A slick, exciting, and sometimes nasty little Italian crime thriller which benefits from an unpredictable plot for a change. The main thrust here is of a "cat and mouse" style chase movie in which the central character is being hunted through the streets and towns by a gang of sadists, presided over by a criminal boss. This has all the trappings of an Italian movie, and benefits from a sun-drenched location, some surprisingly strong acting from the principal players, and some well-shot scenes of action.
Despite occasionally betraying the low budget through some cutaways in the action stakes, THE LONG ARM OF THE GODFATHER plays very nicely as a thriller and offers some competition to its big-budget rivals. Nardo Bonomi's direction is spot-on and enlivens the proceedings with tension and suspense in equal measure. All this and a great, stylish music score too. The best stunts include a spectacular car crash into a field, and the excellent finale which sees a shootout between Vincenzo, the lead, a group of Arabs, and the godfather and his men, proceeding to a brutal fight in a hotel room and a final chase by car and boat; good stuff to be sure.
Imported lead Peter Lee Lawrence is surprisingly good as the edgy, sometimes nasty lead (in one scene he kills two men and a girl in cold blood!) who will do anything to get away with his money. Adolfo Celi (the Bond villain in THUNDERBALL) is laid back yet vicious as the godfather, lending his character a lot of charisma which makes him memorable. Erika Blanc (THE DEVIL'S NIGHTMARE) plays the love interest, is frequently naked, and gives a good performance to boot. The film is occasionally sleazy and hard-edged, like in a red-lit nightclub sequence or the scene where Blanc is tortured by a cigarette as the gangsters attempt to extract information from her. Otherwise it's a well-made crime thriller with some great action, like the Italians did so well back in the '70s.
Despite occasionally betraying the low budget through some cutaways in the action stakes, THE LONG ARM OF THE GODFATHER plays very nicely as a thriller and offers some competition to its big-budget rivals. Nardo Bonomi's direction is spot-on and enlivens the proceedings with tension and suspense in equal measure. All this and a great, stylish music score too. The best stunts include a spectacular car crash into a field, and the excellent finale which sees a shootout between Vincenzo, the lead, a group of Arabs, and the godfather and his men, proceeding to a brutal fight in a hotel room and a final chase by car and boat; good stuff to be sure.
Imported lead Peter Lee Lawrence is surprisingly good as the edgy, sometimes nasty lead (in one scene he kills two men and a girl in cold blood!) who will do anything to get away with his money. Adolfo Celi (the Bond villain in THUNDERBALL) is laid back yet vicious as the godfather, lending his character a lot of charisma which makes him memorable. Erika Blanc (THE DEVIL'S NIGHTMARE) plays the love interest, is frequently naked, and gives a good performance to boot. The film is occasionally sleazy and hard-edged, like in a red-lit nightclub sequence or the scene where Blanc is tortured by a cigarette as the gangsters attempt to extract information from her. Otherwise it's a well-made crime thriller with some great action, like the Italians did so well back in the '70s.