7 HOURS OF VIOLENCE
(sete ore di violenza per una soluzione imprevista)1976 Michele Massimo Tarantini Italy
Starrig: George Hilton, Giampiero Albertini, Rosemarie Dexter, George Wang, Ernesto Colli
Hmmm...a real wacky one here. An unholy marriage of the Italian crime film and a Hong Kong martial arts flick. George Hilton plays a kung fu master/ex-assassin. He's blackmailed into pulling one last job by his sleazy friend, who in a blatant rip of Sergio Sollima's Violent City-took pictures of Hilton on his last hit. Hilton reluctantly agrees, but is unable to finish the job because he couldn't get a clear shot.
Meanwhile, a trio of Chineese gangsters are going around beating up anyone who tries to help Hilton out.
I'd better stop right there with the plot synopsis, because it makes my head hurt to try and make sense of it...it's all very contrived and silly.
the melding of HK kung fu and Italo crime is an interesting idea, but Taratini can't quite pull it off. the story is very hard to follow at times, and unbelivable when you can. i don't really need to say that George Hilton isn't very convincing as a blackbelt master do i? the fights scenes are some of the most poorly choreographed i've seen; fists miss by several feet, yet send people flying across the room. the best/worst example is when Ernesto Colli (the ugly redheaded goon from Torso and Autopsy) catches a beat down from the triads.
Tarantini's direction is very uneven. starting out with some stylish camera work and scene transitions ala Castellari, he seems to get bored towards the middle and the camera becomes increasingly static.
still, i couldn't say it was a bad film, i was entertained for the bulk of the time. Giampiero Albertini (The Tough Ones) in the grouchy cop role he was born to play, steals the show in the few scenes he's in. It's not often you see a cop pull off a cripple's fake leg.
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