Fabio Testi's Big Four! This Week...REVOLVER!!!

Every now and then, I'll be scanning my DVD collection like a cyborg, trying to find a movie that has everything I am in the mood for. This usually means a movie with copious amounts of graphic violence, car chases, sex scenes, horror elements, intense toughened bastards who slap people back and forth, yelling, cool music, shotgun blasts, drama, excitement, evil bad guys, revenge, and high adventure.

So I'll generally stop scanning once I hit the Italian section of my DVD shelves. And i'll either chuck on some Franco Nero, or Ill chuck on some Fabio Testi, If i'm not in the mood for Italian, I'll chuck on some Oliver Reed or James Woods.
So Franco's got his stamp on the westerns, and dare I say, made a better gunslinger out of Keoma and Django that any of his American counterparts.
Fabio, like Luc Merenda and Tomas Milian, has got his mark on the hardened Italian crime thrillers, otherwise known as Poliziotteschi.

Speaking of which, heres Tomas Milian, just for the fuck of it.One day I'll do a big four about him.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to hit you guys up with Fabio Testi's BIG FOUR. That is, his best four films in the Poliziotteschi genre. Revolver, Contraband, The Heroin Busters, and The Big Racket.

So, Revolver ey? Whats it all about? Well I'll tell you.
Vito, a gruff prison warden (Oliver Reed) comes home to find his beloved wife has been kidnapped. In order to get her back unharmed, the warden must break Milo Ruiz, a petty criminal (Fabio Testi) out of jail and deliver him to the kidnappers. But it's not that easy. Vito is constantly tricked and set up, with his wife becoming further away with each progressive step. He finds that he is not only at risk of losing his wife, but he is also at the risk of losing his very mind.

Sergio Sollima (the director) made an interesting comment about the film in the mini-documentary on the DVD. He mentioned that he doesn't consider the film to be anything but a drama about two people, with crime, and thriller elements surrounding them.
He, of course, is right. As the movie goes on, you travel across europe with a macarbe version of the odd couple. You end up being more invested in how they are going to deal with each other, rather than how Vito is going to deal with finding his wife. This is kind of the point. Without spoiling anything, the seemingly abrupt ending with leave you with a short case of the 'hey, hang on what does it all means', but after that passes, the clouds part and complete clarity shines its pretty little way through.

The movie is pumped along by Ennio Morricone, who once again delivers a wicked pulse shattering score, which some of you Inglourious Basterds fans may recognise instantly.

I have to mention aswell that Fabio Testi has some awesome shirts in this film.

Seriously, he looks like Robin Hood.

Anyway, how the hell can you pass this film up? It's got Oliver Reed pointing, yelling and threatening people (which is mind bogglingly awesome, considering he's english, playing an italian prison warden, with an American accent which slips when he gets angry), he beats people up, he slaps them around, gut punches Fabio a number of times (and from what i can tell, it seems like he was drunk enough to land a few on some of the actors for real) and just all round kicks all kinds of ass.
It's got all of the things I mentioned at the beginning of the article, minus the horror element, but that depends on what you class as horror.

What may come across as a wild unorganised shenanigan at the start of the film, slowly but surely becomes a tightly woven and intricate shenanigan by the end of it, and I'll guarantee you that long after the movie ends, it will fill your thoughts. There aren't any 'bad guys', or 'good guys' in this film, just 'guys' with a shitty moral compass.
You gotta watch it. Lest you want Oliver Reed pointing at you.

 

I have put the trailer below for you to watch its got that familiar music in it, and may be a bit spoilery, but you will forget that when you are watching the film! Turn it up and enjoy!

See you next week with CONTRABAND (AKA: THE NAPLES CONNECTION) In the meantime, what's your favorite Fabio Testi film? Comment below!

Father's Day...Holy Mother Of God, What Did I Just Watch?

I've kinda been sitting here for a little while now, eating my breakfast, sipping my coffee, staring through the computer screen as if its not there, kind of like a zombie, wondering how in the living hell I can reccommend the movie I saw last night to ANYONE.
Sure as hell can't reccommend it to my mum.

The movie I saw was Fathers Day.
Now the plot kind of goes like this:
A rapist/serial killer is on the loose. A dad rapist. As in, a rapist that only rapes dads.
In order to stop the fiend once and for all, a team is formed, consisting of a male street whore, a priest, a stripper and a one-eyed vigilante with a score to settle.
It's truly a lot more fucked up than it sounds, but awesome, and funny.

Its got this manic vibe to it, with the gleefully obvious grindhouse tributes, the over the top violence, the crazy unrelenting and unpredictable plot, and awesome AWESOME music. I can't go on about the film too much without spoiling it, but I will say that it needs to be seen.
The makers of the film are a team called Astron-6: (like them here: http://www.facebook.com/astron6?ref=ts&fref=ts) and we actually had the pleasure of viewing Father's Day with their other film Manborg.
The good thing about this, was that Manborg set the tone for the kind of humor and craziness and led you willingly into the dark dungeon that was Father's Day. If they showed Father's Day straight off the bat, I think some of the more uninitiated would have either puked, or walked out (it was showing in a double at the Luna which is an arthouse cinema, where arty-farty types have nothing to do on a saturday except spend their money on a movie they have no qualms about walking out of, then blaming Luna for not telling them it wasnt about a rickshaw operator in Turkey having it off with an ex Nazi in the 60's, that's leederville for ya!).

So Manborg was another piece of awesome in its own right, but even though it eased you in, it still can't prepare you for the onslaught that is Father's Day.

It honestly is a movie with everything.
You've got:
Dick Biting,
Strippers
Guns,
Eye-Patches,
Toxic Berries,
Unapologetic Gore,
Penis head cutting,
Stop-Motion Animation,
Ancient Tomes,
Car Chases,
Chainsaws,

I honestly could go on, and on, and on, but like I said, this is a spoiler free zone.
The gore is so outrageously intense at times that it may prompt you to look away, or laugh, depending on who you are. Me? I laughed. Man I laughed my goddamn ass off.

Regarding the violent and nasty content throughout, there has naturally been a bit of bullshit in regards to censorship, especially in Australia, and in light of this, the film has had to forego numerous cuts. Whilst Troma initially handled the release and distribution overseas, Monster Films has been handling it here, trying their hardest for us to get to see it, even though the Australian Government are being stooges about it.

Now I don't know if any of you Podcastrators out there have seen the film at all, but from what I can tell, and from what I have heard on the internets, it doesnt seem like much could have or would have been cut (although that may come off as quite a naive statement considering what the movie is like) The penis head cutting scene, mentioned before, seemed rather intact, but from what I heard, it was cut for the Australian release.
Feel free to comment below if you have seen an uncut version and would care to enlighten me!

Cuts aside, it was an awesome, funny, violent and energetic film, and I can not wait to see it again.
To buy it, just import it for now. However if you really want to support the guys at Astron-6, and Monster Films for all their efforts, buy the DVD when it eventually comes out in Australia, and do what you can to ensure that we keep indie horror alive and kicking.

As a final little thing, big thumbs up to Astron-6 for slipping in a Franco Nero portrait on the wall. Good lads.

Here is the trailer for your viewing pleasure!