Bezenby Who'd have thought that the guy who made Strip Nude For Your Killer and Burial Ground would produce one of the best Euro-crime films ever made? That said, if ever a genre needed someone that didn't hold back, it's this one.The film basically starts as it means to go on. When a car crashes on the French/Italian border causing three fatalities (including the decapitation of the driver) it becomes apparent that the child on board had been dead for several days before hand. Even more horrifying is the discover that the child's body cavity had been used for transporting heroin. The police are astonished at what they find, and even the mafia are revulsed at how low one of their own is willing to stoop, and set out to put a stop to it and restore their already dodgy reputation.Enter Mafia hitman Henry Silva, sent by one particular Don to Sicily to sort everyone out. Henry is a cold blooded killer who likes to whistle a creepy tune before putting a bullet through everyone's head, and quickly aligns himself with Don Scannapieco, the seemingly 'better' of the two Mafia gangs in the area. Then again, he also aligns himself with the other Don, who is prime suspect for the old child-stuffing racket. A Fistful of Dollars type scenario then arises as Henry plays the two gangs off each other, with over the top violent results.Of course, there's a few other characters to take note of. Scannapieco's daughter is having a Romeo and Juliet type relationship with the other Don's son, which complicates matters (and hints at a possible positive outcome), Scannpieco's youngest son is a mentally-handicapped cripple who is a burden to his father, and strangest of all is the other Don's girlfriend, the totally messed up Barbara Bouchet, who threatens to claim that Henry raped her if he doesn't make love to her, which he does...up her wrong 'un. That scene alone will make or break those not used to this kind of madness.The violence escalates as the film progresses, with some jaw-dropping gun battles. People are shot in the face with shotguns, Henry makes really sure two hitmen are dead by running them over with a steamroller, and Don Scannapieco's wife is so overcome with grief at the murder of one of her sons that she forces a hitman's corpse through a bandsaw head first. No one is safe in this film and even Henry can barely speak during the finale due to taking a severe beating and being thrown off a cliff. Bianchi even throws in a little mystery as the cock-sure Henry starts breaking down a bit and suffering from flashbacks to the murder of a woman by a mystery person. This all comes to a head in a blood-splattered ending in a film that never lets up for the entire duration. This is one seriously-trashy film made even better by Henry Silva's terrifying stare. Result!Oh, and if you've ever wondered what Barbara Bouchet would look like bathing in milk, this is the film for you.

Witchfinder General 666 Director Andrea Bianchi is probably best known for the nauseatingly brutal Zombie Gore flick "Le Notti Del Terrore" (aka. "Burial Ground", 1981) and the super-sleazy Giallo "Nude Per L'Assassino" ("Strip Nude For Your Killer", 1975), so it is not surprising that his contribution to the Italian Crime genre, "Quelli Che Contano" aka. "Cry of a Prostitute" of 1974, (which he co-directed with his brother) is one of the most brutal and misogynist films in a genre that generally isn't for the squeamish. This might be seen as a warning for the sensitive, faint-hearted and politically correct, but it definitely serves as a word of recommendation for my fellow fans of Italian Exploitation cinema from the 70s.Genre icon Henry Silva stars as Tony Aniante, a super-tough mob hit-man (who is sort of a more exaggerated double of Silva's absolute greatest role of hit-man Lanzetta in Fernando Di Leo's masterpiece "Il Boss" of 1973). The film already starts out intensely brutal when an apparent family has a fatal car crash in gory detail. The autopsy makes it clear that the kid was already dead before the crash, and just transported by mob-related drug-dealers who use children's corpses (!) as means for heroin production. Since such depraved methods are even despicable by organized crime standards, and furthermore bad for business, the dons of the Sicilian mafia assign Tony Aniante to clean up among the dirtiest of their own...The violence in this film is very intense, even by brutal Italian 70s crime standards, and the degree of political incorrectness is as high as it gets. The great Henry Silva is super-tough, super-cool and cold as ice as always; whenever he offs someone in this flick he whistles a cool tune. The man simply is the best guy ever to play mafia hit men. Period. Cult-goddess Barbara Bouchet is ravishing as always in the role of a nymphomaniac ex-prostitute turned mob-boss' wife, who enjoys getting raped and severely beaten. Fausto Tozzi plays her perverted mafia don husband, who gets off on hearing his wife talk about her extramarital activities. Between macho talk, revenge-vows and mafia conspiracies, the film features brutalities such as rape, people being beaten to a bloody pulp, decapitation and autopsies and dozens of bloody gunfights. The storyline isn't the most intriguing in Italian crime cinema, and the film has some minor logical flaws, but these are secondary to the tons of gritty and hard-boiled entertainment that it provides. Definitely one to watch for my fellow Italian Crime / Poliziotteschi fans.

The_Void It would seem that this film is more of a godfather rip-off than anything else, but it's clear that the film takes its fair share of influence from the western genre. Many Italian films lift plots from other successful films, and in this case it's A Fistful of Dollars that provides the influence (though in fairness to this film, Leone's first masterpiece did take its plot from Yojimbo...). The film also takes influence from the crime films that were rising in popularity in 1974, and could be described as an urban western. The plot focuses on Tony Aniante, a loner who arrives in a Sicilian town with a pair of warring families. He decides to be friends with both of them, until the moment to strike presents itself and he can have both families implode on themselves. The prostitute of the title refers to Barbara Bouchet's character Margie; one of the mob's whores who takes a liking to Tony and ends up getting embroiled in his little war with the rival mafia families.The film features all the things that make the Italian crime films popular, including fist fights, gun fights and car chases and none are in short supply. Andrea Bianchi never got himself a reputation for making high quality films, and that really isn't surprising considering how much Cry of a Prostitute borrows from other, more esteemed, sources. However, he does at least manage to keep things entertaining and that is of course the most important thing about a film like this. Of course, the fact that the plot has been seen many times before means that it is not difficult to guess what is going to happen by the end, which kind of spoils it a bit. The lead actor is Henry Silva and he does a good job in the central role. My main reason for seeing this film is the fact that it stars the lovely Barbara Bouchet. Barbara has never come across as being shy, and she doesn't here either! Overall, I wont say that Cry of a Prostitute is a must see Italian film; it adds very little for the experienced Italian film viewer; but it's not bad and is worth a watch.

William WOW! Another false ad campaign by Joseph Brenner! He mis-advertises this film at the theatres as some kind of a woman beating movie, as the poster shows a woman's face all bruised up, with the caption "for a lousy 50 bucks he could do whatever he wanted with her", when it is another Italian Mafia film with Henry Silva! Even the video box hints it is some kind of a motel sex film, when it isn't! And it isn't a good mafia movie either! This is one of the mafia films that is so bad it probably ENDED the mafia film craze! The opening credit isn't even the original, as it is a tacked in credit with music from DELTA FOX! UGH! To be avoided!