Thursday, July 5, 2012

MILANO ODIA / ALMOST HUMAN (1974)

Don’t be fooled by the American exploitation poster (to your right), this isn’t a monster pic. And don’t be fooled by the nihilistic fun (gore, boobs & kinetic mayhem) of the film’s trailer. This trashy pic may well have all the ingredients to make an Italian giallo, but it doesn’t add up to much. Tomas Milian sucks in his cheeks & licks his chops as Milan’s dumbest getaway driver, but when he messes up on a bank robbery, he quickly bounces back with a couple of lowlife pals on a kidnapping plot. He’s got it all figured out. The trick lies in not returning the goods. Grab the tennis-playing daughter of a billionaire, take the ransom, kill your prisoner, and walk away. Well, that’s the plan. But when you’ve got Milian as the brains of the operation, things are going to go wrong fast, too fast for Henry Silva’s police dick to stop a lot of killings. NoShame DVD has come out with a bright shiny print, but Umberto Lenzi’s muscular megging can’t redeem the sloppy story construction, choppy continuity or laughable social commentary. Still, there’s a coarse thrill in watching the psychotic Milian mow down a trio of stripped bourgeoisies as they spin on a chandelier. One of the many subtle privileged moments that dot the pic. There’s even an Ennio Morricone score on this, but don’t get your hopes up.

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