Summertime-Killer

Summertime Killer is a Spanish thriller and would seem to take influence both from the Italian Polizi and mafia genres, as well as the American action films. The film is thoroughly entertaining for the entire duration; but it does suffer from some major story and scripting problems - for a start, the film simply tries to do too much and changes gears too often and at really short notice; we go from a revenge thriller to a kidnap flick in a heartbeat and it makes the film feel rather disjointed. Add in some completely bizarre character decisions and you've got a film that is seriously hard to take seriously. Summertime Killer starts with a scene that sees a bunch of gangsters kill a man, under the nose of his son. We then fast forward a few years and the kid is grown up; the gangsters that killed his father are also being picked off one by one. Naturally, there are people out to stop him from taking his revenge; including the mob boss as well as a police detective who resolves to track the kid down.

The lead character is played by Christopher Mitchum; a fresh faced actor who I was surprised to find is the son of grizzled Noir star Robert Mitchum. He actually fits the role better than I thought he would and plays the cold man of few words well. My fellow Dario Argento fans will recognise Karl Malden as the star of Cat O'Nine Tails; the distinctive actor puts in a good performance here, and the stunning Argentine actress Olivia Hussey rounds off the central cast. There's a solid stream of action that runs throughout the movie and thankfully director Antonio Isasi-Isasmendi knows his way around an action scene well enough to keep everything entertaining. The car chase towards the end of the film is a seriously gripping highlight and actually reminded me a lot of the standout car chase in James Cameron's masterpiece Terminator 2. The film has a fair few distinctive elements about it; the way the central character rides around on a dirt bike and lives in a houseboat being the biggest of them. Overall; this is certainly a very flawed film - but it's entertaining enough and I'm sure that anyone who tracks it down won't be too disappointed.

Any mafia don worth his salt will tell you that if you whack a guy, you've got to make sure he's got no kids that will grow up and come after you. Look at Don Ciccio in the Godfather Part Two. Failed to kill Robert De Niro as a kid. Thirty years later, dies with a huge knife in his gut. Same with this guy here. He doesn't even bother trying to kill the kid – he just lets him watch!

Years later and that kid is now Christopher Mitchum. That's Robert Mitchum's son to us lesser beings, and in terms of inheriting his father's looks and acting talents, let's just say he looks like his father. Chris is bringing vengeance to the mob in a big way, gunning down people left and right (including Umberto Raho). Chris heads off for Italy while Captain Karl Malden picks up his trail.

Once in Rome, Chris sets his sights on Claudine Augur, secretary to Mafia boss Don Alfredi and romances her by getting involved in a car chase with her! Claudine is won over by his car chase skills, and after getting in the sack with him, reveals that the Don has a daughter at a boarding school in France…

Meanwhile, Karl Malden (whose nose was a product of boxing, I now know) starts doing a little research of his own, meeting with the Mafia boss, whom he knows personally, and trying to save the Don's daughter after she's kidnapped. Then again, things aren't that straightforward. Karl Malden is obviously one of those actors who would entertain ordering some chips at a Drive-thru, and he's good here as the soft hearted policeman who charms his way to the kidnapper.

I'm not so sure about Christopher Mitchum or Oliva Hussey, mind you. Chris is a good action star but doesn't seem to get too excited about anything, and Olivia also seems to me to be very detached, no matter what role she's in. She does choose interesting films to star in, however. She was in the creepy-as-hell US slasher Black Christmas (1974) and the brilliant Australian sci-fi flick Turkey Shoot, as well as appearing in the post-apocalyptic Virus (1980) and Stephen King's It (1990). Mitchum didn't fare so well, but appears in The Day Time Ended (1977) and crazy Indonesion action film Final Score (1986). He also played 'ranch hand' in the 1993 film Tombstone. All that is relevant to The Summertime Killer.

This isn't as violent or crazy as other Poliziotesschi films, and almost feels more American for some reason. Maybe it's due to a focus on characterisation. Be warned – there's an almost two hour long version out there too, but it's only added dialogue.

A young boy witnesses the murder of his Father by vicious mobsters, 20 years pass the Kid now a young man (Christopher Mitchum) plots his one man vengeance trail on all those responsible for his Father's death. Hot on his heels is a hard boiled cop (Karl Malden) who has been hired by he Mob to stop the kid, who has already killed a fair few of the Mob, The Kid's ace in the hole, is when he kidnaps the daughter (Oliva Hussy) of the leader of the Mob (Raf Vallone)in order to lure him out to make him an easy target, However things get more complex for the Kid as the two young'ns gradually fall for one another. A great piece of 70's Euro trash exploitation, with nice cinematography,great Motorbike stunts by the master Remy Julian and his posse of stunt men and a great score by Luis Baclov (Django). Both Mitchum and Hussey are excellent in their roles and they seem to develop some sort of surreal chemistry. Karl Malden makes the best of a very sparse script,

A young boy watches his father be brutally murdered by mobsters. Now in his 20s, Ray Castor (Christopher MItchum) is out for revenge. After killing a couple of the men who participated in his father's death, Ray sets his eyes on the mob boss. Unable to get close enough to succeed, Ray puts together a plan that involves kidnapping the boss' daughter, Tania (Olivia Hussey). It's all going as he intended, but something unexpected happens - Ray falls for Tania and vice versa.

Overall, Summertime Killer is nice little Italian crime/mob film. It's not as outlandish or action packed as some of its brethren, but it's enjoyable just the same. That's not to say there's no action. Summertime Killer features a bucket full of interesting and exciting dirt bike stunts, all capably pulled off by the master, Rémy Julienne. Really good stuff. There are also some nice tension filled moments as Ray hunts down his prey. The first killing, in particular, was nicely shot.

On the acting front, I'll just say that everyone is at least capable enough to make things enjoyable. Karl Malden, as the investigator brought in to find Ray, is sadly not given enough to do. I realized while watching Summertime Killer just how much I like Malden. He was a more than capable actor who always gave a professional performance. Here, though, his screentime is limited. The best I can say about Christopher Mitchum is that, here, he doesn't really mess things up. I like him, but honestly, he's not the best actor. He may look a lot like his father, but he doesn't have his dad's acting prowess. As for Hussey, I'll be nice and say she's in the movie. I've never been a fan.

More than enjoyable than a lot of films i watch, I'll give this one a 6/10. Fans of Italian genre cinema might enjoy it as long as you go into expecting a slower than normal poliziotteschi.

Hey there must be fans out there of the 70s European action movies. The king of the genre is Charles Bronson but a lot of other US actors packed up and headed over to Europe to churn out some mid budget violence.

This time its Christopher Mitchum ( son of Robert), Karl Malden, and Olivia Hussey, with support from Italian Raf Vallone.

Its basically the young man seeking revenge redeemed by love plot mixed in with the old cop with a guilty conscience who wants to atone for his sins plot. And its not half bad with some nice motorbike stunts, cool sunglasses worn by Mitchum and nice location photography in Spain. And of course there is that ambience found in these 70s Euro action films where there are long pauses, meaningful angles as well as a gallery of existential or thoughtful characters. Its no classic but its fun. The only question is when is Tarantino going to get around to this sub genre?