Nicoletta Machiavelli and Henry Silva in The Hills Run Red

The Hills Run Red

April 11, 2016 Matt Blake 1

The Hills Run Red is a rather mediocre production, which is especially disappointing considering that it comes from such an estimable team. Ennio Morricone, who contributes a good soundtrack (with the exception of a truly execrable saloon bar song), needs no introduction and talented filmmaker Carlo Lizzani was already a respected name in the industry

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Bitter Rice

March 26, 2014 Matt Blake 0

Giuseppe De Santis’s 1949 classic Bitter Rice holds up amazingly well today, better than most of the neo-realist classics of its time, partially because of its cinematic prowess.

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Black Turin – Review

January 1, 2013 Matt Blake 0

Black Turin is a peculiar mixture of boys adventure film and mafia movie, a cross between the kind of stuff that the Children’s Film Foundation used to churn out and a Francesco Rosi film.

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Gobbo, Il

March 26, 2010 Matt Blake 1

Despite its wartime setting, Il gobbo deserves consideration in any study of Italian crime cinema. Not only was it directed by Carlo Lizzani, who would go on to become one of the leading lights of the genre as the 1960s progressed, but also – with its outlaw protagonist, breakneck pacing and realistic backdrop – it exerted a huge influence on numerous films to follow.