Cry of a Prostitute

'Quelli che contano' is no subtle crime gem, as it seemed clear to me that Aniante's boss was setting him up from the get-go. No, 'Quelli...' is a gem of the violent kind, with sensuality (Barbara Bouchet) and a cool soundtrack (though a bit repetitive) to spare. I read it is a remake of 'Yojimbo' / 'Per un Pugno di Dollari', two films I haven't seen yet... Henry Silva is the right man for the job, and it was really cool to finally see a whole movie play out in rural Sicily (after that small part in 'The godfather'), in and around the town of 'Colle Pietro' - even if it wasn't actually filmed there. A brutal film, with lots of creative, brutal violence, and even the story is brutal at times - Tony Aniante is simply ruthless, even if there's a glimmer of mercy here and there as well. The acting is adequate (in which as usual the voice dubbing doesn't help much), though Silva and Bouchet are simply iconic as always. There isn't much else to say about 'Quelli...', other than giving away the creative violent scenes and what naughty behaviour Bouchet gets up to, but if you're a fan of that, you'll do better to look this one up for yourself. Enjoy! A big 8 out of 10.

If you are a big fan of "spaghetti westerns" then I highly recommend "Cry of a Prostitute" as a mafia version of "A Fisful of Dollars". Instead of Clint Eastwood playing both families against each other, you get a brutal Henry Silva. Barbara Bouchet taking milk baths isn't a bad thing to see either. Like the Italian Westerns the plot is secondary to style, and the outstanding soundtrack is an integral part of the story. The editing is choppy and the dubbing atrocious, but this violent film has definite entertainment value. The closeups of Henry Silva's cold black eyes certainly elicits thoughts of Lee Van Cleef, and Silva is every bit as evil as "angel eyes" ................. - MERK

Andrea Bianchi wasn't a great (or even good, for that matter) Italian exploitation director from the 70s-80s period, but cult fanatics will surely remember his name forever, if only because his films are so much sicker, more perverted and more nauseating than the rest! Everybody knows Bianchi's zombie classic "Burial Ground", and more particularly the crazed-out scene in which the creepy kid bites off his mother's nipple. Bianchi's contribution to the giallo-genre, "Strip Nude for your Killer", was also more obscene and nastier than the others. This "Cry of a Prostitute" marks Bianchi's attempt to tell a mafia-tale, but - here as well - the most memorable aspects are the film's extreme gore, the brutal misogyny and the unhinged violence. Admittedly, the international title "Cry of a Prostitute" is a bit too sensationalist, and not entirely relevant. For once, though, the original Italian title (literally translating as "Those who matter") is lame, unenergized and totally unworthy of the depravity shown on the screen. The plot isn't exactly original. It's basically a mafia/euro-crime version of Sergio Leone's western "A Fistful of Dollars" (and thus also of Akira Kurasawa's "Yojimbo"), with the stern and almost naturally petrifying Henry Silva as a professional killer Tony Aniante, manipulating two rivaling mafia clans at the same time. The titular prostitute, played by the ravishing Mrs. Bouchet, is actually just a sub-plot character. She's reluctantly married to one of the mafia Dons, and hopes for a more exciting life as Tony's mistress, but she gets far more than she bargains for. As stated already, the violence and sheer brutality in "Cry of a Prostitute" are staggering! The film opens quite impressively, with a car accident in which somebody loses a head - literally - and the shocking discovery that dead children's bodies are being used to smuggle drugs over the borders. Yes, seriously!! There's more nasty stuff where this came from, in fact. Family feuds are solved, next to big guns, with asphalt compactors and circular saws! Silva's character Tony Aniante balances somewhat between being the anti-hero and the most sadistically evil psychopath who ever appeared on a screen. His attitude towards woman is deeply disturbing, to say the least. During sequences that are definitely not intended for sensitive souls, Silva beats Bouchet to pulp with his belt, or rapes her from behind whilst her face is suffocating in a pig's carcass. And all she ever did, was tease him and demonstrate her sensual banana-eating skills.

