Beast with a Gun (1977) Pan American Pictures/Action-Thriller RT: 95 minutes Rated R (violence, language, strong sexual content, full frontal nudity) Director: Sergio Grieco Screenplay: Sergio Grieco Music: Umberto Smaila Cinematography: Vittorio Bernini Release date: October 29, 1977 (Italy) Cast: Helmut Berger, Maria Mell, Richard Harrison, Marina Giordana, Gigi Bonos, Vittorio Duse, Ezio Marano, Claudio Gora, Alberto Squillante, Maria Pascucci, Giovanni Pazzafini, Antonio Basile, Sergio Smacchi. Box Office: N/A
Rating: ***
Like a lot of you (presumably), I never heard of Beast with a Gun until I saw it in Jackie Brown. It’s the movie Bridget Fonda and Robert De Niro watch on TV while stoned. Samuel L. Jackson walks in and asks if it’s Rutger Hauer. Once again, I have to thank Quentin Tarantino for turning me on to another good flick. It only took me 27 years to actually sit down and watch it. Better late than never, right?
It’s easy to understand why Jackson’s character would confuse the two actors. They both specialized in playing sinister characters. They have the same intense quality that made them great antagonists. They were handsome in their younger days. At a quick glance, one might think they were separated at birth. While I’m more familiar with Rutger’s work, I like what little I’ve seen of Helmut- i.e. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, The Godfather Part III and Saint Laurent. Beast with a Gun is the first movie of his I’ve seen where he’s the star of the show. He carries it right to the finish line.
In the Italian-made crime thriller, Berger plays Nanni Vitali, a violent psychopath who escapes from prison with three of his associates. They take a guard hostage and lead the police on a wild chase that ends with the criminals getting away. Vitali plans to leave the country, but first he has a little business to take care of. To wit, he means to kill the man who ratted him out to the cops. He does just that and kidnaps his hot girlfriend Giuliana (Mell, Danger: Diabolik) too. Although there’s forcible sex involved, he mainly wants her to aid them in a robbery. Meanwhile, Commissioner Santini (Harrison, Secret Agent Fireball) does his best to track down Vitali and put an end to his vicious crime spree.
The plot of Beast with a Gun is no great shakes. It’s your basic “cop chases criminal” story but with a slight twist. Writer-director Sergio Grieco (Agent 077) focuses more on the criminal than the cop, but doesn’t try to turn him into some kind of hero or anti-hero. Nanni Vitali is a nasty, brutal, irredeemable psycho who beats, rapes and kills without remorse. Early on, just after his prison break, he stops for gas (in a carjacked car) and beats the owner and his son nearly to death. He does this kind of thing a lot. He’s a cold-blooded killer, plain and simple. Helmut wisely resists the urge to overplay the character, instead imbuing Vitali with an aura of danger, menace and quiet intensity. He’s like a ticking time bomb that could go off any minute. He’s a scary guy to be around. Grieco made the right choice making him the main character.
As the actual hero of the piece, Harrison does a good job. What you have to keep in mind is that his character Santini is not one of those supercops from 80s American actioners. He’s not a one-man army. He’s just a regular guy doing his job. That doesn’t make him any less of a bad ass. He is absolutely determined to take down Vitali. I would however question his intelligence. There’s a scene where he questions Giuliani about what went down between Vitali and her late boyfriend. The interview takes place in her apartment. As a cop, did it not cross his mind to check out the place first? Isn’t it possible he could be hiding in the bedroom? That could explain why Giuliana is acting all nervous. I don’t know what the laws regarding search warrants in Italy are, but I would assume looking for an escaped killer would give him just cause. Whatever, that’s beside the point. Harrison is good in the role. His climactic fight with Helmut is cool.
Mell, whose character disappears at around the one-hour mark, is good as the hostage who double-crosses her abductor. She’s hot too. Again, I have to question the logic in this movie. If she’s a hostage, why does Vitali let her leave on her own to pick up a few things at her place? Did it ever occur to him that she might go to the cops for help? It makes no sense. It’s a leap in logic only Evel Knievel could clear.
One of the things I like the most about Italian-made genre films is the music. It’s beautiful. I still get chills when I hear a piece by Ennio Morricone. Beast with a Gun is no exception. The score composed by Umberto Smaila enhances the tone of the movie. The recurring theme perfectly reflects the danger posed by Vitali. I wish the scores in American films sounded more like this.
It may be flawed, but Beast with a Gun (aka Mad Dog Killer) is a good flick. It’s fast-paced and brutal. It has a decent amount of action and intrigue. It features some great location shooting in Italy. The cinematography by Vittorio Bernini is top-notch. He makes great use of close-ups, especially when it comes to Helmut. It’s a cool Saturday night action movie, Italian style.
