QT6 - Harry holds on for Italian Crime night with NO WAY OUT and DEATH RAGE - & the British Spy/crime THE SELL-OUT!

QT6 – Italian Crime Night

The place is really hopping tonight, there’s a good many of unfortunate souls left waiting on the stairs outside the screening room desperately hoping for that extra seat. Why are so many folks desperate to get in? It’s ITALIAN CRIME NIGHT – and anybody, but anybody knows Quentin definitely knows his shit better than anyone when it comes to this genre (and about a good many others – but others won’t take that leap with him) – so the natives have come out of the woodwork.

Doesn’t hurt that this night had two sponsors – GEAR and TIPPING POINT – and employees from both flooded this first screening. Director of the Austin Film Society, Rebecca Campbell was out this night to acknowledge both of these companies that helped make the night possible – as well as their partnership with The Austin Chronicle and the Alamo Drafthouse. Rebecca went on to talk about how once you’re a member of the Austin Film Society – there’s at least 50 free screenings a year you can go to – every Tuesday at the Alamo – along with a heads up on all cool things film related in Austin. What a great institution.

Quentin takes the stage – excited and jazzed by the “jam packed” audience as he called them. He lets the audience know that this has become one of the “favorite” nights of past QT fests – and how he’s used it to introduce over time at QT fests directors and their films. Most successfully with the brilliant work of Fernando Di Leo. If you do not know who that is – locating as many of his films as possible should be key to your very existence. He’s awesome.

Richard Linklater, Robert Rodriguez, RZA, Michael Steinberg and a great many other cool folks came in this night. Everybody knows this is one of THOSE nights of cinema. Or at least we hope.

First up was DEATH RAGE starring, “The fucking man, Yul Brynner. Shit this film takes place in Yul’s waning years and he still the fucking man! That’s how much the man he is!” He mentions how in QT 1 – he had two great Yul Brynner flicks – THE LONG DUEL and ADIOS SABATA – that last one being Quentin’s favorite Yul Brynner film, apparently. I love that film – but I’m such a whore for Yul’s Rameses in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS – he just kicks so much ass in that part.

Then he began talking about director Anthony Dawson (Antonio Margheriti) and qualified him as “one of the great Italian hacks.” Dawson was really big on the whole Assassin/Hitman being the hero – “and Yul is the Hit-mutherfucking-Man man!” The name of the film and the marketing all tried to tie it thematically to DEATH WISH, but make no mistake – Yul is not a vigilante, he’s the fucking hit man and it’s totally vigilante.

Then Quentin came in with Martin Balsam in this film, who is his favorite actor in PSYCHO other than Anthony Perkins. And while as a whole film, he prefers Van Sant’s – Vince Vaughn and William H Macy can’t even begin to touch Anthony and Martin.

Finally he finished up with Barbara Bouchet. I get the idea that if Quentin could take the time machine to abduct the lovely of his choice, it may very well be Barbara Bouchet. The enthusiasm with which he spoke of Ms Bouchet is reserved for that screen siren that lures seaman to crags. “One of the sexiest women in cinema for all time.” He declared. She did all sorts of films in Italy like Giallos and Sex Comedies – but she is Quentin’s Queen of Italian Gangster Films. “Not only is she cool and beautiful and hot in this, but she’s got a great entrance in this! Half of her thing is her LONG BLONDE HAIR, you’ll see what I mean!”

With that – we dove into trailers -

FUZZ – “Yul Brynner is definitely NOT FUZZ” “Burt Reynolds is laying down and Raquel Welch is STANDING OUT in FUZZ” This trailer is soo much fun!

AMUCK – One of the great titles of all time. Trailer is like a crazed fevered dream of a film. I think I saw Farley Granger in there somewhere – but holy shit there’s some hot tits in this!

STREET PEOPLE – this reminded me of GRAVY TRAIN – a past QT Fest film – only with Stacy Keach and Roger Moore. Must check this out.

Then it became time for DEATH RAGE.

I love Yul Brynner. For the first half of my life Yul Brynner was, for me… two things. The badass from TEN COMMANDMENTS and the robot gunfighter from WESTWORLD. One of the great things about growing older as a film geek – is it gives you the time and luxury to discover intricacies to your favorite performers – by simply living long enough to find films like this one.

Yul is indeed the fucking man in this movie! You can see the age all over him. He looks tired, sad and fed up. He’s got a great, AW FUCK IT – side of himself in this that’s great. Oh – and while he’s hell-bent on killing folks – he’s got the time to fuck Barbara Bouchet – and man… That’s no mean lick. How she distracts the cops to let Yul go kill crazy one last time… is out-fucking-standing! I could watch that on a loop for like 20 minutes with a tub of lotion! Quentin is right, this is definitely one of the sexiest women in the history of cinema. And she’s in that AMUCK movie trailer I liked!

You’ve got to love Yul dragging a cop that’s spying on him into a strip club to escape a pair of mob hitman out to hit him. And that cop orders a drink and gets comfortable.