This film is obviously inspired by A Fistful of Dollars directed by Sergio Leone. Henry Silva is not by far what is Clint Eastwood but, he is doing his best. Andrea Bianchi, the director, the same, is not bad. The other actors are also at height. True, the whole movie is a series of clichés and deja-vu but, even so, it manages to captivate, you can follow it to the end, it's not boring. The music signed by Sante Maria Romitelli is very good. The cinematography of Carlo Carlini is also good. And, the presence of the sex symbol Barbara Bouchet(who looks like a twin sister of Jill Ireland, once the wife of Charles Bronson) is the hot spice of everything, her white panties have a role by itself...

A Fistful of Dollars in Sicily except the protagonist, the always dependable Henry Silva, is a worse evil than anyone in the picture. His 1963 US movie Johnny Cool was just a warm-up for this movie. He really belts the hell out of no-good Barbara Bouchet in a very graphic rape scene. I don't think I've ever seen Bouchet so slutty. Her banana eating scene is worth the rental alone. "When it comes to nastiness, I don't know which one of us would win the Oscar," Barbara yells at Silva in their first consensual sex scene. Another over the top scene is Henry driving a steamroller over two Mafia men he's killed for no apparent reason.

Who'd have thought that the guy who made Strip Nude For Your Killer and Burial Ground would produce one of the best Euro-crime films ever made? That said, if ever a genre needed someone that didn't hold back, it's this one. The film basically starts as it means to go on. When a car crashes on the French/Italian border causing three fatalities (including the decapitation of the driver) it becomes apparent that the child on board had been dead for several days before hand. Even more horrifying is the discover that the child's body cavity had been used for transporting heroin. The police are astonished at what they find, and even the mafia are revulsed at how low one of their own is willing to stoop, and set out to put a stop to it and restore their already dodgy reputation. Enter Mafia hitman Henry Silva, sent by one particular Don to Sicily to sort everyone out. Henry is a cold blooded killer who likes to whistle a creepy tune before putting a bullet through everyone's head, and quickly aligns himself with Don Scannapieco, the seemingly 'better' of the two Mafia gangs in the area. Then again, he also aligns himself with the other Don, who is prime suspect for the old child-stuffing racket. A Fistful of Dollars type scenario then arises as Henry plays the two gangs off each other, with over the top violent results. Of course, there's a few other characters to take note of. Scannapieco's daughter is having a Romeo and Juliet type relationship with the other Don's son, which complicates matters (and hints at a possible positive outcome), Scannpieco's youngest son is a mentally-handicapped cripple who is a burden to his father, and strangest of all is the other Don's girlfriend, the totally messed up Barbara Bouchet, who threatens to claim that Henry raped her if he doesn't make love to her, which he does...up her wrong 'un. That scene alone will make or break those not used to this kind of madness. The violence escalates as the film progresses, with some jaw-dropping gun battles. People are shot in the face with shotguns, Henry makes really sure two hitmen are dead by running them over with a steamroller, and Don Scannapieco's wife is so overcome with grief at the murder of one of her sons that she forces a hitman's corpse through a bandsaw head first. No one is safe in this film and even Henry can barely speak during the finale due to taking a severe beating and being thrown off a cliff. Bianchi even throws in a little mystery as the *-sure Henry starts breaking down a bit and suffering from flashbacks to the murder of a woman by a mystery person. This all comes to a head in a blood-splattered ending in a film that never lets up for the entire duration. This is one seriously-trashy film made even better by Henry Silva's terrifying stare. Result! Oh, and if you've ever wondered what Barbara Bouchet would look like bathing in milk, this is the film for you.

