Execution Squad (1972) review

EXECUTION SQUAD 1972 aka LA POLIZIA RINGRAZIA (FROM THE POLICE WITH THANKS)

Enrico Maria Salerno (Commissioner Bertone), Mario Adorf (District Attorney Ricciuti), Mariangela Melato (Sandra), Franco Fabrizi (Bettarini), Cyril Cusack (Stolfi), Laura Belli (Anna Maria Sprovieri), Jurgen Drews (Michele Settecamini), Piero Tiberi (Mario Stateletti), Luciano Bonanni (Raf Valenti)

Directed by Stefano Vanzina

The Short Version: One of the Eurocrime genres best and most influenial films has yet to gain its overdue respect in America, but its influence is evident most noticeably in Eastwood's MAGNUM FORCE from 1973. Vanzina's picture is far more political and a far better film in its exploration of a violence laden Italian society and the lengths some go to "clean up the city". Salerno is spectacular here and Adorf is suitably subdued as the meddling and liberal assistant DA. Stelvio Cipriani's score is magnificently melancholic and, along with the film, one of the best the genre has to offer. Highly recommended.


Commissioner Bertone is a by the book cop dealing with rampant crime in a city over-run by violence and senseless brutality. Strapped by a liberal justice system, many crimes go unpunished with the criminals ending up back on the streets to kill again. However, the bodies of some of the released criminals turn up dead. Bertone soon discovers that a secret organization of vigilantes is working the night shift cleaning the streets of the scum the police can't keep behind bars. A young criminal--on the run after a bungled robbery costs the lives of two innocents and another after a failed arrest--is the syndicates next victim. Bertone tries to bring the kid to justice under the law, but the mysterious squad of executioners are closing in.


Considered the launching point for the Eurocrime genre in the 1970s, the genre had many crime pictures before it, but EXECUTION SQUAD was a big success inspiring a number of like-minded movies with increasing levels of violence and often with political messages at their core. Considering the wave of political violence that erupted in Italy during the late 60s, this all too real violence would soon erupt on European cinema screens. Often referred to as rip-offs of American action pictures, these were, predominantly, nothing of the sort.

While some of these movies were close approximations of such movies as Coppola's THE GODFATHER (1971), EXECUTION SQUAD was cloned in Eastwood's MAGNUM FORCE (1973), a film with a very similar plot, if less political than its Italian antecedent. Eastwood was no stranger to Italian movies, of course, having gotten his start in Sergio Leone westerns. He also copied a mediocre Euro western (DJANGO, THE BASTARD) for his own version of that tale as HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (1973).

Anyway, Vanzina's movie (the director is often listed, or referred to simply as Steno) works from a wonderful script (of which he shares a story and screenplay credit) that tackles a ton of hot topic subjects in a relatively brief 100 minutes. Leading the pack of choice performances are Enrico Maria Salerno as Bertone. The man is on fire here. His frustration with the media and liberal authority figures who exacerbate the problem flow from his facial features like beads of sweat. Salerno rarely, if ever smiles in this movie. He perfectly conveys similar emotional outbursts that were taken to over the top levels by the likes of genre favorite Maurizio Merli.


Merli shot to stardom just a few years later after the success of Enzo G. Castellari's influential HIGH CRIME (1973) starring Franco Nero essaying real life policeman, Luigi Calabresi. There's a hint of Calabresi in Salerno's Bertone, but the excessive force attributed to the real life tough cop (who was assassinated in May of 1972) is mentioned only in passing in relation to Salerno's character; which may only have been media fiction to levy a fake image of the character to the public. Throughout this movie, Bertone is seen doing his job by the book, which, judging by Salerno's nuances, he doesn't always want to do things according to the law, but a sense of duty compels him to stay in line.


This strikes an interesting dichotomy with the "street cleaning squad" which is, as we later learn, made up of former police officers jettisoned from the police force for excessive brutality. The notion of a late night vigilante unit eliminating criminals that authorities are powerless to keep behind bars is a favorable one for a terrorized public wishing for justice. But there seems to be a darker, more sinister mission underneath the surface where this surprisingly high society syndicate is concerned.

