when the gang's aggressions gradually become viler and De Gregori's own wife becomes the target of an assault, he decides to enforce the law slightly more drastic. "Violence for Kicks" is extremely incoherent and the events actually just jump swiftly from one nasty sequence to the next, but the pacing is fast and the script doesn't allow you to bother about the several improbabilities. There are no character studies or moralistic speeches to suffer through here; just plain old action and excitement. The violence is truly nihilistic and "Grindhouse"-like here, including extended shots of burning corpses and executed children. In spite of all the nastiness, there's even a bit of room for comic relief, namely in the persona of Insp. De Gregori's dimwit assistant. During an interrogation, the arrogant Stefano refers to a theory of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Afterwards the assistant subtly turns to De Gregori and asks him: "I do understand everything and all, but … what does this guy Nietzsche has to do with the whole case?" Too funny! Coriolani Gori provides a stimulating score and cameraman Sergio Martinelli masterfully choreographs the multiple car chases and motorcycle races. "Violence for Kicks" certainly doesn't play in the same league as, say, "Almost Human", "Manhunt", "Violent Naples" "Street Law" and "Rome Armed to the Teeth", but it's really worth hunting down.

Tough Poliziottesco with Antonio Sabato and Giacomo Rossi-Stuart

This Italian crime film by Sergio Grieco and Mmassimo Felisatti (who also wrote the original for "Calling All Police Cars" with Antonio Sabato) was released in Italian cinemas on August 12, 1976. Unfortunately he didn't make it to Germany at the time. In the English-speaking world the film is also known as "Terror in Rome", the more accurate translation of the original title would be something like "The violent snots from the Roman upper class". The director Sergio Grieco is best known for his EuroSpy films (from the 1960s) with the smart Ken Clark, the action thriller "One Man Against The Organization" (1975) with the muscle-bound Howard Ross and of course for his classic "Der Tollwütige / The Rabid" (1977) with a seemingly unleashed GOLDEN GLOBE nominee Helmut Berger. This sensational pearl was created between the latter two.

Rome has been terrorized for some time by an unscrupulous gang of youths on motorcycles. Under the leadership of Stefano Donini (Pierre Marfurt), a student from an outwardly well-ordered background, the rich snots act so brutally and licentiously that the population is terrified. Robberies, brutal rapes, drug trafficking, violent blackmail and even murder are part of the program of these degenerate bullies who try to transfigure their misdeeds with Nietzsche quotes. The responsible inspector De Gregori (Antonio Sabato) is fuming because the slightest questioning of Donini's influential dad (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart) sends a lawyer after him. When the young Elena (Gloria Piedimonte) is raped extremely brutally by the gang (her face is severely disfigured by barbed wire), the limit is reached. The over-motivated inspector increases his training program in the sports hall in order to master the overwhelming gang. He is supported by his beautiful wife (Giuliana Melis), who repeatedly visits him in the hall - still in her coat - to watch reverently as her extremely strong husband puts his training partners on the mat in rows. There is also an attack on the inspector, who manages to kill the four hired rascals with his naked torso. One of these villains is the well-known stuntman Claudio Ruffini, whose facial features are thoroughly polished by Sabato in the film. A year later, the great Ruffini was supposed to make an appearance as "Fettbacke / Fatbacke" in "Charleston" (1977), in which he received a few good slaps from Bud Spencer.

The youth gang also includes young Marco (Gianluca Farnese), who as a working-class kid doesn't really fit in with the snots and just wants to belong. The devilish Stefano takes full advantage of this and gets a tip from Marco about a robbery in the factory where his father (Raffaele Di Mario) works. A lot goes wrong during this robbery. A little later, Marco's sister (the enchanting Franca Gonella), who is somewhat in love with Stefano, and her friend go with the two main perpetrators, who then reveal their true and terrible faces. It's time for the powerful inspector to intervene...

This Poliziottesco offers the entire spectrum of a typical Italian crime film, and yes, sometimes it exaggerates a bit. But in this exaggeration you also understand what made the Italian police and gangster film so popular in the 1970s. Highly entertaining, always to the tune of twelve and very close to the people and problems of his time. Very contemporary cinema that doesn't shy away from publicity!

You can watch the great Antonio Sabato (1943-2021) beat the soul out of one of the bad rascals with undisguised joy, before the father, who so absolutely unbelievably spoiled his depraved son, can intervene again with legal help .

You can really see how much fun it is for Antonio Sabato (similar to the brawling bully in "Zwei Schlitzohren in der gelben Hölle / Two Rascals in the Yellow Hell", 1974) to be staged as a virile "super bull" who also shows off his mega muscles and the voluptuousness can present his hairy hero's chest.

Giacomo Rossi-Stuart (1925-1994), who is known from "Aeneas - Hero of Troy" with Steve Reeves, "Catherine of Russia" with Hildegard Knef and the Mario Bava classic "The Dead Eyes of Doctor Dracula", is convincing as an unscrupulous father who puts up with corpses to protect his wayward son.

The enchanting Franca Gonella (born 1952) also makes an appearance worth seeing in "Zwei Teufelskerle auf dem Weg nach Istanbul / Two devils on the way to Istanbul", where she has a hearty fight with Gülsen Bubikoglu in the swimming pool.

The acts of violence shown in this film are absolutely terrible and aimed at... politically incorrect. With these outbursts of violence, however, the Italian Poliziottesci are taking up a mood that was prevalent in many European countries in the 1970s. Just think of the violence of the terrorism at the time, the consequences of drug use, but also the social upheavals in general, which had an impact on everyday life that many people did not feel able to cope with. Such films, which function as a seismographic device for social developments, are unfortunately missing today. That's why it's so much fun to rediscover the films of the wild seventies. This has now rightly become politically incorrect. With these outbursts of violence, however, the Italian Poliziottesci are taking up a mood that was prevalent in many European countries in the 1970s.

Ha, ha, ha, this has got to be one of the worst films ever made, luckily though this belongs firmly in the "so bad it's good" category. I laughed all the way through this inane mess and people need to check it out just to see for themselves just how ridiculous it truly is. I really didn 't expect any A-level acting in this, but this is so embarrassing that I'm at loss for words, terrible and hysterically funny! The dubbing isn't synchronized in the slightest and none of the voices match the characters, you have terribly choreographed fights that would fit right into a Benny Hill-skit, well, the whole thing is plainly horrendous. At least you would expect some good old ultra-violence in a film that's called Violence For Kicks, but hey, what do you know? The director and script writer fails miserably here as well, thumbs all the way down!

But check it out if you get the chance, at least it's unintentionally funny and that got to count for something, right?