digitalconquest Blog

Under discussion:

Milano... Difendersi O Morire  (1978)

Porel is Pino Scalise, a decent guy who fell in with a bad crowd and just served six years in jail. He has no intention of ever seeing the insides of those walls again. He lives with an uncle (and the uncle’s daughter Teresa) that’s even managed to find him some good honest work as a truck driver. The first thing a man has on his mind after six years behind bars is… well… After his ‘experience’ with the prostitute in question, Pino discovers that she is his long lost cousin! Awkward… She is working in this line because of the local gangster, Don Chicco. Through an old friend, Pino contacts Chicco and asks that his cousin be released from her duties. Everything is fine but they want a favor in return. That favor leaves a policeman dead and Pino betrayed. Also, there is Commissario Morani breathing down everybody’s neck. Things escalate and soon our hero is in way over his head…way over! Teresa is taken captive, Morani is on the rampage, and Pino is at the breaking point. What’s that mean? You know what it means! There’s fists, cars, bullets, copious amounts of nudity, and some fast Italian crime action that’s every bit as dramatically engaging as it is exciting! Gianni Ferrio contributes a noteworthy soundtrack and once again we have to ask, how do some of these movies stay so obscure?

Directed by Mario Caiano in 1976 (not found on Spout!)

Cassinelli is absolutely riveting as part of a foursome of robbers that attempts a daring bank heist which turns very bad. Cassinelli and Steiner stay behind after the cops show up and try to keep them distracted while the other two guys make their getaway with the cash. None of it goes down easy but, for the most part, everything works as it’s supposed to. The only problem is that the two ambitious flunkies now have a safe hideout, all the cash and way too much time to think. One convinces the other that a fifty-percent split is a lot better than any other option. Once everybody is together again betrayal is swift and Cassinelli is left for dead. This is not the case and before long they will be hunted like the dogs they are! This is a very intense Italian crime colossus that gives you everything you want and need! Excessive violence, car chases, nudity, and a cool soundtrack courtesy of Gianfranco Plenizio. Caiano’s films have garnered a lot of respect and it’s movies like Bloody Payroll that help illustrate why!