Tagarchief: FilmDungeon

The Untouchables (1987)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘AL CAPONE. He rules Chicago with absolute power. No one could touch him. No one could stop him. Until Eliot Ness and a small force of men swore they’d bring him down.’

Directed by:
Brian De Palma

Written by:
Oscar Fraley (book)
Eliot Ness (book)
David Mamet (screenplay)

Cast:
Kevin Costner (Eliot Ness), Sean Connery (Jim Malone), Charles Martin Smith (Oscar Wallace), Andy Garcia (George Stone), Robert De Niro (Al Capone), Richard Bradford (Police Chief Mike Dorsett), Jack Kehoe (Walter Payne), Brad Sullivan (George), Billy Drago (Frank Nitti), Patricia Clarkson (Catherine Ness)

Chicago in the 1930’s was a very dangerous place. This was mainly the result of the Volstead Act that reinforced the prohibition of alcohol and allowed such gang lords as Al Capone to literally make a killing. The story of treasury officer Eliot Ness and his squad of untouchables had already been told in the classic television show from the sixties, but director Brian De Palma figured it was time for a movie update. And boy was he right…

The Untouchables just radiates class throughout its running time. The first masterful scene occurs when a newspaper gets delivered in Al Capone’s hotel bedroom. The camera sways from the street, through the hotel and into Capone’s bedroom where the larger-than-life gangster is smoking a massive cigar in bed and laughs at the newspaper’s headline: ‘Crusader cop busts out’. Ennio Morricone composed a very cool piece of music for this scene.

The newspaper is referring to Eliot Ness’ first failure to confiscate Capone’s booze. Ness (Kevin Costner) is determined to bring Capone down, but he doesn’t know how to do it. Irish street cop Jim Malone (Sean Connery) suggests a more unorthodox approach to get it done.

Malone is hesitant at first to join Ness’ team, but gradually evolves into a true fighter. A very impressive and Oscar winning performance by Sean Connery. Andy Garcia and Charles Martin Smith are in equally fine shape. They portray the other members of Ness’ squad. Garcia as the hot-headed, but talented rookie cop George Stone and Smith as a public accountant, whose ideas about income tax evasion would eventually lead to Capone’s downfall.

Costner as the leading man was also the perfect choice. Although he can’t get rid of his goodie goodie two shoes image, despite the violent acts he eventually commits in the film, he is still an inspiring person to watch. He even managed to touch me in the heart one or two times.

Of course, De Niro is once again the show stealer. His method acting really works at its best in The Untouchables. In fact, it works so well that I totally forgot I was watching De Niro: I was watching Al Capone. His character is what he’s supposed to be: an extremely dominant and intimidating personality. In a famous scene based on a true incident, Capone demonstrates his powers. During a black tie dinner with all his cronies, he shockingly beats one of them to death with a baseball bat.

The violence described above is characterising for De Palma’s approach in making this film. Brains are painting the ceiling on more than one occasion. The brutality is justified though as it really helps to better understand Ness’ determination to get the job done. Drinking may be innocent, but when you touch a man’s family, his friends and innocents in general, it is very understandable that he is driven to despair and acts of brutal violence.

De Palma’s direction on this movie is flawless. His trademark suspense is evident from the credit sequence on, up until the amazing train station shoot-out at the end. Every scene in The Untouchables is just perfect in setting, rhythm, composition and acting. He has made a timeless film that deserves to be celebrated a lot more than it currently is.

Rating:

Quote:
AL CAPONE: “I want this man DEAD! I want his family DEAD! I want his house burnt to the ground. I wanna go there in the middle of the night and I wanna piss on his ashes!”

Trivia:
Robert De Niro tracked down Al Capone’s original tailors and had them make him some identical clothing for the movie. He also insisted on wearing the same style of silk underwear that the real Capone wore.

The Gumball Rally

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Charles Bail
Written by: Charles Bail, Leon Capetanos
Cast: Michael Sarrazin, Norman Burton, Gary Busey, Raul Julia

Year / Country: 1976, USA
Running Time: 102 mins.

In the seventies, the classic ‘Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash Run’ took place. One long run from New York to Los Angeles, organized by Brock Yates who later wrote a movie script about it. This became The Cannonball Run, a 1981 comedy starring Burt Reynolds. Two films about this race preceded it; Cannonball! and The Gumball Rally, both released in 1976.

This movie is the best of the three. It beats The Cannonball Run because it lacks the corny jokes. It is actually pretty funny at times and features some great characters. Most memorable are Gary Busey as a crazy mechanic and Raul Julia as the overly romantic Italian driver Franco. There are female drivers as well. One of them is a young Susan Flannery AKA Stephanie Forrester from The Bold and the Beautiful. Yes, really!

Besides the effective use of humor, the driving action beats that of Cannonball!, because you get an actual sense of high speed. Especially during a spectacular sequence in New York, where the race begins and in which the contestants drive through the city with at least 100 miles per hour. All the drivers use amazing cars, including a Cobra, Ferrari, Porsche, Dodge, Rolls, Mercedes, Bentley and Camaro. One guy, Lapchick the Mad Hungarian, even drives a Kawasaki bike. An awesome sight for racing fans as this movie is to the fans of this movie genre.

Rating:

Biography: Charles Bail AKA Chuck Bail (1935 – 2020) has an impressive show business career that spanned from the fifties up until the nineties. He basically did everything from performing to directing and being a stunt coordinator. He started his career as stuntman and guest star on many famous western shows. After that, he directed episodes for famous television series such as Knight Rider and Dragnet. He also directed several films, such as the blaxploitation classic Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold. Bail is currently retired and lives in Texas.

