Phantom Of Death

Phantom of Death

Genre: Giallo, Horror, Psychological Thriller

Original title: Un delitto poco comune

Director: Ruggero Deodato

Year: 1988

Police Comissioner Datti is investigating the murder of a female doctor whose murderer seems to be a thirty-fivish year old man. Soon another murder follows: Pianist Robert Dominici's girlfriend is found killed. The killer also challenges Datti on the phone and says he can't be caught since he has a secret which makes him invulnerable. In the meantime the clues seems to point in strange directions

As you can see from the plot summary, Phantom Of Death is a convoluted film with moves into different directions as it goes along. It stars Michael York (Logan's Run, Austin Powers) as Robert Dominici who's girlfriend is murdered early on. He is a suspect & for a while it feels like the classic Gialli setup of a man under suspicion who has to do the investigating himself to find out the killer. The film up this point is pretty gripping, however they make the mistake of moving into a new direction far too early as the killer is revealed and the film progresses into more of a psychological thriller.

Also starring is the queen of Gialli, Edwige Fenech. She plays a fashion designer who is having an affair with Michael York's character and becomes pregnant (even in her early 40s Edwige is still looking fantastic). Then there's Donald Pleasence who is typically (& unsurprisingly) playing the ageing inspector who's doing his best to hunt down the killer. A partner of his is killed later in the picture and he runs around the town center screaming "WHERE ARE YOU, I'LL KILL YOU BASTARD!" which was just classic Pleasence.

The killings are pretty damn gory which is no surprise considering it was directed by Ruggero Deodato who's films rarely ever shy away from the brutal nature of violence. Though make sure you get the version that was originally released in Europe as there's a TV version which removed any said bloodshed leaving the film a much tamer affair.

I think I'd of preferred Phantom Of Death to of remained a more "whodunnit" kind of giallo as the first 40 minutes are pretty gripping and felt like it could of been one of the better late entries to the genre. Once the reveal of the killer is made the film begins to have pacing issues & despite the talent involved, the film slowly fizzles out to an anti-climatic finish. A mixed overall, yet one which has just enough going for it that I'd recommend it cautiously.

Rating: ★★★

Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man

Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man

Genre: Poliziottesco, Crime

Original title: Uomini si nasce poliziotti si muore

Director: Ruggero Deodato

Year: 1976

Fred and Tony are members of an elite 'special squad' of police in Rome, Italy whom are licensed-to-kill, undercover cops whom thrive on living dangerously.

Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man took me all of about 30 seconds to win me over. It starts with with two guys on a motorbike brutally killing a women whilst trying to steal her bag. Our anti-heroes with the blandest names ever (Fred & Tony) played by Marc Porel & Ray Lovelock are part of Rome's Special Squad and begin to chase the thieves on motorbikes. This turns into a 10 minute chase sequence through the streets of Rome. It's a thrilling beginning that sees some high risk stunts with cafés being destroyed, cars being used as ramps & a brutal, yet somehow hilarious murder of a guide-dog. With this kind of action from the get-go it wasn't hard for me to fall in love with this film.

The characters of Fred & Tony are pretty much as anti-hero as you can get. They have no problem whatsoever killing criminals (often before they've commuted a crime), using torture, stealing & abusing women to get what they want. It's like a complete bastardised version of Riggs and Murtaugh! Despite this, the pair are highly entertaining & their general attitude of doing anything they damn well please to get the job done provides many a thrill during its lean 90 minute running time. 

Director Ruggero Deodato shows off a degree of the brutal violence, sleaze & general grittiness that he'd show in later pictures such as The House on the Edge of the Park & Cannibal Holocaust. though here it does occasionally come off a tiny bit cartoonish in its outrageousness. Also the film benefits from the brilliant screenplay from the director of the Milieu Trilogy, Fernando Di Leo, whom is arguably the genre's most famous filmmaker. You also get a decent score from Ubaldo Continello, though the use of a couple of Ray Lovelock's Bob Dylan-esque folk numbers feel completely out of place. Perhaps he agreed to do the film if they'd use his music but either way its a very unwelcome distraction. 

Also in the cast is Bruno Corazzari (a character actor who seems to always play shady character's in Italian genre films), Adolfo Celi (as the boss of the Special Squad) & Marino Masé 

Overall its a tight, explosive & thrilling piece of Italian crime-cinema with plenty of memorable scenes, harsh violence & contains possibly the two "badest" cops that you'll ever see on screen.

Rating: ★★★★

Fred & Tony, make Dirty Harry look like a pussy.