Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare

This was reportedly released in the U.S. in the 70's in a badly cut form and billed as a horror film.

It is clearly a CRIME film, one that focuses first on the malefactors (led by a crazed, sociopathic Tomas Milian) and only second on the pursuing detective (one mightily p****d-off Henry Silva). The version I saw, supposedly "uncut," certainly did not leave me bored. It's trashy, over the top and exploitative, expressing much the politics of a "Dirty Harry" rip-off with its emasculated cop driven to vigilante tactics and its sleazy anti-hero (Milian) who will literally stop at NOTHING, not even remorseless, cold-blooded murder, just to steal a few bucks out of a cigarette machine. But it didn't leave me bored.

Milian's riveting (as usual) performance--many complain that he exaggerates too much but I feel they're missing the point--suffers greatly due to the bad English dubbing. This is quite frustrating, since Milian speaks English and could have done it himself. The excellent Morricone score also suffers, since the music suddenly gets lowered or stops altogether every time a character speaks. But these are faults, I'm sure, of the English language version and not of the film itself.

The film itself, taken on its own terms, is entertaining as hell. Especially if you think Hell might be entertaining. Milian's character, a small-time hood named Sacchi who is determined to make it big by kidnapping a rich guy's daughter, is on a hell-bent mission. He doesn't care who he kills, tortures or rapes as long as he doesn't leave witnesses. When he's not killing, torturing and raping, he's committing brazen acts such as following the cops who are supposed to be following him and going to the police station to report his own crimes.

It's a bloody crime film that never lets up. It's set in a desperate, anarchic urban landscape where Grandma and Grandpa sell machine guns. Morricone's score adds a whole ominous dimension; the music in the opening credits just says, "Ugly things are about to happen." And they do. Just look for a version with subtitles, if you don't speak Italian.

Quentin Tarantino's mother was blowing his nose, damn straight.

"Almost Human" is the best known of the "poliziotesschi", or Italian crime films, made by the highly respected Umberto Lenzi. It's a crackling story that travels far on the unholy magnetism of its unbalanced villain, and it's also a story with its fair share of dark twists and turns. The action scenes are first-rate, and the script (by the prolific Ernesto Gastaldi) keeps one absorbed, wondering when, or if, our antagonist will ever receive his comeuppance.

Tomas Milian stars as Giulio Sacchi, a low life criminal who never passes up an opportunity to make some money - or spread some blood around. He actually has a girlfriend (Anita Strindberg), and while sitting with her one day he gets the bright idea: kidnap his girls' boss' daughter for a hefty ransom. He seems to be one step ahead of the law the entire time, although a determined police inspector (Henry Silva) does soon pick up his trail.

Mean-spiritedness prevails in this interesting, effectively violent film, and it's never more interesting than when it follows the activities of the piece of scum at the story's centre. Milian is a force of nature to behold here, having no regard at all for human life and fixated on that "big score" that will make him an insanely rich man. It's something of a treat to see Silva as the good guy who will ultimately work outside the law to see justice done, although truth be told, he's often been at his best when playing roles similar to Milians'.

Punctuated by the typically grandiose talents of composer Ennio Morricone, "Almost Human" is very, very good of its kind. You won't believe what depravities Giulio will be capable of from scene to scene; in particular, that moment in the country manor will definitely drive that point home.

You may not like Giulio Sacchi, but you may find him fascinating as he sometimes just can't control himself from his most vile intentions.

Seven out of 10.

Almost Human (1974)

*** (out of 4)

Exciting crime picture has psychopath Giulio (Tomas Milian) growing more and more dangerous as he kidnaps the daughter of a rich man and holds her for ransom. A police inspector (Henry Silva) is following some murders and believes that it is the work of the kidnapper so he sets out to find him.

Umberto Lenzi's ALMOST HUMAN is an extremely entertaining mix of EuroCrime as well as something like DIRTY HARRY. The film offers up two great actors turning in great characters and this is just part of the fun. Many people have called this film dirty and nasty but I'm going to disagree because even some of the American crime pictures from this era contained more violence and blood. What this film succeeds at is telling a very good story and showing what a psychopath one can be.

Lenzi's direction certainly deserves a lot of credit and especially with the flow and style of the picture. There are some effective car chases at the start of the movie but what I liked the most was how Lenzi shows this madman slowly losing more of a grip on reality and falling into his madness. I really liked the character structure of the killer and thought it worked perfectly well against the cop who knows what he's dealing with and wants to handle it himself.

Of course, Milian and Silva are both wonderful in their roles and they bring a lot of entertainment value. Milian is a pure evil snake here and I thought he worked wonderfully as a villain that you love to hate. Silva is a lot more straight and doesn't have as flashy of a role but he too is still a lot of fun. The support cast are also quite good and help keep the film moving. Then you've got a terrific score by Ennio Morricone as well as some very good cinematography.

ALMOST HUMAN is certainly one of the better crime pictures out there. It has a nice story, some great characters and the style that you'd expect.

One of my favorite Italian director is Umberto Lenzi, sadly he was extremely stigmatized by the critics, not to me, he was a benchmark for his outstanding career, possible it was his best work undoubtedly, Tomas Milian better known from Spaghetti's pictures here he makes an iconic psychotic cheap thief, who has an awful idea to kidnap a young daughter of a rich business man, tragic happenings come forward, he and his frightened beginners partners made a brutal bloody wave of needless violence against all in their path, a true milestone at Lenzi & Milian's careers, maybe the unique sin made by Lenzi was put Henry Silva in the role of the Police Commissioner to replace the previously contracted Richard Conte who had died one day before of the movie starts shooting, Henry Silva doesn't disappoint at all, but sounds weird so tagged actor linked at banditry making such role, also on DVD has a bonus on a rare interview gave by Lenzi before he pass away, talking about this picture and others subjects on small details over Milian's relationship !!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8.5

Thomas Milian gives a stunningly evil performance as a mad dog killer, while Henry Silva is uncharacteristically reserved as the pursuing police detective. Milan seems to go out of his way trying to control everyone around him, while at the same time killing innocents just for the hell of it. "Almost Hunan" does have a simplified kidnapping plot that is easy to follow, unlike many Italian crime films where the scripts can be muddled. If you are in the hunt for an Italian crime movie, this is one to get. The Ennio Morricone score is another plus, and is memorable. The film has plenty of violence, nudity, and totally acceptable acting. Be warned however that you will see some bloody action that could provoke a bit of disgust, especially as relating to children. Good of it's type, and recommended. - MERK