Fernando di Leo and his movies

Fernando di Leo was an interesting filmmaker. As a screenwriter, he left his traces in any possible genre, including many spaghetti westerns, even many famous spaghettis, like Navajo Joe, The Return of Ringo, Massacre Time or Long Days of Vengeance. But when he became a director, he never made a western and made a lot of mafia movies instead. His heroes were mostly gangsters or vigilantes, when he made a movie about a cop, he was usually a corrupted one.

Naked Violence (1969)

All I know is this one is more of a social drama perhaps? Co-starring Nieves Navarro under her Susan Scott alias.

Slaughter Hotel (1971)

At the beginning of his career, he tried to make a giallo, and... didn't succeed. This movie is mostly boring and pornographic. Rosalba Neri is hot as hell in this, but we didn't need to see her body double touching herself. Klaus Kinski is useless in it.

Caliber 9 (1972)

This is where the real Fernando di Leo begins. A mafia movie with a great cast (Gastone Moschin, Barbara Bouchet, Mario Adorf, Lionel Stander, Frank Wolff, Luigi Pistilli etc.), good story and unexpected twists. Perfect score by Luis Bacalov and Osanna, amazing opening sequence.

The Manhunt (1972)

Second film of his sort of trilogy, this time starring Mario Adorf as a falsely accused pimp, who has to hide from mafia killers. And those killers are Henry Silva and Woody Strode. Bad times for Mario... bad times for almost everybody, mostly the women - and what women! Luciana Paluzzi, Femi Benussi, Sylva Koscina... Great funky score, this time by Armando Trovaioli, great action sequences. The chase in the middle of the movie is insane.

Boss (1973)

Final film of the trilogy, but not as good as the previous two in my opinion. Henry Silva stars as a cold-blooded killer, who kills everyone in his way to the top. Richard Conte is the mafia boss, Gianni Garko is a corrupt policeman.

Shoot First, Die Later (1974)

Again a weaker one, first of Di Leo's collaborations with Luc Merenda. Merenda plays a cop here, but a cop working for the mafia. Richard Conte is here again, as a lawyer this time, and we also get Di Leo's favourite actor, Vittorio Caprioli, playing a deaf old guy, who becomes a witness of a crime, and therefore dangerous for the mafia. Delia Boccardo is Merenda's girlfriend, so we know she won't meet a good end here.

Kidnap Syndicate (1975)

Merenda again as a father, whose son is kidnapped together with a son of a rich businessman played by James Mason. When Mason refuses to pay the ransom, the poor child is killed in order to force Mason to pay. Merenda gets in a rage, but... the second half is not such a riot as we would expect from the director of Manhunt. Vittorio Caprioli is back as the policeman.

Loaded Guns (1975)

Poliziesco / sex comedy starring Ursula Andress! Not a bad one though. Yes, it becomes really silly and there are moments when Andress' body plays the lead, and the final fistfight is really silly and feels out of place. But a fun movie.

Nick the Sting (1976)

To be honest, I stopped with Di Leo in 1975 so far, so just quickly to the rest. This one stars Merenda again, paired with Lee J. Cobb. All I know about it.

Mr. Scarface (1976)

Jack Palance as a mafia boss in a eurocrime comedy. Seems so.

Blood and Diamonds (1977)

Claudio Cassinelli takes the lead here, Barbara Bouchet returns as a gogo dancer once again. Martin Balsam is in it as well I think. And Vittorio Caprioli again.

To Be Twenty (1978)

A sex comedy that turns into a horror in the end.. Sex comedy starlets Gloria Guida and Lilli Carati starring. Caprioli again co-starring.

Madness (1980)

Joe Dallesandro as a criminal on the run in this movie. I think so.

Killer vs. Killers (1985)

I think this is di Leo's last movie and he didn't end with anything else than a gangster movie with Henry Silva. He made an action flick with him the previous year as well I think.

Well, seems like apart from crime movies and sex comedies and one sex drama Di Leo really didn't do any other genres. But that kind of compares him with Sergio Leone, as the master of the poliziotteschi genre. Not that his movies were as great as the Sergio Leone westerns,but he really concerned to one genre, like Leone with westerns or Dario Argento and Mario Bava with gialli and horror. Other directors made most of the genres. These did their stuff.

The Bloodthirsty Movie Not-So-Much Marathon

I'm not much into movie marathons. It always ends the same way. I never watch everything I have planned. Sometimes I fall off right after the first movie. Now I had a day and a half, so I thought I would take the opportunity to watch some of the poliziotteschi movies. Something with Maurizio Merli, something with Luc Merenda, something with somebody else. But I'm still in my giallo mood, and the truth is, that I usually get tired of the genre clichés pretty soon. How many movies of one genre I would watch in a row? Two, maybe three? With the poliziotteschi being pretty repetitive?
So I decided to change the genres and watch them in this order: a poliziottesco, a giallo and a spaghetti western. So I hoped I would go back to my beloved genre. I hoped to make three rounds, that means nine movies. Well, I watched six, from those only one western, that I have already seen. But actually pretty long time ago.
I had to make some pauses during the movies, so they can appear longer than they are.

WEDNESDAY 2:40 pm
FROM CORLEONE TO BROOKLYN

Maurizio Merli is the cop, Umberto Lenzi directs. This is gonna be a violent ride! Venantino Venantini is the chief policeman? Either he is a traitor, or he dies soon. Well, he survived it and is clean. Weird... The girl was just shot. No rape? No burning? No torture? Is this really a Lenzi movie? Ah, Laura Belli is Merli's ex-wife. She was kidnapped and brutally killed in The Execution Squad. The same in Lenzi's Almost Human. And don't forget the poliziotteschi rule no.1: When the cop has a wife, she dies. Wait, she survived without a scratch? Umberto, is that really you? Well, the rest is entertaining, but far from great. Pity they didn't show us the way back to Italy, with the boss it could have been interesting.

4:50 pm
CAT O'NINE TAILS

Dario Argento's The Bird with Crystal Plumage was great, Deep Red had its flaws but also excellent sequences, Tenebre was kind of  predictable. What about this? Interesting, a science laboratory. Well, I suddenly need a beer. I could use it even for the other movies. Tomorrow is a public holiday and the shop might be closed. Ok, Dario, see you soon. Well, I could be buying me some J&B whiskey, I've seen a lot of them in the previous movie and some also in this one already. But I'll stick with the beer.
After the shopping I made myself a dinner and went back to watch it to the end. It's kind of long. The Morricone theme is overused. Chromosome XYY would make you an ultra-male idiot and not a criminal? I guess there wasn't much knowledge about this in 1971. The contest who says more insults without stopping looks funny, I might try it someday. The thief character is actually my favorite in the movie. Second is of course the blind man. Horst Frank is my suspect number one. Yes, just because he's always the villain. Werner Pochath plays his lover. Of course he is also the villain in each and every of his movies. Are they the murderers?

8:25 pm
BEN AND CHARLIE 

Cold beer, crackers, salted peanuts and here we go with our western. Haven't seen it for some nine years. The card game with eight aces is splendid. Marisa Mell doesn't add only beauty, but also some depth in the movie. I guess this is my favourite Gemma performance. Actually there are just a few movies in that I hate him. But these I have seen first. Day of Anger, Even Angels Eat Beans, A Pistol for Ringo... Then in the others I started to like him. Ok, Nello Pazzafini and Giuliano Gemma in the same movie always mean a fistfight. Wait, in Wanted Pazzafini played a priest! Maybe he was a wrestling priest? I don't know. But the movie is as good as I remembered it.

10:25 pm
SUSPICIOUS DEATH OF A MINOR

Claudio Cassinelli is the man. Even though he looks like John Lennon. Oh, the killer has his face visible! Why not, I don't watch this as a giallo, and it isn't a giallo. And we cannot see all of his face, since he's wearing sunglasses. The girls aren't very pretty in this one. Is that a Sergio Martino movie? Never mind, it's good and entertaining enough. Mel Ferrer is really just a police chief? They cast a Hollywood star in such a flat part? Well, I don't like the music. And the guy who rolls on the top of his head during the car chase. Now the killer tries to kill Claudio on a rollercoaster! That's a great scene. It continues with a chase in the subway. Perfect. The killer with sunglasses is back. What do they watch in a cinema? Yes, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key. Good idea for the upcoming giallo. But I'm already pretty tired and also a bit drunk by the beer. Leave it till tomorrow.

THURSDAY
Well, I'm one of the people who get up pretty early (although I consider getting up before 8am a crime) and go to bed also early (usually around 11pm). So I woke up at 8 am, got up at 9 and started to watch the movie at 10.

10:00 am
YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY

So many bottles of J&B! I should have take one for myself in the store. If I would have played a drinking game with spotting the bottles, I would be drunk after the first 30 minutes. That would mean I wouldn't see Edwige Fenech in this one! But I would see all of Daniela Giordano's part. She wasn't a good actress, but she was pretty, so I was sorry she died so soon. Waiting for Edwige is not so long, when you have Anita Strindberg around. She's not hot here, but she shows her acting abilities and she's great! Luigi Pistilli as well. Finally, Edwige! No bra under her shirt, that's my girl. Wait, she has brain this time! She's witty and self-confident, unlike her previous gialli. Maybe it's the hairstyle. Where the hell is Ivan Rassimov? I blinked and missed him. The lesbian scene with Edwige and Anita is not that hot, but it doesn't matter. Interesting, it's over one hour of the movie and we see Edwige's nipples for the very first time. But wait. A close-up of Edwige's breasts! I could watch that shot all my life. Ehm. Well, everyone in this movie is twisted. Even the cat. Maybe more than anybody.

Well I wanted to watch a spaghetti western, but first I made myself a lunch and then I wasn't in the mood to continue watching movies. And when it came, I found out I don't have a western I would like to watch now. So I choose a poliziottesco instead.

3:30 pm (a long break)
KIDNAP SYNDICATE

Luc Merenda is not a good actor but a sympathetic fella, yes, he is. I believe he was sexy for the ladies. Vittorio Caprioli is my favourite thing in Fernando Di Leo's movies. He's always so funny. The boys were kidnapped right in the beginning! Of  course, the rich ones are bitches. In Suspicious Death there were writings on walls like "Let the fascists rule", this one is far left wing. Why always an extreme political view? But we can feel with Merenda. The first half with waiting was actually more powerful than the action packed second half. Kill them all, Luc! Yeah! And especially the bastard in the brown suit!

And that's it. I'm tired of watching movies for a few days now. I will have the mood for movies when I won't have time to watch them. So it goes.