Then there’s the whole Martin Balsam Italian cop thing. He’s just incredibly amusing here. However, this is by no means up there with the great Italian Crime films that Quentin has shown before. I’m kinda missing Fernando Di Leo. But a pretty good movie with a fucking spectacular ending. Really great end.

Quentin hits the stage to introduce the next film with, “Next up, NO WAY OUT not to be confused with the Kevin Costner movie. Not that I don’t like that film, cuz I do, but it’s just not that film.” Heh, some reason that makes me smile. From this, Quentin transitions into a refrain of what he mentioned last night, Italian War Films, where he mentioned the wandering of the Italian Film scene in the wake of the Spaghetti Westerns falling out of fashion. In there somewhere he mentioned RED SUN with Alain Delon, Charles Bronson and Toshiro Mifune (a film that rules btw).

Then in talking about the Italian Crime film, he says that nobody really just committed entirely to the genre quite like Duccio Tessari, whom he called one of the top 5 Spaghetti Western directors, having made Giuliano Gemma a star with the RINGO series, but emphasized that at the death of the Spaghetti Westerns – he’s the one that really decided to specialize in the Crime Films.

Quentin said that running parallel to the Italian Crime films were the French “Policers” which he didn’t feel were equally cool, because he prefers the Italian Crime films. But as if sensing a faux pas, launched into a lusty love for Jean-Pierre Melville by saying, “Jean-Pierre Melville was way fucking cool, Le Samourai is the fucking bomb and Alain Delon is LE SAMURAI!”

He told us that when Tessari cast Alain Delon in an Italian Crime film, it was a really big deal, that Delon chose Tessari to direct him was also huge. And that Tessari really did marry the best of the Policers and the best of the Italian Crime films in this movie. Quentin mentioned that Tessari made 3 extremely good Giallos – with THE BLOODSTAINED BUTTERFLY being the only title I caught.

The film is a story of a great hitman, and he’s out for blood – working his way up to the top man. They killed his family and he’s out for bloody revenge, “Obviously, I’m down with Revenge movies.” This got the capacity audience roaring.

Quentin then says something that really got me ultra-interested in this film, not to say I wasn’t interested solely by Alain Delon and Richard Conte. But this was fascinating sounding. He said that not only did the film marry the French and Italian crime genres – but it also fused a bit of the Giallo, which means that the film is built all around the murder sequences, giving the crime film the panache and operatic pizzazz of the Giallo. Lastly, Quentin thanked Harry Guero for the use of his print.

The trailers kicked off with a fucking masterpiece of a trailer with WHO SAW HER DIE? - A film I love from that Giallo Collection that hit DVD back a year or two ago. The one starring George Lazenby. As much as I liked the film – it wasn’t nearly as fantastic as this Trailer. This is just fantastic.

Next was a great “double-feature trailer” It starts off seeming like it was a trailer for some Charles Bronson / Burt Reynolds crime film that I desperately want to see – but it seems familiar somehow… Then it dawns on me – That’s Burt as Shamus! It’s Burt Reynolds and Charles Bronson, Back To Back! Heh. It’s for SHAMUS and THE VILACHI PAPERS. God I’d love studio sanctioned Double Features like this again!

SUPERFUZZ! Ya know – the mere sight of Terrence Hill and Bud Spencer is enough to make me smile like a jackass. The balloon gag is fun as hell. However, I can’t look at Terrence Hill and not want to see MY NAME IS NOBODY!

Then it was time for NO WAY OUT with Alain Delon. This is fucking brilliant. Quentin is totally dead on with the French/Italian Crime film mixed with the operatic aesthetic of the Giallo genre. I wasn’t expecting a damn masterpiece.

Everything about this film is hot and cool. The women, hot 70’s Italian women like Carla Gravina and Nicoletta Machiavelli. In particular – Carla is just unfuckingbelievably yummy. Then there’s the apartments. The height of 70’s cool. The chairs, the colors… In America at this time, hair and fashion was pretty damn shitty, but this is Italy and Europe – and here – people never looked so cool – high style.

I mean – Alain Delon’s kid has a wooden Apollo Moon Lander in his room to play on. How cool is that? Delon is the second coolest hitman in cinema, right behind LEON. However, while I personally prefer LEON – Delon’s the bull of the hitman ball. The greatness of this film? There’s a big heap of it in his eyes. They’re so sad. So wonderfully melancholy.

The action is pure operatic, years before Besson and Woo did it. Car chases that make you flinch and dodge in your seat. The first kill we see him do, when a witness pops in so untimely… Alain looks at him, slightly sad with a shrug – as if to say – “sorry, but what else am I gonna do?” – then BANG – the witness dies.

Everything is handled so elegant, so brutal. The train death in the film? One of the single greatest kills in cinema history. Awesome. So over the top. And the victim – one we want this sort of death for. I mean, he’s scum. The way he treats the yummy Carla Gravina. Pure Asshole. At one point she tells him to get his mind out of the gutter, he responds with, “I like the gutter, it’s where I found you!” -- When he orders her to prepare his bath, she makes it hot. She’s distracted listening to him making plans to get out of town, sitting on the side of the tub. He sticks a hand in the water, slaps her, “Bitch, you trying to boil me alive?!?!” Suddenly he just pushes her into the “boiling” hot water. She screams. He howls in laughter at her pain. What a fucking prick! His death – awesome! Do not let anyone spoil it for you.