This secret, fascistic execution squad does indeed eliminate society's undesirables, but they don't stop there. Not only extremist criminals, but others such as prostitutes and homosexuals are targets as well. In the eyes of this well funded group, the variance of the victims is symbolic as explained by Stolfi in the film. Prostitutes are viewed as lowering the morale of what should be a clean city, while homosexuals are viewed as the corruption of the youth. The anarchists, or youth extremists are seen as a danger to authority with their propensity for unnecessary violence and destruction of property.

With Italy's abolition of the death penalty and the liberal judicial system strangling the authorities ability to successfully convict the criminal element, a purge is deemed necessary by this murderous Third Party. There's also a hint that a number of Bertone's subordinates are interested in subverting their services to these Fascistic avenging angels. In addition, there's a bit of grim irony in some of the murder sequences. They're often committed near, or around areas where signs displaying the phrase, "ROMA E' ANCHE TUA AIUTACI A TENERLA PULITA" (WITH YOUR HELP, WE CAN KEEP ROME CLEAN) adorn walls, or sides of buildings.

The theme of a hidden societal exter-mination squad was a popular one and was also the centerpiece of a number of other Italian crime pictures. The aforementioned actor, Maurizio Merli, made his big entrance in the genre with the starring role in Marino Girolami's VIOLENT ROME (1975). This was one of the Calabresi styled 'Violent Cop' films that was popularized throughout the decade by this actor. Nero started this style, but Merli made it fashionable. In this film, Richard Conte is the brains behind the secret society of 'street sweepers'.

Umberto Lenzi did a version utilizing this concept in his equally interesting MANHUNT IN THE CITY (1975) starring Henry Silva. The Brute Corps of this film aren't as integral to the narrative as they are in EXECUTION SQUAD, but these hooded hitmen provide a crutch with which to aid in Silva's eventual turn from a fragile family man into his own private vigilante.

This archetype was also expanded further in such films as COLT .38 SPECIAL SQUAD (1976) and STUNT SQUAD (1977), both pictures starring Marcel Bozzuffi, an actor who also participated in THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971).

William Lustig also paid tribute to the Italian crime genre in his VIGILANTE (1982), a film that featured a similar styled group of scum squashers led by Fred Williamson. However, these men weren't interested in toppling a city's social and economic system to turn it into a dictatorship; it was merely presented as violent vindication for innocent lives lost because of legal loopholes and technicalities.

Also in the cast of EXECUTION SQUAD is Mario Adorf. He plays Ricciuti, the Assistant District Attorney, and the character who constantly has a watchful eye on Bertone to make sure he doesn't break the law. Adorf is arguably more associated with rabid, brutish characters such as those he essayed in films such as FOR A ROOF, A SKY FULL OF STARS (1967), THE SPECIALIST (1969), MILAN CALIBER 9 and MANHUNT (both 1972). Here, he rarely raises his voice and is constantly at odds with Bertone. Ricciuti is possibly the one voice in the crowd keeping him morally centered even if Ricciuti's tactics ultimately compound the situation.

Fans of 1980s FLASH GORDON will recognize the lovely Mariangela Melato as a kindly reporter, Bertone's love interest in the film. She acts as the media's moral center and seems more interested in facts than sensationalism.

The score by Stelvio Cipriani is one of the best damn scores the genre ever produced. It's grim, downbeat and highly hummable and you'll likely have it in your head for a day or two after you've seen the movie. It's wonderfully melancholic, almost militaristic at times, but always Italian in flavor. A dynamite score and one of the genres most memorable.


Virtually unknown in the west, EXECUTION SQUAD was a big success and has found acclaim pretty much everywhere but in America where it was marketed by the Fanfare Corporation, an indy company that handled exploitation movies, as little more than a standard cop thriller. Stefano Vanzina's movie deserves a much wider audience; and considering its central plot device was the blueprint not just for the Italian variants, but for an entry in the DIRTY HARRY series, you'd think it would have garnered a lot more attention and respectability in North America by now. With expert direction, performances, and a shocker conclusion, this vastly important entry in the violent world of the Italian crime genre is at the top of the list and one of the best examples of this underrated form of cinema.

