Oliver Reed is a cop, Fabio Testi is a criminal, and between the two of them, the winter coat game is through the roof in one of the best and bleakest entries in the Eurocrime genre. In between fur coats and shoot outs and Oliver Reed seething with anger, director Sergio Sollima also packs in a political message that boils down to, “Basically, we’re all hopelessly screwed.”
Keith Allison is the chief bacchanologist at MEZZANOTTE.
#1 by Jason Farrell on March 23, 2016 - 4:27 pm
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I thought this essay was one of your finest, but I am somewhat floored that I have never heard of this movie, considering my love of everything Italian and Oliver Reed.
Or maybe I love Brian Blessed?
#2 by Doug Hudson on March 24, 2016 - 12:20 pm
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Who doesn’t love BRIAN BLESSED?
Also, is there a movie where Oliver Reed doesn’t seethe with anger? He does it in all the movies I’ve seen. Not that I’m complaining, no one seethes with anger like Oliver Reed. I like to think that he could toast bread through the heat of barely contained rage.
#3 by Jason Farrell on March 24, 2016 - 12:23 pm
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Did he seethe with rage in CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF? He was more hysterical in that one?
But he did seethe with rage in FLASH GORDON–
Damn it, that was Brian Blessed?
#4 by The Rev. on March 24, 2016 - 11:15 pm
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My first big laugh at a T-Fest was yelling “HAWKMEN!! DIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!!” at an opportune moment.
One of the B-Fest CDs I own has the music from that scene on it. Right before it, there’s a clip from what must be a commentary track for Flash Gordon, where Brian Blessed is talking about how much he loves “Voltan’s Theme,” starts singing it (“Vooool-taaaan, deedle-dee-dee, deedle-dee-dee…) and then talks about how he was making laser noises for his gun until the filmmakers told him they would be doing that later in post. I nearly lost control of my car; as soon as I was able, I pulled over and proceeded to listen to that bit about a dozen times, each time laughing harder than I had previously.
Basically, what I’m trying to say is that anyone who doesn’t love Brian Blessed either doesn’t know who he is, or is a horrible twisted soulless shell of a human being.
#5 by Jason Farrell on March 25, 2016 - 5:02 pm
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As an unrepentant Queen fanatic, I know that theme well…makes me want to buy the DVD if only to listen to Brian Blessed ‘s voice for a good long while..
#6 by Jason Farrell on March 25, 2016 - 5:02 pm
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As an unrepentant Queen fanatic, I know that theme well…makes me want to buy the DVD if only to listen to Brian Blessed ‘s voice for a good long while..