Quelli che contano

Director Andrea Bianchi is probably best known for the nauseatingly brutal Zombie Gore flick "Le Notti Del Terrore" (aka. "Burial Ground", 1981) and the super-sleazy Giallo "Nude Per L'Assassino" ("Strip Nude For Your Killer", 1975), so it is not surprising that his contribution to the Italian Crime genre, "Quelli Che Contano" aka. "Cry of a Prostitute" of 1974, (which he co-directed with his brother) is one of the most brutal and misogynist films in a genre that generally isn't for the squeamish. This might be seen as a warning for the sensitive, faint-hearted and politically correct, but it definitely serves as a word of recommendation for my fellow fans of Italian Exploitation cinema from the 70s.

Genre icon Henry Silva stars as Tony Aniante, a super-tough mob hit-man (who is sort of a more exaggerated double of Silva's absolute greatest role of hit-man Lanzetta in Fernando Di Leo's masterpiece "Il Boss" of 1973). The film already starts out intensely brutal when an apparent family has a fatal car crash in gory detail. The autopsy makes it clear that the kid was already dead before the crash, and just transported by mob-related drug-dealers who use children's corpses (!) as means for heroin production. Since such depraved methods are even despicable by organized crime standards, and furthermore bad for business, the dons of the Sicilian mafia assign Tony Aniante to clean up among the dirtiest of their own...

The violence in this film is very intense, even by brutal Italian 70s crime standards, and the degree of political incorrectness is as high as it gets. The great Henry Silva is super-tough, super-cool and cold as ice as always; whenever he offs someone in this flick he whistles a cool tune. The man simply is the best guy ever to play mafia hit men. Period. Cult-goddess Barbara Bouchet is ravishing as always in the role of a nymphomaniac ex-prostitute turned mob-boss' wife, who enjoys getting raped and severely beaten. Fausto Tozzi plays her perverted mafia don husband, who gets off on hearing his wife talk about her extramarital activities. Between macho talk, revenge-vows and mafia conspiracies, the film features brutalities such as rape, people being beaten to a bloody pulp, decapitation and autopsies and dozens of bloody gunfights. The storyline isn't the most intriguing in Italian crime cinema, and the film has some minor logical flaws, but these are secondary to the tons of gritty and hard-boiled entertainment that it provides. Definitely one to watch for my fellow Italian Crime / Poliziotteschi fans.

This film is obviously inspired by A Fistful of Dollars directed by Sergio Leone. Henry Silva is not by far what is Clint Eastwood but, he is doing his best. Andrea Bianchi, the director, the same, is not bad. The other actors are also at height. True, the whole movie is a series of clichés and deja-vu but, even so, it manages to captivate, you can follow it to the end, it's not boring. The music signed by Sante Maria Romitelli is very good. The cinematography of Carlo Carlini is also good. And, the presence of the sex symbol Barbara Bouchet(who looks like a twin sister of Jill Ireland, once the wife of Charles Bronson) is the hot spice of everything, her white panties have a role by itself...

It would seem that this film is more of a godfather rip-off than anything else, but it's clear that the film takes its fair share of influence from the western genre. Many Italian films lift plots from other successful films, and in this case it's A Fistful of Dollars that provides the influence (though in fairness to this film, Leone's first masterpiece did take its plot from Yojimbo...). The film also takes influence from the crime films that were rising in popularity in 1974, and could be described as an urban western. The plot focuses on Tony Aniante, a loner who arrives in a Sicilian town with a pair of warring families. He decides to be friends with both of them, until the moment to strike presents itself and he can have both families implode on themselves. The prostitute of the title refers to Barbara Bouchet's character Margie; one of the mob's whores who takes a liking to Tony and ends up getting embroiled in his little war with the rival mafia families.

The film features all the things that make the Italian crime films popular, including fist fights, gun fights and car chases and none are in short supply. Andrea Bianchi never got himself a reputation for making high quality films, and that really isn't surprising considering how much Cry of a Prostitute borrows from other, more esteemed, sources. However, he does at least manage to keep things entertaining and that is of course the most important thing about a film like this. Of course, the fact that the plot has been seen many times before means that it is not difficult to guess what is going to happen by the end, which kind of spoils it a bit. The lead actor is Henry Silva and he does a good job in the central role. My main reason for seeing this film is the fact that it stars the lovely Barbara Bouchet. Barbara has never come across as being shy, and she doesn't here either! Overall, I wont say that Cry of a Prostitute is a must see Italian film; it adds very little for the experienced Italian film viewer; but it's not bad and is worth a watch.