*US poster image: movie poster shop*

This review is representative of the Al!ve 2 disc R2 DVD from Germany.

Night of the Devil Bride (1975) review

NIGHT OF THE DEVIL BRIDE 1975

Lo Lieh (Kao Tian), Chen Ping (Shu Lien), Chan Shen (Sheng Liang Ta), Ai Ti (Mu Lien), Lin Wei-Tu (Hung Wu), Ku Feng (Master Gan), Chiang Yang (Li Dou), Yang Chi Ching (Master Cui), Liu Hui Ling (Cui's daughter), Wang Ching Ho (Taoist Priest), Helen Ko (Tsai Hung), Terry Liu Hui-Yu (Madam Feng)

Directed by Chang I-Hu

The Short Version: Rare and obscure HK horror has some points of interest but not enough to allow it to emerge as a lost classic. The nudity and grue are plentiful, and it's also nice to see a prelude of a hopping vampire/ghost prior to Sammo's SPOOKY ENCOUNTERS and Ricky Lau's MR. VAMPIRE. The special effects are terribly primitive, but likewise in abundance. Despite some dramatic moments and a stellar turn from Lo Lieh, the film is just as exploitative as its title suggests.

Kao Tian lives in virtual solace out in the country with his sickly wife, Shu Lien, who suffers from Tuberculosis. Around his wife, Kao is a dutiful husband, but away from home, he visits brothels with his friend, Liang Ta. Rescuing a young girl after being raped on the road, Kao is enticed by the girls wealthy father to marry his daughter with the promise of a lot of money and a post within the provincial palace. There's a quandary, though. Kao is already married and the young girl is already betrothed to another. Realizing the girls fiance will not want her upon learning she's been raped, the plan is to seduce the destitute Kao with everything he desires and get rid of his chronically ill wife in the process.

To make matters worse, Shu Lien's sister, Mu Lien, is kidnapped and sold off to the cruel Chief Gan. Mu's fiance, Hung Wu, attempts to save her, but is framed for murder. With Kao unable to go through with killing his wife, Master Cui pushes things along by having poisoned medicine sent to Kao's home. Not long after her death, Kao marries Cui's daughter, and on their wedding night, the vampiric ghost of Shu Lien comes back for revenge.

This Shaw-Korea co-production originally began as THE FEMALE GHOST, a joint directorial effort by both Shin Sang-Okk and Chang I-Hu; two filmmakers from Korea.

Director Shin had just completed THE GHOST LOVERS (1974), a ghost picture starring Li Ching. For whatever reason, Shin severed his involvement with this movie leaving his colleague with sole credit.

Advertised as a romantic-horror production, the finished film has little room for romance, but crowds the screen with plentiful sex and nudity. It's likely a Korean and HK version was shot simultaneously. The shot to the left features Chan Shen and a different, and very nude actress seen in the actual Hong Kong film itself.

At about the halfway mark, gore and ghosts are added to the mix when it becomes a full fledged revenge movie replete with arms being sliced off, ears ripped off, teeth spit out and chunks of scalp torn away revealing rotting, pus-filled wounds.


There's quite a lot of special effects on display here; primitive as they may be. The sight of a bad optical of painted on blood running out of Chen Ping's eyes is terribly sloppy, but recalls the same thing that was done better in Fulci's CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD five years later. While Chen Ping doesn't toss her intestines as the poor girl in Fulci's film does, something indeed very grim follows her bleeding of the eyes.

Oldschool Hong Kong horror movies almost always seemed to be grotesque tales masquerading as morality fables; their last scene often preaching to the audience just what the various Deadly Sins will bring you should you entertain them. This is one of the better aspects of this admittedly average motion picture.


There is no "I told you so" delivery during the closing moments of the film, but for the first 35 minutes or so, there's a fascinating subtext dealing with the subjugation, or attempted "liberation" of those with chaste and honorable values. This plot device crops up in many other HK movies of varying genres and is comparable to the 'have sex and die' thematic element that became de rigueur in American slasher pictures around 1980.