Later we see Carla introducing herself into Alain Delon’s life. It’s great. Alain is cool, but Carla has Caligula gal hair! Those tight ringlets. She screams good sex.

The film continues to play all the right beats – each one harder than the last. By the time you see the Lesbian Sex Show – you’re just sort of tripping out. This film is way too damn cool.

The scum in this film… Hard. Blowtorch torture. Complete brutality towards women. They’re beating Carla to within an inch of her life, and after you think it can’t get worse. One of the bastards says, “Now it’s time to get rough on her.” And it continues. Just amazing. I can not recommend this film higher. Outstanding. Great film. Exactly what I hoped for from this night.

During the break between films, I hear the rumor that the next film happens to be missing a reel. Now Quentin always brings a few extra films, just in case something tragic happens… but at the same time, Tim has a great collection of films that Quentin would love to watch – that also is an option, but then there’s also the possibility that Quentin will show the movie anyways.

When Quentin finally took the stage, he’s a bit shocked that the house is still full. He kinda expected the audience to dissipate a bit, but this place is standing room only. He mentioned how in the past he’d bring films like HICKEY & BOGGS or THE DION BROTHERS – only to see them kick ass to a smaller audience. He kinda felt they were wasted a bit. BAH!!! Those films are the reward for those that are in it for the long haul. If folks don’t have what it takes to stick through the whole show, they don’t deserve the hidden jewels.

Anyway – he brought THE SELL OUT for tonight, starring Oliver Reed, Richard Widmark and Gayle Hunnicutt (LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE baby!) We’re told that it continues the crime theme, although it isn’t Italian by production. The film is shot in Israel and is apparently gorgeous, and is one of the coolest crime film locations that Quentin’s seen – chases and action with those dome turrets in the distance. “Fucking Great!”

Then he goes into Peter Collinson, the director, whom he compares to Aussie Brian Trenchard Smith. He tells us that he’s not really a fan of British crime films because there just isn’t usually enough exploitation in their exploitation. Heh. He begins to go through the great Collinson films like OPEN SEASON and THE PENTHOUSE – where some criminals take over a penthouse and just rape and torture the people inside. He loves the trailer for that film, “IF WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PENTHOUSE HAPPENED TO YOU – YOU WOULDN’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT EITHER!” He continues with YOU CAN’T WIN IT ALL, INNOCENT BYSTANDERS, THE ITALIAN JOB, FRIGHT and TEN LITTLE INDIANS… which he felt was really good till the end, and had a location that was amazing too – given it was shot in IRAN!

By the time he tells the audience that he’s missing a reel of the film, they’re all going “Awwwwwww” – and he’s telling us that he still enjoys it. And feels that there’s something great about the reel being missing, as it creates a mystery as to whether or not Gayle Hunnicutt and Oliver Reed have fucked since he’s returned. I can answer that mystery right now. It’s Oliver Reed – whether or not he actually does in the missing reel – It’s Oliver Reed – of course he fucked Gayle Hunnicutt. He’s Oliver Reed!

Trailers for BURNT OFFERINGS and THE THREE MUSKETEERS play. Love both of those films.

When the film starts – the whole terrorist bomb in Israel opening is kinda shocking, but classic all at the same time. About 20 minutes into the film – my cel phone lights up… shit – forgot to turn it over – the ringer is off of course, but on the table – the light distracts me. As I go to turn it over – I see the text message – “Robert Wise is Dead”

The film is ruined for me. I’m completely ripped out of the film. My eyes and ears watch this film. It’s got actors I like, the Israel locations are indeed gorgeous – but my mind is tracing over the films of Robert Wise, remembering the video message he sent to me at BNAT 3 and my birthday. From time to time, Oliver Reed’s outrageousness pops me out. He’s sleazy and paranoid – an ex-CIA agent that turned KGB for the money.

The actor Assi Dayan’s Lt Elan is my fave character – great guy that’s pissed to have the U.S. and Russia using his town to play their deadly games. His people are the ones dying. Israeli and Palestinian children are dying. Blamed on terrorism, but with the CIA and KGB at all the scenes he knows better.

Can’t believe I’m in the middle of a movie and that I know Wise is dead. I’m kinda done for the night. Even the great chase/escape scene and the mine-field tension doesn’t really get to me. My heart isn’t in the film. Wish to god I hadn’t seen that text message. Fuck.

The film ended – I tell a few folks that Wise died. Tarantino feels the joy buzz slip away at the news. Yeah, know the feeling. I was flying high till I got the news.

Hopefully Sexploitation Night tomorrow will be unaffected. Overall, the two Italian films were pretty wonderful, with NO WAY OUT being fucking fantastic. Shitty news killed the buzz though. Fuck, Robert Wise is dead.