Strictly average movie

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

An action-packed slog

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Despite the often inventive use of real locations, and the much better dubbing than average for the English language version (Balsam was obviously speaking in English on the set) and a few good sparks of action, this is a somewhat disappointing movie. For one thing, it lacks a real climax. In fact, the biggest action spot is right at the very beginning! Instead of action, the movie is very dialogue bound.The plot also disappoints. It's that well-used one, detailing Mafia infiltration into the construction industry. Fortunately, the acting is forceful enough to maintain a fair amount of audience interest, and the plot actually does have one or two welcome twists.

This film starts with Palermo's Police Captain, Martin Balsam, arranging the release of a known criminal from an insane asylum and calmly watches on as the man purchases a machine gun, dresses up as a cop, and heads off to the office of a local crime boss/building merchant, resulting in a bloodbath with four dead bodies. The mafia boss however seemed to have got wind of this and wasn't around for the gunfight.Franco Nero then turns up as a new district attorney who is out to play by the rules and get to the bottom of what happened - Who alerted the mafia boss that the guy was out of the loony bin? Who arranged for the guy to be released in the first place? Franco the D.A doesn't trust Balsam the cop, and various interviews with the mafia boss and others suggests that Franco is on the mafia payroll or Balsam was paid to release the prisoner to kill the mafia boss by rival mafia gangs.The two form a very uneasy alliance where Balsam suggest that most of the municipal staff of Palermo are on the mafia payroll and explains his reason for using unorthodox methods is because the mafia boss and himself grew up in a village years ago and the mafia boss shot a guy protesting about the terrible wages the mafia were paying quarry workers (played by Giancarlo Prete in a very good cameo). Nero retorts by saying he knows Balsam withdrew two million lira from an account at the same time, but will he believe that he used that to find Prete's mafia murdered body? Although this film is long and low on action, it's easy to get drawn in by the acting of the two leads. It's rarer still to see Franco Nero get acted off the screen, but that's what happens here. You might know Martin Balsam as the cop from Psycho or Alan Arkin's superior officer in Catch 22, but here we get the full spectrum of acting. He's hard skinned and efficient as a cop, but prone to showing mercy to folk who have acted stupidly, and is kind to his colleagues, even those on the mafia payroll. Wherever he goes in this film he's pushed to the absolute limit, so the bitter sweet smile on his face as a full room of mafia staff are laughing at him is priceless. And he one-ups that scene later on. Beautiful.Only negatives are Franco Nero doesn't dub his own voice (even though he speaks fluent English) and Popflix present this in full screen, but I'll say what I always say - best to see the film in any form rather than not at all!

This Italian crime drama from director Damiano Damiani is a very well directed film; throughout his long career, Damiani has succeeded in making classy films (with the exception of AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION) and this one is no exception. However, it isn't an action film at all, so those looking for gun and fist-fights should look elsewhere. Things kick off with a criminal being released from an asylum; his immediate action is to go gunning for a crime boss who duped him. There's a brief, expertly directed shoot-out, and then the police procedural story of corruption and racketeering really begins.Instead of action, Damiani delivers us a character-focused drama that's presided over by the larger-than-life Martin Balsam as a corrupt police captain. Balsam makes this film work; rather than being presented as a villain, he's a sympathetic character and his minimalist performance really works here. Playing a totally unflappable captain – he doesn't even blanch when presented with evidence of his crimes – he really makes the viewer identify with his aims and methods and Balsam is superb throughout.The film is rather lengthy and slow-paced, and it's more about acting and plot than anything else. Damiani's photography is excellent and the film has a polished veneer to it. Unusually, Franco Nero is present, but as a supporting role rather than a leading character; he's okay, but in comparison to Balsam, he seems wooden, overdoing it. The rest of the cast is filled by hard-faced actors playing various lowlifes, and they're all very effective. The beautiful Marilu Tolo puts in a notable performance as a woman caught up in the mess.Full of some very memorable scenes – the shoot-out, the striking builder lying in his own blood, the ending in the prison – this is a genuinely good film; a little slow and lacking in action for my liking, but with good technical qualities and a nice score from Riz Ortolani, the guy who did the music in the infamous CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. In the end, though, it's Martin Balsam who makes this film so good.

A man in a police uniform kills four people at a construction site. The construction boss gets away... and both are wanted by the police, as the construction guy is known to be a killer who buries bodies inside the cement walls of his work. How do the police captain and district attorney play into this? The film was written and directed by Damiano Damiani, who would go on to make "Amityville 2". It hardly captures his full directing talents. But it is what it is: a police exploitation film.Of course, as far as exploitation films go, this one is pretty tame. No torture to animals, no assaulted women (almost no women at all). This is actually no more subversive than "Dirty Harry" or other police thrillers.There is some strange recurring theme about homosexuality in this film. A district attorney is accused of being gay and corrupting minors (it is implied he touches boys). There are two guys dressed very flamboyantly chased down by state police. I am not sure what Italy's take on homosexuality was, but it plays an interesting part in this film that would not be able to work if redone today.This movie is actually pretty good, and one of the better films available in the Grindhouse Experience box set. I would recommend it, and hope that some day it gets a decent cleanup job. Its only real failing is that it ends rather abruptly.