This is also an early example of the hopping ghost/hopping vampire genre that wouldn't exist till 1985s MR. VAMPIRE from director Ricky Lau. The Shaw-Hammer co-pro from 1974, THE LEGEND OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN VAMPIRES, flirted with hopping ghouls and there's some hopping corpses briefly seen in Shaw's BLACK MAGIC (1975).

There are two blood-sucking ghost creatures in DEVIL BRIDE and they're repelled by a charm given to Kao by an old Taoist priest played by seasoned Shaw stalwart, Wang Ching Ho. The differences between the western vampire and the eastern interpretation were negligible, barely expounded upon till popularized by Ricky Lau's mega hit wherein the bizarre qualities of Eastern vampire lore were laid bare.

NIGHT OF THE DEVIL BRIDE seems to be channeling Japanese style horror pictures with its use of haunted hair; as in the tentacle-like locks of the vengeance seeking Shu Lien.

Upon taking the lethal medicine, Shui Lien begins choking, her face turns green, eyes begin bleeding and her hair starts falling out. These deadly follicles later play a part in the revenge from beyond the grave motif that takes hold around the 40 minute mark.

At barely 76 minutes in length, this obviously troubled production has a few spots where some things could have been fleshed out, or built up a bit more. It's clear the makers are more interested in exploitation than anything else, although Lo Lieh emerges with the sole stand out performance amidst a cadre of soulless reprobates and naive stock victims.

There's a clear dichotomy drawn between Kao, Lo Lieh's character, and Hung Wu, the one played by Lin Wei-Tu. Lin is ecstatic at the thought of becoming successful through hard work while Kao is taking a more deceitful, less honest route that ends in murder.


Lo Lieh's character, Kao Tian is of particular interest. You expect him to go full on evil, but he's torn by his love for his sickly wife and the promise of wealth from a duplicitious family. Instead of rolling around exclusively in sleaze, the film takes a bit of time in exploring Lo's character and his acting totally makes him a believably tragic individual who still must atone for the tragedies he helped incur.

Released in March of 1975, the film did mediocre business. It was the last film Chang would direct at Shaw Brothers having earlier helmed two 'China versus Japan' kung fu dramas THE THUNDERBOLT FIST and THE DEADLY KNIVES, both in 1972. Chang then went on to direct GREAT ESCAPE FROM WOMEN'S PRISON (1976), a picture that appears to be a clone of Kuei Chi Hung's 1973 hit THE BAMBOO HOUSE OF DOLLS.

This was also Shin Sang Okk's last hurrah at Shaw, ever how much of this movie he actually directed. He had earlier guided the Shaw fantasy THE GODDESS OF MERCY in 1967 and also the obscure western style film THE BANDITS in 1971. Both directors seemed to have retreated to their native Korea around the same time.

The cinematography by Korean DP Choi Seung-Woo is unremarkable. Some scenes are nicely shot, but the film mostly wastes the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Too many scenes are blandly populated leaving an actor front and center with little around them to beef up a shot. There are, however, a number of extreme close ups of eyes; the sort of shot that Sergio Leone made chic and Lucio Fulci abused with his scenes of ocular destruction. One shot is particularly memorable during a rainstorm wherein one of the good guys is being escorted to his doom when suddenly arms begin sprouting up everywhere in a moment that recalls the literal 'forest of limbs' sequence in the German Gothic horror picture THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM (1967).

NIGHT OF THE DEVIL BRIDE (1975) isn't a great movie by any stretch. It's an interesting diversion that features some curious ideas and elements of HK horror that wouldn't be fully embraced till the 1980s. The entire cast is recognizable from many Shaw sex and sleaze pictures and this one nestles comfortably amongst those. Chang's movie was seemingly treated as a throwaway production and it definitely reads that way while watching it. The script is quite good, but aside from a few points discussed above, very little of substance is allowed to get out. Intriguing, if disposable Hong Kong horror.

***NOTE: Most sites have this listed as being titled NIGHT OF THE DEVIL'S BRIDE.***