(1975/Italy)
Reviewed By-Paul Cooke Director : Stelvio Massi Scripted : Teodoro Agrimi & Stelvio Massi Starring : Franco Gasparri , Lee J. Cobb & Nino Benvenuti
Source-Show Video Greece/PAL/Full Screen/Mono/ English dubbed
(1975/Italy)
Reviewed By-Paul Cooke Director : Stelvio Massi Scripted : Teodoro Agrimi & Stelvio Massi Starring : Franco Gasparri , Lee J. Cobb & Nino Benvenuti
Former catwalk male model Franco Gasparri returns as the smart , yet casually sartorial cop Mark Terzi. Back to put the beat down on big shot Lee J. Cobb , also making a reappearance , as a banking corporate. Officer Terzi still wants to bring Cobb’s character Benzi to justice , but this time he has competition in the form of a serial killer.
Opening with a picturesque scene of a happy couples wedding day outside of a church , the moment is torn asunder by the bride in white recoiling backwards , as a snipers bullet hits her firmly in the chest with bloody impact !. The bells ring out a sullen death toll , as from the adjacent rooftop the killer leaves his calling card as the Sphinx. At the same time Benzi is kidnapped and held to ransom in an old dry docked ship. Word reaches Mark Terzi and he is soon on the case and taking matters in hand as only he knows how , Dirty Harry style. His street cop tactics stand him apart from the criminal low life and his gun soon introduces bullets to the appropriate recipients , but one swift of foot kidnapper slips by him and a frenetic chase ensues. Benzi doesn’t wait for the police back up to arrive and takes advantage of Terzi’s tenacity to bring the bad guys down.
Director Stelvio Massi excels in the Action department and how better to kick a movie into top gear than to throw its hero into a car chase !?. Mark leaps out into the road and commandeers a passer by’s car in order to pursue the already fleeing criminal. He’s soon burning rubber faster than a teenage lad test driving a pack of Trojans. The highways and byways echo to the sounds of cops and robbers as stunt coordinator come director Massi throws his hero into the fray. Local help and bad luck cause Terzi to give up the chase , and he is called in by his ranking police chief to answer for further unorthodox methods employed. Getting Terzi to change his style though will take more than a verbal dressing down , as he is one cop that is intent on wearing his dedication like a trophy of injustice brought to bear.
Word is received from the Sphinx that he will hold the city of Genoa to deadly ransom unless Benzi commits suicide. His random acts of sniper shootings have garnered the attentions of the media and his gimmick is newsworthy , as after each kill he leaves a cryptic clue as to his next intended victim. His agenda against Benzi is a personal one as the woman he was to have married was killed , due to the money mans neglect in cost cutting through his construction company.
Mark Terzi is kept on his toes as he races around trying to catch up with the escaped kidnapper and also trying to locate the Sphinx , as both connect with his long term assignment of bringing Benzi to answer before a court of law. The abstract clues left by the killer bamboozle the police force but Terzi’s own instincts lead him to his kidnapper in hiding. Art surrealistically imitates within art as Mark chases down the perpetrator inside a cinema , as a shoot out takes place whilst up upon the screen itself a crime flick plays out in similar Seventies styled fashion. A clever slice of movie within a movie that steps out of the norm with refreshing and observationally wry clarity.
The full focus of Mark’s attention now falls upon the Sphinx , who declares that he has set bombs around the city all set to a precise timer. Mark pieces together the fragments of information he has following a phone call received from the exacting killer. The dark overtures add to the tension brought out by this unusual Action thriller , taking on an element that is almost horror movie styled in its make up. The pacing is intrepid in its structure and rewarding in its deliverance to its doubtlessly appreciative audience. Each tightly nit outburst of Action violence is woven with highly watchable skill by Stelvio Massi , evidenced perfectly by the consummately cool Franco Gasparri each time he is called upon to react to any given situation. A shoot out at an uncovered gun smuggling shipping warehouse displays Terzi handing out his own style of calling cards , ones that are lead lined and housed within the barrel of his gun !. Even machine gun totting thugs are no match for our wonderfully incredulous hero.
Set your own explosive timers for the end play as the game of cat and mouse comes down to the inevitable showdown between Terzi and the Sphinx. Shall the city pay or will Benzi ?. With Cobb in the boiling pot some things gotta pop !.