I saw this movie, the 97 mins uncut version for the first time recently after reading a glowing review by Coventry which is spot on. This movie is indeed brutal n very misogynistic. After drugs are found inside the dead body of a kid, mafia bosses get angry at this despicable act and a senior Don Coscemi hires Tony (Silva), a misogynist n cold-blooded psychopath to wreak havoc on the perpetrators of the heinous act. After arriving in Italy, Tony who has his own agenda, gets himself in the middle of a feud between two mafia families. He manipulates both families into believing he is on their side but is seduced by Margie, a former prostitute now married to one of the mob bosses. A shocking relationship between Tony and Margie wreaks havoc on both of them. Silva's character Tony is the epitome of misogyny. His character whips a woman, punches her eye, sodomizes her while pushing her face in the carcass of a butchered pig and even bites off her cheeks. And inspite of all the nastiness Tony is capable of, we still root for him. His character even bulldozes two fellas by an asphalt bulldozer. The circular saw machine scene is shocking.

This is a lousy remake of Fistfull of Dollars/Yojimbo. The film begins with a really violent and gory car accident that is edited really well. The police discover the sewn up dead body of a kid in the car and the body contains vials of cocaine. A police officer (Henry Silva) is sent to the Sicilian countryside to solve the feud (by basically killing everyone) between two families. He usually makes an entrance with a whistling tune that is quite tuneless. A good background score could have elevated this film a little bit. The film can boast of some great locales - like the streets, avenues and villas of Sicily. Barbara Bouchet is completely wasted. She plays the ex-prostitute alcoholic wife of one of the family heads. I am no male feminist and the reason I watched this film is to look at Barbara Bouchet. But she is completely demeaned in this film - there is a scene where Silva anally rapes her with her face buried in the bloody carcass of a cow! I can never forgive the director for this humiliation of one of my favorite actresses. Hence, the 3 rating. It turns out in the end that Silva has a beef with the man who sent him on the mission. The film ends rather tackily with a sermon - The eyes that cause weeping will weep someday themselves". The hands on action scenes were quite good. It is nice to watch on Blu Ray. (4.5/10)

Where do I begin? Horrendous acting, bad story, amateur directing, and some of the worst editing and cinematography in the history of movie making are the only ways to describe Cry of a Prostitute. The Godfather, this is not. Henry Silva is the lead, and he will not be compared with Brando. He is Tony, a guy who has moved to Italy from Brooklyn with some unknown score to settle. In between, we get several shootouts which result in a lot of dead bad guys. The title refers to a hooker played by Barbara Bouchet; and my two points are for Barbie's naked body; clearly the high point in this horrible film; avoid this like the plague.

"Cry of a Prostitute" is a typically boring and colourless poliziotteschi flick, perhaps only notable for its (also fairly typical) attitude toward women, who get slapped around a lot. One even has her face shoved in a hog's guts as punishment for trying to seduce the manly hero. I didn't pay close enough attention to work out the plot. It is impossible to pay close attention to 99% of poliziotteschi flicks because they are so boring and badly structured. You want to pay attention but then you're faced with a stretch of film about as exciting as staring at a wall for half an hour. There are, of course, some violent moments: the movie opens with a ridiculous car crash-decapitation scene, with what looks like a mannequin's head falling out of a car window. There's also an autopsy scene where a dead body has stitches in the chest which are cut open, revealing canisters of heroin. Anyway, main man Henry Silva, one of my all-time favourite actors, is a mafia don from the US who comes to Italy to investigate the situation. Once he's there, the other don's slutty wife immediately starts coming on to him, so Silva sticks her face in hog guts, and in another scene, slaps her down and attacks her with a belt. That'll show her! The only other woman in the movie I remember gets similar treatment. I remember reading that, unlike The Godfather, Italian mafia movies show the criminals for what they are: scum. There's no honour among them because the Italians had first hand experience of this type of scumbag and knew they were exactly that: human garbage. This is not true of "Cry of a Prostitute". You are obviously positioned to think that Silva is the "hero" of the story, despite his appalling treatment of women. In the end he is clearly positioned as the better man among his criminal cohorts, which is weird. He's a woman abusing criminal scumbag, after all?