Luc Merenda gets a chance to actually act instead of running around shooting people before getting the chance to run around shooting people in yet another Eurocrime film from Fernando Di Leo.
This time round he's a poor mechanic widower whose only reason for being is his son Dave or whatever he's called. Dave is friends with Bert, the son of rich property magnate James Mason, and when both kids end up getting kidnapped, Luc goes mental and James Mason bizarrely treats the whole thing like it's some sort of business deal and tries to give the kidnappers the run-around.
There's also the added complication of who is behind the kidnapping and the not so great efforts of the police to get the two boys back. When James Mason drags his heels far too much, enraging his own wife, the kidnappers select one of the kids, put a pillowcase over their heads, and execute them. Guess who's kid that is? After quite a convincing scene of being confronted with the corpse of his son, Luc vows vengeance, packs a sandwich, and goes off hunting the kidnappers.
What's different about this one is there's not much action for the first half of the film, which concentrates more on the contrasting parenting skills of Merenda and Mason while providing an insight into a crime which was really becoming a problem in Italy at the time. The various reactions of the actors when Merenda's sons corpse is revealed is the highlight of the film, from the frustration of the up-to-then-humorous cop to Mason's barely contained guilt. Merenda gets to cut loose here as well and display more emotion that he's usually allowed to show (e.g. punching, glaring, smoking - manly emotions for man films).
The two kids are quite close and Merenda's son is a bit more robust is in attitude to the kidnappers, which gives his death a bit more impact. So there you go - a Eurocrime film that focuses on current affairs, with a bit more characterization than usual. Don't worry though - although the gun play and car chases are still there, near the end.
This time round he's a poor mechanic widower whose only reason for being is his son Dave or whatever he's called. Dave is friends with Bert, the son of rich property magnate James Mason, and when both kids end up getting kidnapped, Luc goes mental and James Mason bizarrely treats the whole thing like it's some sort of business deal and tries to give the kidnappers the run-around.
There's also the added complication of who is behind the kidnapping and the not so great efforts of the police to get the two boys back. When James Mason drags his heels far too much, enraging his own wife, the kidnappers select one of the kids, put a pillowcase over their heads, and execute them. Guess who's kid that is? After quite a convincing scene of being confronted with the corpse of his son, Luc vows vengeance, packs a sandwich, and goes off hunting the kidnappers.
What's different about this one is there's not much action for the first half of the film, which concentrates more on the contrasting parenting skills of Merenda and Mason while providing an insight into a crime which was really becoming a problem in Italy at the time. The various reactions of the actors when Merenda's sons corpse is revealed is the highlight of the film, from the frustration of the up-to-then-humorous cop to Mason's barely contained guilt. Merenda gets to cut loose here as well and display more emotion that he's usually allowed to show (e.g. punching, glaring, smoking - manly emotions for man films).
The two kids are quite close and Merenda's son is a bit more robust is in attitude to the kidnappers, which gives his death a bit more impact. So there you go - a Eurocrime film that focuses on current affairs, with a bit more characterization than usual. Don't worry though - although the gun play and car chases are still there, near the end.