Filmography: Black Samson (1974, short), Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975), The Gumball Rally (1976), CHiPs (1981-83, TV episodes), Manimal (1983, TV episodes), Knight Rider (1985/86, TV episodes), Choke Canyon (1986), Dragnet (1989-91, TV episodes), Adam 12 (1990/91, TV episodes), Baywatch Nights (995/96, TV episodes), Street Corner justice (1996)

Crime Guys (2005)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘The true story of the original Kings of Cool’

Directed by:
Trevor King

Written by:
Trevor King

Cast:
Ray Wise (Sam), Andrew Divoff (Eddie), Jay Acovone (Molina), Trevor King (Rick), Shadoe Stevens (Steve Skylar), Nick Di Brizzi Jr. (Joey), Harry Karp (Ralphie), Bob Bennett (Jerry), Michelle Pierce (Dawn Skylar), Jenna Lee (Mrs. Skylar)

I picked up this DVD because I am a gangster film completist, not because it looked particularly good. It defied my expectations…in the worst possible way.

The main character is Sam, a charismatic performance by Ray Wise (Robocop, Twin Peaks, best thing about the movie). He is part of an unlikely idiotic gang of criminals, who come up with the plan to kidnap the daughter of a gameshow host.

Then Sam gets the unexpected visit from Rick, his son from an unmarital affair he had. He takes an immediate interest in father-son bonding, which seems peculiar for a sociopathic gangster who we’ve just seen eating a pizza after murdering a police officer. When Sam involves Rick in the kidnapping plot, things get really ridiculous really fast.

How come Rick is given all the crucial jobs in the kidnapping scheme just to name one thing? He has to seduce the target Dawn (who was gonna do it before Rick joined?) and he has to play a detective to convince the gameshow host to pay up. And how come these guys are so immensely stupid? They make those black robbers from Snatch look like criminal masterminds. There are way too many mistakes to list them all.

The actor who plays Rick is writer / director Trevor King. It is a miracle he got funding for this failed Reservoir Dogs rip-off, which is also known as Sharkskin 6. That aside, how did he get a cast and crew? Did nobody read the script and ask some critical questions? This movie should only be viewed as a curiosity. Trust me, it is U-N-B-E-L-I-E-V-A-B-L-E.

Rating:

Quote:
JOEY: “You sure this guy is not an undercover cop? I’ve seen that shit on Reservoir Dogs.”

Trivia:
Ray Wise’s daughter makes a cameo appearance in the film as one of the store robbery witnesses.

Four of the Apocalypse

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Lucio Fulci
Written by: Ennio De Concini, Bret Harte (Story)
Cast: Fabio Testi, Lynne Frederick, Michael J. Pollard, Harry Baird

Year / Country: 1975, Italy
Running Time: 104 mins.

Lucio Fulci delivers a stylish and accomplished entry into the spaghetti western genre with this gripping tale of survival and vengeance. The story begins in a Utah jail cell, where four unlikely companions find themselves thrown together: card shark Stubby Preston, a pregnant prostitute named Bunny, a perpetually drunk Clem, and the enigmatic Bud, who claims to see spirits.

Their uneasy camaraderie is soon tested when masked men unleash a massacre in the local saloon, forcing the quartet to flee into the desolate frontier. Along the way, they encounter the sadistic bandit Chaco (played with chilling intensity by Tomas Milian), who subjects them to harrowing acts of brutality. As they navigate this land of the damned, their journey transforms into a desperate search for salvation – and ultimately, revenge.

Once banned in the U.K. for its purportedly extreme violence, the film’s shock value seems relatively restrained by today’s standards, particularly within Fulci’s notoriously graphic oeuvre. However, it still stands out as one of the maestro’s finest works, largely due to its compelling narrative and strong performances from the ensemble cast. Fulci expertly balances moments of stark brutality with a hauntingly subdued atmosphere, enhanced by the light yet unsettling musical score.

Rather than approaching this film for its controversial reputation, viewers should appreciate it as a showcase of Fulci’s skill when paired with the right material. For anyone doubting his craftsmanship, this is a vivid reminder of his ability to tell a gripping, multilayered story with style and conviction.

Rating:

Biography: Lucio Fulci (1927, Rome – 1996, Rome) originally studied medicine but quickly turned to filmmaking instead. He started his film career with directing comedies, musicals and spaghetti westerns. Later he turned to Italian shock horror films and made a name for himself as the goriest director ever. His international career came off the ground in 1979 when he directed Zombi 2, an unofficial sequel to George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, which had been released in Italy under the title Zombies. Fulci died from diabetes in 1996.

Filmography (a selection): The Thieves (1959), The Jukebox Kids (1959), Getting Away with It the Italian Way (1962), The Strange Type (1963), The Maniacs (1964), 002 Operation Moon (1965), How We Stole the Atomic Bomb (1967), The Conspiracy of Torture (1969), A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (1971), Don’t Torture Donald Duck (1972), White Fang (1973), Challenge to White Fang (1974), Four of the Apocalypse (1975), Silver Saddle (1978), Zombi 2 (1979), City of the Living Dead (1980), The Beyond (1981), The New York Ripper (1982), Evil Eye (1982), The New Gladiators (1984), Dangerous Obsession (1986), Zombi 3 (1988), Demonia (1990), Door to Silence (1991)