If you are a big fan of "spaghetti westerns" then I highly recommend "Cry of a Prostitute" as a mafia version of "A Fisful of Dollars". Instead of Clint Eastwood playing both families against each other, you get a brutal Henry Silva. Barbara Bouchet taking milk baths isn't a bad thing to see either. Like the Italian Westerns the plot is secondary to style, and the outstanding soundtrack is an integral part of the story. The editing is choppy and the dubbing atrocious, but this violent film has definite entertainment value. The closeups of Henry Silva's cold black eyes certainly elicits thoughts of Lee Van Cleef, and Silva is every bit as evil as "angel eyes" ................. - MERK

A strong italian¨Poliziottesco" about a lonely killer vs. Bloody killers with thrills, chills , erotic scenes , crossfire and lots of violence . The picture deals with the turbulent times when the dangerous mobsters organizations dominated the Italian environments by committing terrible crimes , kidnaps and massacres in order to carry out their black market currency and illicit drug traffic businesses . Italian thriller with plenty of action , crisply edition , tension , intrigue , suspenseful , plot twists and loads of violence with reminiscent to ¨Charles Bronson¨ films . As the Mafia war between the Sicilian families results to be the principal character in the yarn . This is a thrilling and twisted flick about the political scene in Italy at the time of the thunderous Seventies . It starts with car accident with three fatalities and a child on board that had been dead for several days ago . And police discovering that the child's body cavity had been used for transporting heroin . It is the spark causing a lot of deaths and it will soon destroy the old mobster equilibrium , giving the way to an escalation of violence , as the powerful gansters are determined to a relentless Sicilian vendetta . The senior Don Coscemi hires misogynistic crook Tony (Henry Silva) to go after the perpetrators of the ominious criminal acts . As the matter escalates and rival band members kill each other , and the hit-man gets caught in the mafia war between two families : Cantimo and Scannapieco . Along the way, he's seduced by a former prostitute (Barbara Bouchet) , a supposedly innocent victim, now married to one of the mob boss (Fausto Tozzi). When the mobster chief learns the treason , he turns the tables and making him his next target. "For a lousy twenty-five bucks some people think they can do anything!¨. "She Left Prostitution only to find Murder!¨.

This is an intriguing Crime Thriller that contains noisy action , betrayals , suspense , sleaziness , twists , turns , and anything else . This film results to be one of the best among the whole saga of Italian thrillers or Poliziottesco sub-genre that had its splendor in the Seventies and early Eighties , concerning a contract killer who manipulates two mobster families into believing he is on their side and eventually all hell breaks loose . It is an acceptable movie that takes place in ups and downs with surprises and plot twists , but also with unfortunate and unpredictable events . Everything revolves around the unstable highly charged criminal environment : in the thunderous Italy during those days of civil unrest during the 1970's with the Mafia ruling Sicily island. The picture depicts perfect and violently those nasty criminal times . Although failing on occasion to balance the thin line it establishes between perception and reality , offering a semi-realistic look at the priorities and lives of heinous mobsters . Nail-biting and moving Italian Poliziesco in lurid roughie style with enjoyable acting , the film is interesting enough , though it has some flaws , gaps and shortfalls . The base plot structure regarding a battered killer bears remarkable resemblance to Sergio Leone's A Fistful Of Dollars . Stars two-fisted Henry Silva , as he is nice in his usual way by playing a contract killer who stumbles into a mafiosi war with fateful consequences and the gorgeous Barbara Bouchet as the nymphomaniac wife , she steals the spectacle by showing some nudism . Henry Silva sports his inimitable and cold style as a hired murderer gets himself in the middle of a feud between two mafia families while shooting and killing . He plays efficiently a cold-blooded killer , a 'mob hitman' sent to Italy to pacify rival gangs impeding on Mafia operations . Silva was born in Brooklyn , New York , and called to Hollywood, he played a succession of heavies in films, including The Bravados (1958), Green mansions (1959), Manchurian Candidate (1962) and Johnny Cool (1963). An Italian producer made Henry an offer he could not refuse--to star as a hero for a change--and he moved his family overseas . As he emigrated to Italy where perfomed Spaghetti Westerns as The Hills Run Red (1966) and White Fang to the Rescue (1975) , but Silva's turning-point picture was Poliziescos sub-genre by playing usually misogynist and cold-blooded psychopaths causing wreak havoc , such as : Razza violenta, Napoli spera , Fatevi vivi, la polizia non interverra, Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare , which made him a hit box office commodity in Spain, Italy, Germany and France . His popularity was enhanced by a gift for languages. He speaks Italian and Spanish fluently and has a flair for the kind of gritty, realistic roles that also catapulted Charles Bronson to European stardom . Returning to the United States, he co-starred with Frank Sinatra in the film Contract on Cherry Street (1977), then signed on as Buck Rogers' evil adversary Kane in Buck Rogers, among others.

It displays an atmospheric , appropriate musical score by composer Romitelli. Likewise, an evocative and adequate cinematography by Carlo Carlini ,shot on location in Andora, Savona, Ventimiglia, Imperia, Liguria, Guidonia Montecelio, Rome, Lazio, Italy and Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy . The motion picture was professionally directed by Andrea Bianchi . He was an Italian director expert on explotiation movies . He made all kinds of genres with penchant for terror , thriller and erotic genre , such as : Malabimba , Strip Naked for your Killer , The Big Shots , Maniac Killer , Dangerous love , Massacre , Commando Mengele , Treasure Island , Night Child and several others . Being his most successful movie : Zombi Horror also titled Burial Ground or The Nights of Terror . Rating Quelli che contano (1974) : 6.5/10 , better than average. The picture will appeal to explotiation fans and Italian thriller lovers .