MadDogKiller

Mad Dog Killer (aka Beast with a Gun) (1977)

This is my first official foray into Italian crime movies and I have to say it was okay. The story here starts off with a group of criminals breaking free from a prison with detectives in hot pursuit. The criminals get away, which they will do again and again in this movie. The lead criminal and ringleader, Nanni Vitali, heads off to get the stool pigeon that sent him to jail. In spite of a scene where the police discuss that he is probably going after the man he still beats them there and kills him off. Then after the cops track Nanni down again and set a trap for him they manage to let him escape! So basically I guess that the police Italy just aren’t very good at catching criminals. Finally after he has already killed the stool pigeon that set him up the police then don’t protect the judge that convicted him, who also happens to be the father of the detective that is chasing Nanni. They didn’t see that coming?

As you can probably tell the plot of this movie was really very frustrating for me to try and follow. Nanni is seemingly able to go anywhere he wants and kidnap or kill at will without the cops ever getting wise to what he is up to. The only reason that they are able to set a trap for him is because the woman he has kidnapped and repeatedly raped tells them the plan. Of course the fact that she doesn’t just jump on a train or bus and run away from Nanni boggles the mind. But then I suppose this movie just isn’t meant to make much sense. So if you sit back and enjoy the violence, gunfights, car chases, and Nanni’s crew “rubbing” out the stool pigeon then it can be fun. It also has it’s sleazy moments when Nanni is taking advantage of the girlfriend of the man he has killed. This happens a couple of times before the movie ends. Speaking of the ending I’m not sure what to make of it. I really wanted a resolution to the story, but also can sort of dig what they were going for.

From a technical standpoint Mad Dog Killer is a solidly made movie. The camera work is pretty good and is especially so during the multiple car chases. I also wanted to point out how impressed I was with the editing job. The plot tends to jump around a bit, but when it comes to getting the action scenes, car chases, and shoot outs they are easy to follow and exciting. Compared to some of the newer action movies that I’ve been watching this is very much appreciated. There isn’t really any gore beyond a few bullet hits, but this isn’t a horror movie so I didn’t expect any. Probably my most favorite thing about Beast with a Gun is the killer soundtrack. The groovy soundtrack grabbed me right from the start and never let up. Umberto Smaila, who I really haven’t heard of before, did the original music. After listening to the soundtrack from Mad Dog Killer I’m going to have to check out the other movies he worked on.

In the end I think this is an interesting movie that is worth checking out at least once. But unlike most of the other titles from Blue Underground I doubt I’ll be watching it again anytime soon. For more information on this movie head over to http://www.blue-underground.com/

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer