Sadly Over-hyped

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

'La mano Spietata della legge' (1973) is sadly a little-known and poorly documented euro-crime that merits re-discovery. That said, any high- octane Italian actioner from the early 70's swollen with a typically phat-sounding, grooved-out score from Stelvio Cipriani, and festooned with an especially muscular performance from Philippe Leroy is going to be anything but a time waster. In addition this zesty euro-crime effort also features tyro screen-gobbler Klaus Kinski who, surprisingly, turns in a somewhat restrained performance here as a blow torch-wielding hit-man; nevertheless still cutting a dashing, violent swathe through the proceedings in his hep-cat sunspex. It might well have been this film that got me to re-view many other titles starring that most swarthy of enigmatic actors, Philippe Leroy...Methinks it it time for a Leroy retrospective!

The Bloody Hands of the Law is a rarely seen Italian crime film. It stars the reliable Klaus Kinski in a role as a professional killer. He goes through the entire movie without even saying one line of dialogue, I'm sure not having to learn any lines suited Kinski just fine. Anyway, the film still benefits a lot by having his considerable presence at its disposal. He isn't the lead actor though, that would be Philip Leroy who had an important role in another much better poliziotteschi, Milano Calibro 9. He has more of a starring role in this one and he does give it his all. He looks like a bad ass and he clearly seems to be doing his own stunt work as well. With these two on board it's a bit of a pity to acknowledge that the movie itself doesn't match up to its lead actors. The story is fairly uninteresting and has no real dynamism and it isn't even always easy to follow what's going on. The crime network that underpins the story isn't very well explained and we never really know what they're all about.The story, such as it is, begins with a professional assassination of a crime boss. Witnesses to the crime are bumped off and then others involved in the investigation also meet violent ends. A policeman frustrated with the ineffectiveness of the law demands that the gloves are removed and a more heavy–handed approach is taken in bringing these gangsters to justice.Like all Italian crime films it's pretty violent in places, with a particularly memorable scene where a would-be rapist has his crown jewels obliterated with a blowtorch which seemed rather appropriate. But otherwise the violence is less original and consists mostly of men administering beatings to one-and-other. As I said, the story is messy, so it's hard getting very involved in this one, which is a shame because there is good things about it. I particularly liked the downbeat and moody ending that at least rounded things off on an interesting note. This one also stars the very dark and dusky beauty Silvia Monti, who also featured in Lucio Fulci's classic giallo A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, in a support role as Leroy's lover.

THE BLOOD HANDS OF THE LAW (Italy, 1973) aka La Mano Spietata della Legge). Viewed via UK DVD from Alfa Digital released a couple years ago, English dubbed (poorly) and fairly murky print. Fairly pointless and generally incomprehensible crime thriller which begins unraveled and never gets any closer to lucidity as it goes along, finally ending on a note of intriguing despondency but without any firm resolution to its story. Klaus Kinski plays a silent paid assassin whose connection with the other assassins and the increasingly connected network of Organized Crime who people the film is never made clear. The film is mildly violent (despite its 1970's era reputation for being wildly violent) – there are lots of beatings, stabbings, two fisted interrogations, pointless nudity, and "the ever-popular crotch blowtorching scene" wherein a rapist gets his, if you will forgive the term, comeuppance. In many ways the film hearkens to the DIRTY HARRY style, with Philip LeRoy very good as the cop seeking to use any methods possibly to track down the killers, whose victims increase as potential witnesses to their original crime, and then witnesses to those crimes, etc etc, are sequentially knocked off. Nice 1970s Italo-pop score by Stelvio Cipriani is never really used to stylish advantage. Film plods along and begs for an interesting directorial style that, like the film itself, never really delivers.

Found this title on Danish x-rental vhs-tape the other day. Letterboxed 1:1.70 and uncut. Runningtime is 95.21 mins, pal system. Danish title is....Politiets Hårde Drenge(tuff police-boys...in English!!). It's supposed to be extremely violent,but I fail to see the reason for this rumour as no real graphic violence is shown directly "in y'ar face"!! Ok...Klaus Kinski...looking very very cool in 70´s sunspex by the way....does set a guy's groin area on fire with a small flamethrower. Not a very pleasant scene. There's really no interesting story to follow and the action is rather tame, but we do get lots of truly nice shots of Klaus, who performs with his usual flair for putting on a cruel face. Participating from start to finish,he dosn't speak one single word throughout the entire movie,though!! Recommended for die-hard fans of either Italo crime or the wonderful Mr Kinski. I'm the latter, yep!! Worth a million on the sell/swap/trade scene among collectors worldwide!!