Napoli spara!

My personal favorite of overlooked director Mario Caiano's films, this movie is pretty much THE formula for an extremely successful 70's Italian crime movie. First off, it's got the exotic Neopolitan locations down pat and does a good job showing how brutal the streets can be with plenty of random bank-robbery and purse-snatching going on. Secondly, it's got a wonderful cast headed up by Henry Silva as a slimy underworld boss who gets a little too ambitious for his own good, robbing a money train and a refinery in broad daylight. Of course one shouldn't overlook Leonard Mann, Adolfo Lastretti, Benito Pacifico, Ottaviano Dell'Acqua and the rest of the regular euro-crime gang that pops by. Thirdly, this film has tons of action, violence, and random explosions to not only keep the casual viewer awake, but highly entertained!

Mario Caiano certainly nursed some deep inner antisocial and cruel streak as this film often goes out of its way into pure sadism. An example is where a car gets knocked out of the way by a big rig during a chase scene. The script probably simply said just that, but instead Caiano focuses on the poor family inside the car getting knocked around as it tumbles down an embankment and smashing into a gully. Is it good enough to show they're dead? No, just in case you had any doubt they'd be okay, the car then bursts into a massive explosion far in excess of whatever fuel was in the tank. It's almost comical in its cruelty.

This is probably one of the most violent of the 70's Italian crime films with lots of shootouts, protracted car crashes, people on fire, mutilated faces, a Gino De Rossi-patented decapitation, and such. Additionally, a very memorable musical score by Francesco De Masi, possibly one of his best and most widely copied of all his scores.

This film has many tie-ins with Umberto Lenzi's NAPOLI VIOLENTA (which starred Maurizio Merli and John Saxon), since it has a reappearance of the Gennaro kid that got crippled in that movie, here he's back and turned to a life of petty crime. The musical cues that follow little Gennaro in particular are very memorable, as they vary on the same theme depending on the situation, creating a very good effect towards the tragic ending.

For a crude, down-n-dirty excursion into the mean streets of 70's Naples, I can't recommend this movie enough. It's too bad NAPOLI SPARA is just so hard to find. It's not as slick as any of Umberto Lenzi's films from around the same time but delivers on most of the rest of the goods.

-UPDATE AT OF 2020- Back in 2012 I ran into Leonard Mann by complete coincidence walking by me on Las Palmas Ave. in Hollywood, California while he was on his phone. Not bothered by a random fan in the least, he actually hung up on his call immediately after I said, "hey Leonard!". I asked him about this movie and he laughed, saying that we were probably the only two people in a thousand mile radius who had ever heard of WEAPONS OF DEATH (which he referred to by its English title). He's a really nice and relatable regular guy who said he loved working on Italian films but couldn't parlay his career too well into American cinema. He ended up going to the psychiatrist so many times due to his frustration that he ended up becoming one himself, now only dipping his toe into creative work here and there by penning the occasional play.

In all honesty, I must state that my rating and review of "Napoli Spara!" perhaps aren't 100% reliable. Reason for this is because I watched the film in Italian language, without any subtitles, but I don't speak Italian at all! In my defense, the film had been standing on my must-see list for an awful long time and the only version available for purchase was this cheap Italian DVD-R without any extras or language options whatsoever. Here's a word of advice: if you ever, like me, assume that you don't necessarily need to understand what's being said in a Poliziotesschi film, think again! Of course these movies are primarily about wild action sequences, explicit violence and guerrilla stunt work, but the plot and the dialogues are still very important! What I did understand is that the ultra-charismatic Henry Silva depicts a real bad SOB! He commits an extremely violent armed train robbery, with naturally lots of civilian casualties, and even organizes a heist on the evidence room of a police station! Leonard Mann is the devoted police detective tailing him, but Silva is the smart and slimy type of gangster who always comes up with a waterproof alibi. Mann is also looking after a clever street kid, to prevent him from becoming a juvenile delinquent. Standard poliziotesschi stuff, in other words, but there were also other things going on in "Napoli Spara!" that I couldn't follow properly, like a Maurizio Merli lookalike taxi driver assisting the police and mafia retributions on the parking lot of an illegal casino. I also spotted many familiar themes, like corruption (within the police force as well as in prison), bloody attacks on genitalia and the kicking of pregnant women in the stomach. Auch! But "Napoli Spara!" was also released in 1977, and from this year onwards the poliziotesschi began to lose its overwhelming force and impact. There are still many car chases and shootouts, but they are approximately 25% less raw and gritty. To compensate for this, the directors started throwing in comic reliefs, like in this film when Mann's little protégé-kid carjacks a sports car and goes on a joyride through the crowded streets of Naples. He can hardly even reach the pedals or look over the steering wheel, for crying out loud!

WEAPONS OF DEATH is an unexpected and unusual sequel to the Lenzi hit VIOLENT NAPLES. Sadly, Lenzi doesn't return for this production, although Mario Caiano is a more than able replacement, and neither does Maurizio Merli as the tough protagonist. He's replaced by the less beefier Leonard Mann, who's less imposing but equally tough. The one returning character is the kid whose father owned a garage in the first film, but other than that this tells the typical story of an endless crimewave and a head honcho bad guy, played with menacing relish by Henry Silva. The plot is brisk and the action brisker, with limitless stylish vehicle chases through the streets of Naples and all manner of shoot-outs. Great fun!

I'm not sure I agree this is a classic example of the '70s Italian crime film genre, but it certainly is a solid example of one. Personally, I felt that the classic examples, the best of the genre, were put together better. I agree with the comment that said it was a bit slap-dash. Has an odd combination of interesting plot twists and real agonizing drawn out "you know xyz is going to happen". The latter are pretty trite and that's not something I'm used to seeing in the genre and I think it's weak that way. But for all the other reasons you watch one of these, it's a solid example, so I'm giving it 6/10. The scenes of Naples are fun and stitch the whole thing together.

Food suggestion: pizza margherita and a cheeky red wine

An average entry into the poliziottesco genre. The movie seems to be just a bunch of crime set pieces strung together with no real central plot. Some of the actions scenes are well done though (no CGI), and the gritty 70s scenery is always fun to watch. There are much better films in this genre.