one of my absolute favorites!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

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

Blistering performances.

This movie has 3 super-heavy guys, 3 sacred monsters of the 7th Art: Jean-Paul Belmondo (in the role of Commissioner Letellier and producer of the film), Henri Verneuil (director and author of the screenplay) and Ennio Morricone (who doesn't needs no other specification, he is the one guilty of that obsessive piano accompanied by an even more obsessively whistle). It is a high class action film, Belmondo makes one of his best roles, plus all his stunts, as usual(exceptional scenes on the Galeries Lafayette store rooftop, above the subway running after Marcucci and the spectacular descent from the helicopter) (must be remembered as stuntmen also those 2 legends called Claude Carliez and Rémy Julienne, plus a Romanian stunt, Dan Vieru) (Claude Carliez also directed one movie, another great thriller, made in 1969, with Jean Marais, "Diamond Rush"Le Paria-original title). Another great French actor, Charles Denner, is Belmondo's police colleague, inspector Moissac. The Italian actor Adalberto Maria Merli makes a special role as Pierre Valdeck, alias the psychopath Minos. Henri Verneuil is a great French director, who also made masterpieces like "The 25th Hour"(1967) (with the great Anthony Quinn in the role of a Romanian peasant), "The Sicilian Clan"(1969), with Alain Delon, Lino Ventura and Jean Gabin, "The Burglars"(1971), with Jean-Paul Belmondo again and Omar Sharif, "The Serpent"(1973), with Yul Brynner, Henry Fonda and Dirk Bogarde (you can notice that he worked only with great great actors). To be seen and re-seen anytime! If I could, I would give it 11 points...

What we have here is a crime thriller that includes most of the clichés of the genre, but does it in such a way that it feels original due to the execution. Henri Verneuil's film is really not what I was expecting it to be at all; it's actually a lot more than just a film about cops hunting a vicious psychopath and while not everything about the film works, what does work works brilliantly and this is certainly among the best European crime thrillers of the 1970's. The film is a French and Italian co-production, and while it's clear that the film is much more French than Italian; we still get some trademarks of Italian cinema thrown in and the film has elements of both the Polizi and Giallo genres. The plot simply focuses on an unknown serial killer that targets loose women in Paris by way of phone calls and later murder. Commissioner Jean Letellier and Inspector Moissac are put on the case and have to go through the Parisian underworld before coming close to catching the killer and discovering his insane reason for murdering the women of Paris.The thing that really makes this film stand out is the leading performances courtesy of Jean-Paul Belmondo and Charles Denner. The pair fit into their roles excellently individually and have a great chemistry also, which director Henri Verneuil is keen to exploit as much as possible as the two actors provide the film with most of its best moments and also deliver some comedy. The film is not overly gory and the focus is never on the murders; although there are a few featured and the way that the director focuses on the killer's black gloves is a nice nod towards Giallo. The film features many of the crime film staples such as car chases and shootouts; a sequence that sees the main protagonist chase the killer in the middle of the film is excellently staged and very thrilling. The film changes pace many times throughout but the director always manages to keep things interesting. Adalberto Maria Merli's portrayal of the villain is suitably demented and detestable and the way that the film boils down towards the conclusion is well done and completely unexpected. Overall, this is an excellent film that doesn't deserve to be forgotten about and therefore comes highly recommended!

Once you get over the silliness of it all, the film is actually pretty stylish. Plot and logic are occasionally sacrificed for shock effects- like the completely pointless though well made opening scene. The story meanders and is more of an excuse for action scenes. Again, these are very well made and trhe overall pace of the film is fairly good. So from that point of view it's a competent thriller with a weak story. However, the real strength of the film really lies in its visual power in terms of having really well crafted scenes with an excellent composition. From that point of view Peur sur la Cite is certainly one of the better films Belmondo made in the 70s/80s. That in itself makes the film worth watching.

"Fear Over The City" is one of those films that invented what later became known as the clichés of the "serial-killer thriller" subgenre. It's all here: the mad killer who fancies himself a moral avenger, the "Freudian" explanations of his behavior, the threatening phone calls to the potential victims and the taunting ones to the police, the hostage situation at the end, etc. The structure of the film is almost experimental, with a chase sequence in the middle that goes on for about 30 minutes, and an entire subplot (about a bank robber who killed Belmondo's previous partner) that is little more than a mere distraction. Belmondo is good as the cynical, hard-as-nails cop, and yes, he does perform some stunts in this movie that are worthy of Jackie Chan at his finest. He has some great moments of black humor, too ("his heart really IS bleeding!") (**1/2)