Syndicate Sadists

One of the myriad "poliziotteschi" to emerge from Italy during the 1970s, to which both director Lenzi and star Tomas Milian contributed a good deal; in fact, their previous collaboration – ALMOST HUMAN (1974) – is considered among the genre high-points. This, however, is fairly indistinguishable – apart from the fact that the surname of Milian's character is Rambo!; it does include plenty of typical action, not to mention a funky score by Franco Micalizzi. Rambo is a reformed gangster who now supplies iconoclastic help to the Police; predictably, his best pal in the force (actually a special vigilante squad) ends up murdered before long – which sets Rambo on exacting private revenge. This sees him coming face to face once again with his former boss, a now-blind Joseph Cotten (who, like Milian, followed a certain code of ethics in spite of the nature of the work involved) whose 'empire' is being unscrupulously run by the old man's son, Alfredo Lastretti. A smaller rival band of criminals – among whose members is the ubiquitous Luciano Pigozzi – also gets into our disheveled hero's hair by kidnapping an eminent citizen (Silvano Tranquilli)'s son. Incidentally, this incongruous sentimental emphasis on kids – since Milian also dotes on his cop friend's idolizing offspring – does the film the biggest harm; at the same time, while keeping an affectionate (but platonic) eye on the latter boy's mum, he is romantically involved with a prostitute (Femi Benussi) – who, unsurprisingly, is eventually victimized by the baddies for it. Though consistently offering reasonable gratification of various sorts, most examples of the poliziottesco genre suffered from a shallowness that made them instantly forgettable – and this one, alas, proved no exception despite the involvement of two of its major exponents.

The Dashiell Hammett novel Red Harvest (famously filmed as such other adaptations as Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars) gets another workout in this Italian crime yarn of scruffy biker Rambo (Tomas Milian). Rambo is out for revenge when his friend is murdered by mafia goons; when a child is kidnapped, Rambo figures to both avenge his buddy and get the kid back by playing two crime families against each other.

Milian had enjoyed the David Morrell novel First Blood, and in fact was hoping to make an Italian film version, but in the end was only able to use the main characters' name in this diverting story; director Umberto Lenzi was inspired by American filmmaker Don Siegel in his handling of the material. His film has action, humor, and violence, and moves along well, and is populated with memorable faces such as those belonging to Luciano Catenacci, Antonio Casale, and Luciano Pigozzi. Lovely ladies Maria Fiore, Femi Benussi, Shirley Corrigan, and Ida Galli add the sex appeal. Milian dominates the proceedings as a very cool customer, but Hollywood legend Joseph Cotten is rather boring as a mob boss with a secret that could hurt him.

All, Syndicate Sadists is good and lively fun for fans of this genre.

Seven out of 10.

Syndicate Sadists is yet another film based on Dashiel Hammett's novel Red Harvest which was adapted more famously by Akira Kurosawa in Yojimbo and Sergio Leone in A Fistful of Dollars, amongst many others, but it also has some other intriguing origins. Its star Tomas Milian while filming in the US, picked up a cheap novel at the airport by David Morrell entitled First Blood a tale of a special forces soldier by the name of John Rambo, Milian was intrigued by the character but wanted to stay away from violent sadistic roles he had become famous for in films like Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare (1974). So together with Lenzi and Luciano Martino they agreed to blend both stories together in a modern crime drama. While the film has some resemblances to both films its different enough to stand alone as an interesting film. Milian is excellent as the odd, scruffy biker with a heart, that turns to violence to avenge the murder of his brother by one of a group of rival crime gangs, he was investigating. Milian decides to play both sides against each other, his unkempt image, floppy red hat and large goggles, perhaps luring the criminals into a false sense of security that costs them dearly in some increasingly violent confrontations. Not Milian or Lenzi's best but still very watchable. Joseph Cotten also puts in a turn as one of the crime bosses, in what surely must be THE most wooden performance by the man ever, at one point he actually looked like a Gerry Anderson puppet…no really! For once the Italian didn't steal an idea, they had Rambo first. Oh and watch out for an homage to Steve McQueen.[

Umberto Lenzi is undoubtedly the king of Italian crime movies, but unfortunately; Syndicate Sadists is not the best examples of his work in this genre. Lenzi's crime flicks tend to be a cut above the rest because he makes films based on stories with a point, and they don't lack direction; but this film feels a bit too wayward to fully fit with the rest of his stuff. The film takes obvious influence from Sergio Leone's landmark western 'A Fistful of Dollars' (which in turn, took influence from Akira Kurosawa's landmark samurai flick Yojimbo), in that it features two warring families and a strong character at the centre. The crime that Lenzi focuses on is kidnapping, and we centre on a character called 'Rambo'. Rambo is dragged into the war between the two families after his brother is killed because of it. Rambo uses his brains and brawn to pit the two families against one another, in the hope of gaining revenge for his brother's death, rescuing a young boy that they've kidnapped, and ultimately letting the two sides destroy one another.

The film's biggest asset is undoubtedly Tomas Milian. Milian was put to great use by Lenzi in almost all of his crime thrillers. The range of characters he has played for Lenzi is immense, and this one is easily one of the coolest. The character is called Rambo, which immediately sprang to mind the popular Sylvester Stallone character - but for once, the Italians actually haven't stolen this name as Syndicate Sadists was released first! As usual, the film is wickedly entertaining, as we get to watch Milian get himself involved in the usual array of car chases, shootouts and brawls. Lenzi has got him riding a motorbike this time round, and every scene featuring it and Milian is a real standout! However, the film often feels like it doesn't really have anywhere to go, and this means that the running time is stretched out more than it should be. Compared to the crime films of other Italian directors, Syndicate Sadists is more than above average; but in relation to Lenzi crime flicks such as Almost Human and The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist - it doesn't stand tall as one of Lenzi's best. Still, if you're looking for ninety minutes of testosterone fuelled mayhem - Syndicate Sadists will suffice!

Rambo (the great Thomas Milian) a leather-jacketed motorcycling tough guy, returns to his old haunts.When he visits his old friend who is now a security guard, the friend tries to talk him into joining him to find another guy's kidnapped son, he doesn't want a part of it, but when his friend is killed, it's personal. He plots to save the kid and get a little revenge. This film is just really fun with some laugh out loud corny dialog sprinkled here and there as well as pretty good action and chases throughout. As always Thomas Milian is great here. Not a perfect film by any means, but it always remains fun, energetic and highly watchable. Even though nothing like what's on the cover of the DVD case EVER happens.

My Grade: B

DVD Extras: Sub-titled Commentary by Umberto Lenzi; Sub-titled Interview with Umberto; Photo Gallery; and Trailers for "Man from Deep River", "All the Colors of the Dark", "Duck the carbine high massacre", & "Woman in a Lizard's Skin" Easter Eggs: Go to the Trailers section, and highlight the word 'Trailers' for a Theatrical trailer for this film; at the bottom of the same page is 3 hidden Fangoria International symbols "Choking Hazard", "Hiruko the Goblin" (un-subtitled), and "Rojo Sangre"