adrianswingler I saw this one as a pretty good example of a "B" version of the early '70s Italian crime films. On those terms, it's pretty good. I'm not really sure you can take it seriously enough to rate against the "A" grade, but I think it pretty much announces that. One of the taglines from a poster at the time was "No swords, no guns, no knives, no weapons. Just a burning pool of acid!". No weapons? No knives? Tons of those. And...just a minor point...soap is made from an alkaline solution, things like sodium hydroxide. That's the opposite of acid. So the only thing in the tagline accurate is "no swords". Like I'd expect that of a '70s Italian crime film.So, you can't get too deep with this one. As an over the top take on the sub genre I think it works. As much "early '70s" as it is "Italian crime film", it doesn't spare any mod visuals. Worth a go, I say.

Tender-Flesh OK, here's the plan. I've been working my way through all the films IMDb has listed with the keyword Slasher. Can you tell I'm a fan? So, when I ran across this film, and look at the tagline and my screen-name...obviously I would be interested, and wow, what a piece of trash this turned out to be.I'll be generous and tell you the score was decent, occasionally the cinematography was creative, and it's violent. But, come on. Look at the poster/cover art listed on this site. And even the name alternative. It's got horror film written all over that. But this isn't a horror film in the least. The Italian actors in a B film do as best as you might expect, which I am fine with. But, seriously, I've seen Ed Wood and Andy Milligan films with better acting than what Chris Mitchum "executes" in this picture. I can't believe this guy was in 3, count them, 3 John Wayne movies before this one. He is awful. He may have improved, but his performance here totally killed what could have been a decent action/mobster/revenge flick. He is not the least bit intimidating anywhere in the painful 90 minutes. It's almost like he doesn't even want to be there and it's written all over his face the entire time as well as his half-hearted delivery. Utter vomit.The only, and I mean only, thing this movie really has going for it is a few nude scenes, lots of gunshot wounds, a decent fog-wrapped striptease on a car hood, and an up close and personal castration scene, which subsequently has said disembodied genitals shoved into the poor guy's mouth. But, don't be put off by how awesome that sounds. It's not even worth it for the other 90 minutes of yawns.

Scarecrow-88 A young man named Ricco(Chris Mitchum)gets a year off his sentence after serving two years in prison, and quietly sets out to even a score against mafioso king Don Vito(Arthur Kennedy), the man responsible for murdering his mob boss father so that he could have control over the entire city. What erupts is a blood feud where many tragic casualties, innocents whose blood are shed, lie in the wake of Ricco and Vito's rivalry. Ricco finds an ally in an old friend of his father's niece, Scilla(Barbara Bouchet)..Scilla, at first, participates for kicks, but soon finds that she's in love with Ricco and realizes that his feud with Vito will only leave a lot of innocent people dead. Once Ricco gets mixed up with a crooked partner of Vito's, Cyrano(Eduardo Fajardo), once a pal of his father, there's no turning back. Diamonds, and collected dues of those benefactors for whom Vito "protects", soon play into matters as does Ricco's old squeeze, Rosa(Malisa Longo)now "property" of the Don. Vito cherishes Rosa, and anyone who dares even attempt to touch what is his will inherit a trip into his vat of acid. The climax is a shoot-out at Don Vito's factory with Ricco seeking revenge when those he loves are slain in horrific gang-land style fashion.Ultra violent crime thriller with Christopher Mitchum walking tall, saying only what needs to be said..like his father Robert, Chris doesn't overexert himself. He's quite the cool customer, approaching even the most violent situations with a laid-back calm staring down possible death at every turn. Kennedy inhibits the sadistic Don Vito as if born to play him..having portrayed villains in westerns with ease, playing the heavy in "Ricco" is a piece of cake. The true star of this film, besides Barbara Bouchet who always knows how to make a scene, is Malisa Longo as Rosa, who takes you completely away from the film immediately casting your eyes towards her. She's quite a feast to salivate over..the kind of sex kitten who would have you turning cart-wheels and barking like a dog. She's "to die for" and one does, but I certainly understand why one would risk the chance to bed her. Whether walking around in lingerie or bathing top-less, she's a tasty dish..no a gourmet meal. Matter of fact, she's the best part of the meal..she's the desirable dessert. I found that Mitchum and Bouchet had good chemistry and that both knew the wattage they carried on screen. Mitchum carries that effortless cool and Bouchet is so damn sexy, and knows it, I never questioned why I liked watching them together on screen. Bouchet even performs a nice little strip-tease for the viewer..thanks dear for providing another memorable scene(..like Bouchet hasn't provided ample memories already!)I can carry away into my fantasies.Getting away from the babes, I have to mention the castration scene. One fellow, Tony(Manuel Zarzo)can not resist Rosa's sexual advances(..given the situation, I can see why he succumbs to her wiles)and is caught by the Don. Tony fights three of the Don's goons before getting his privates sliced off with a knife..he then gets his penis and testicles shoved down his throat before being tossed in Vito's acid vat! If the opening scene where Ricco's father's face is shot in point-blank, then this gory sequence of events does. When it comes to subtlety, you'd better look elsewhere because the Italians always go for broke.

jlabine Whoo-hoo, what a film! This film is lots of fun. Of course not in the masterpiece kind of way. Tulio Demicheli's "The Mean Machine" is a pretty bad flick indeedy. But it's such a perfect example of Euro-Trash, that I felt someone had to mention it. First off, it has Christopher Mitchum (where else can an a major actor's son find work? In Italy of course!) giving such a wooden performance, that my roomate mearly rolled his eyes, snickered, and walked out of the room shaking his head (c'mon Tony, you know you did). Christopher with his Dad's droopy eyes just stares off with that same blank expression through out the entire film. Of course he must have known it was a pretty bad script, so I won't fault him too much (I haven't seen his other artistic efforts). But it really cracked me up that on the video box there was this drawing of him looking handsome and muscular, which he definately is not. He was pretty wimpy looking, and evertime he tried to give a macho pose, or flex his authority, I nearly laughed myself silly. Though I excuse all of this, because the real reason I rented this flick was because of the wonderful and beautiful Barbara Bouchet! And this film delivers! She does this great little strip dance in front of these gangsters in a car, right before Chris (Rico the "Mean Machine") throws them into a lake! It's so funny, that Italy will take any oppertunity they can to show off Barbara's attributes. Of course it gratuitous, but it's just too much fun! And of course even after the big ambush, Chris looks to Barbara and she's still has no clothes on. She's having a good time tackling gangsters in the nude! Well, at least Barbara looks to be having fun. Another Euro-babe favourite Malisa Longo (as Chris' ex-girlfriend)also likes to spend her time flirting with Bodygaurds and sitting around in the buff. But unfortunately she meets with a very grizzly end, and becomes the film's sacrificial lamb (what else was gonna come of her character? Chris Mitchum was now with Barbara Bouchet.) in a tub of Acid! This film contains all the unnecessary violence (gory stuff as well), nudity (lots of it), macho posturing (Chris' Ricco is not opposed to giving a lady a smack if she's not behaving), and crummy acting that 70's Italian cinema is so famous for. Would I recommend it? Hardly! Did I laugh my fool head off? Yep! After this review, I'll let the reader make their own call. Barbara Bouchet is amazing!