Weapons of Death

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!

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.

It's a mean, lean, Italian crime machine starring the skinny Leonard Mann as a cop out to get violent robber/mob boss Henry Silva, who is giving crime a bad name with his proactive approach to robbery (he shoots everyone, basically). Weirdest of all, you know that kid who got crippled in Violent Naples...this is somehow a sequel to that too!

Mann the man is in Naples and he knows that Santoro (Silva) is the jerk robber, but seeing as how Silva is willing to finish off any of his own men that are wounded during these robberies, it's gonna be a hard slog for Mann. He's got to fight his way through many bad guys to get to Silva, but luckily he's got an undercover squad of cops and a crippled kid with a taste for petty crime to help him out.

To be fair Silva has the highest mob boss in Naples watching his back so he does okay too, and we all know what's going to happen, but then again it's all about how we get there, right? This one has many car chases, explosions, robberies, bag snatching, a mob attacking a Jimmy Saville guy who then gets his knackers cut off in prison, and best of all, Massimo Vanni turns up as an undercover cop who gets decapitated for his troubles (and that's not the last time Massimo loses his head in one of these films).

This one ticks all the boxes and rarely puts a foot wrong. Mario Caiano is a solid director, which makes you wonder why he made that abysmal Deported Woman of the SS Special Section.

I have always craved for Polizziotescos, the Italian crime films from the seventies. All violent, brutal, bloody macho flicks, showing Italian but also American actors - here Henry Silva. Henry Silva plays the gangster, a nasty character - but I don't remember Henry Silva playing a cop. I mean, as far as I know, maybe he did...That said, this movie is not the best Polizziotesco ever, just a tough, gritty one. Not at the level of the Damiano Damiani, Fernando Di Leo or Umberto Lenzi's films. However, this movie is a must see for Italian crime flicks lovers. I don't know any of the actors, except Henry Silva.

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!