BLOODY HANDS OF THE LAW, THE

Aka La Mano spietata della legge (I), La Fureur d'un flic (Fr), Lagens Blodiga Hand (Sw)
1973
Italy
Difnei Cin.ca
Director : Mario Gariazzo
Story : Mario Gariazzo
Script : Mario Gariazzo
Music : Stelvio Cipriani
Cinematography : not accredited
Editor : Alberto Gallitti
Art director : Antonio Visone
Original running time : 100 mins
Italian takings : n/a
Shot at: n/a
Cast : Philippe Leroy (Commissioner Gianni de Carmine), Silvia Monti (Linda), Tony Norton (Commissioner D'Amico), Klaus Kinski (Vito Quatroni), Cyril Cusack (the judge), Sergio Fantoni (Musante), Fausto Tozzi (Nicolo Patrovita), Guido Alberti (Professor Palmieri), Pia Gancaro (Nadia Antonelli), Lincoln Tate (Agent Ventura), Rosario Borelli (Salvatore Perrone), Marino Mase (Giuseppe di Leo), Tom Felleghy (the police chief), Valentino Macchi (Genoese), Lorenzo Fineschi, Denise O'Hara, Luciano Rossi, Lorenzo Magnolia, Stelio Candelli, Lino Murolo

'The law protects delinquents so they're free to commit crimes'.

An old man in a high-security hospital is assassinated. The killers are seen by an airport worker, but she is persuaded not to report it to the police by her nervous flatmate, who is afraid that the villains will come looking for retribution.

Unfortunately, the murderers guess that they have been witnessed, and murder both women (as well as stabbing a token sleazy boyfriend). The police are able to use CCTV cameras to identify them as an American hitman (Lincoln Tate) and local hood Perrone (Rosario Borelli). However, capturing them is complicated by the fact that anyone who knows anything tends to die in mysterious circumstances. It soon becomes evident that a large and powerful criminal organisation is behind events, and that they have connections within the police force. It is up to angry (not to mention slightly insane) Lt. De Carmine (Philippe Leroy) to see that justice prevails.

This nicely gritty outing is all the more entertaining because it is almost totally unexpected. Director Mario Gariazzo's films are usually - at best - serviceable. Who would have expected that the creator of such dismal efforts as Very Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind (Incontri molto ravvicinati del quarto tipo, 78) and Acquasanta Joe (71) was capable of delivering such an exemplary crime flick ?

Nonetheless, The Bloody Hands of the Law is effective enough to create the illusion that it contains more frantic action and gunplay than it actually does. This is well illustrated by the fantastic fifteen minute opening sequence in which very little actually happens, leaving Stelvio Cipriani's bongo driven score and the superb cinematography to determine their own pace and rhythm.

The usual sordid predilections of the genre are much in evidence. There's a cool night club sequence, a smattering of nudity and much postulation about how the streets are a war zone (hence the need for the police to assume some kind of military authority). I cannot, however much I try to think of things in terms of context, do anything but despise the casual abuse handed out to women in these films; even if it is only supposed to demonstrate the evil-nature of the villains.

What is surprising is that, despite confessions being beaten out of even the most minor of characters, virtually none of the villains are actually killed by the 'heroes'. They are all eventually arrested, going to be arrested or slaughtered by their own kind. Even more surprising is the actual nature of the criminal organisation - an international network of stockbrokers. I always knew that those city boys were out to screw us...

Further to this is the fact that the cast is chock-a-block with great Euro-sleaze veterans. Philippe Leroy is superb; his gaunt, ageing features are far distant from the blue-eyed, blond look of Franco Nero, Maurizio Merli etc. His character displays slightly more depth than is usual for the avenging cops of the genre - he actually seems to have something resembling a conscience ! The ending, which finds him staring blankly out of a train window as he goes to arrest the big boss of the organisation, suggests that he has been entirely destroyed by the violence which he has been driven to indulge in.

Amongst the villains can be found familiar faces such Klaus Kinski (unusually restrained), Lincoln Tate (unusually tolerable), Tony Norton (unusual eyebrows) and Guido Alberti (unusually wobbly). Best of all, though, is another bravura performance from the omnipresent Luciano Rossi - this time as a leery geek who reads porn, tries to rape a hostage and gets his balls burnt off with a blowtorch!

Reviewed by Matt Blake