Michael A. Martinez Tomas Milian begins his topsy turvy relationship with Umberto Lenzi in perhaps the duo's classiest pairing, taking more than a little inspiration from A CLOCKWORK ORANGE with Milian playing just as morally bankrupt of an anti-hero.ALMOST HUMAN (aka MILANO ODIA) really works and contains enough action, violence, nudity, and sharp-witted dialog to keep most B- movie lovers entertained. It's not quite realistic enough and a little too over-the-top to really attract the same foreign film aficionados who would do better with similarly-themed ASHES AND DIAMONDS. In a lot of ways, the ODIA becomes so dark and disturbing (even warranting its release in the United States as a HORROR movie) that things often slingshot back into black comedy.Milian's main stooge Gino Santercole (dubbed by Michael Forest) gets in most of the funniest lines such as "it was worth killing a couple of people for this money!". He's an interesting character, being a very loyal henchman through and through with little qualms graduating from low level criminal to kidnapper/murderer. The same cannot be said for secondary stooge Lovelock, whose constant crises of conscience make him a subject of amusing taunts by Milian in his most unhinged performance yet.Somehow, Milian so makes the character believable and human enough... charming, cunning, arrogant, and determined... that he somehow remains likable even after killing and abusing so many people (including his own friends and girlfriend). Strindberg as his middle-aged (though quite fetching) girlfriend isn't the most believable either, but their passionate albeit pathetic excuse for a relationship provides even more interest in this multi-layered movie. Henry Silva's also on-hand as a hard-nosed inspector not-so- hot on Milian's trail, charming in his own way though not enough to make us really root for him.All in all, it's an interesting film and a little smarter and more plot-driven than you'll usually find in a high octane Italian crime film as the cycle tended to gravitate into the mid-70's. It's one of the few cases though where I'd recommend the slightly edited U.S. version from Joseph Brenner over the Italian as it does inject a little more pathos and creepiness than the Italian version.

ElWormo Not sure what went wrong here. I like a good poliziotteschi (Massimo Dallamano's 'What Have You Done To Solange' and 'What Have They Done To Your Daughters' being two of the finest examples of Italian 70s cinema I can think of) and I'm also not adverse to some of Umberto Lenzi's grindhousey campfests either ('Eaten Alive' being a personal fave), but for some reason 'Almost Human' was a bit of a struggle to get through.It's not without its moments of tension and typical giallo style nastiness, but nothing could disguise the strictly amateur hour feel of the whole thing, which smacked of both trying too hard and yet somehow not trying hard enough to engage the viewer. All the noise, sleaze, action and violence weren't enough to conceal a pretty self indulgent and ultimately directionless shaggy dog story. The dubbing, script and acting weren't even bad enough to be funny either. Overrated for my money, and I'm mystified by the largely excellent reviews on here.

EVOL666 Umberto Lenzi, best known (at least among horror fans) for the ultra-gory/ultra-campy CANNIBAL FEROX - brings us a straight-faced and violent crime story with ALMOST HUMAN. Not a lot of "campiness" or silliness in this one, as we're treated to the story of a degenerate criminal and the lengths that he'll go to to get paid...Giulio is a low-life, low-level criminal who will do anything or kill anyone (and I do mean ANYONE) who gets in his way, including cops, night watchmen, men, women, children, his girlfriend (played by Anita Strindberg - most recognizable from Sergio Martino's YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM...), his "friends", or anyone else that tries to thwart his plans. After botching a job for one of the bigger bosses, Giulio starts setting his sights on a bigger job that will give him a huge pay-day. He settles on a plan to kidnap a rich Official's daughter for a huge ransom. He enlists two of his low-life pals to help out, and the rest of the film is watching the cat-and-mouse kidnapping "game" play out...ALMOST HUMAN is an enjoyable and competent crime film. The performances are all quite good, there are some decent twists, and for the violence lovers out there - there's plenty of that too. I don't typically watch too much of this sort of thing, but really did enjoy this entry. If violent crime-capers are your thing, you should probably check this one out...8.5/10

chrisdfilm Once again Umberto Lenzi and Tomas Milian deliver the goods. I was recently lucky enough to finally get ahold of an uncut Italian DVD of this (though the English version on it is dubbed not subtitled). It was my first time seeing it, and I was continually (and pleasantly) surprised at how the unfolding narrative, charging ahead like a runaway locomotive, confounded my expectations. This ultra-violent film has some of the most shocking moments from any film from the seventies and constantly grinds up cliches and spits them out like so much shredded celluloid. Utterly mesmerizing, in part due to the jawdropping performance of Milian as the psychotically sociopathic, wisecracking kidnapper. But Lenzi's direction and the script by Ernesto Gastaldi (veteran of some of the finest giallos)deserve credit, too. Although it's great to see Henry Silva in a substantial role as the doggedly pursuing detective, his performance is a bit uneven, unbelievably wooden in some scenes, over-the-top in others. Supporting cast Ray Lovelock, Anita Strindberg and Laura Belli are all great.It's hard to believe that some of the folks supplying comments here found this boring! Thoroughly downbeat and uncompromising, refusing to deliver a happy ending for any of the characters, it's one of the great, gritty, up-from-the-gutter trash classics from seventies Italian cinema. Highly recommended. If you love this kind of movie and have still not seen it, search it out!