Redneck

Trailer—Redneck

Redneck_720p(480P)

source: Redneck

Blundering hoodlum Mosquito (the ever-cool Franco Nero) and his loud, volatile, obnoxious hillbilly psycho partner Memphis (an outrageously hammy Telly Savalas) botch a jewelry store heist. The incompetent duo steal a car and inadvertently kidnap proper and pampered rich lad Lennox Duncan (well played by Mark Lester of "Oliver" fame). Mosquito's meek, whiny girlfriend Maria (the lovely Ely Galleani) tags along for the ride. Naturally, Lennox falls under the evil influence of the two slimy crooks. Director Silvio Narizzano, working from an unapologetically sick and sordid script by Masolino D'Amico and Win Wells, whips up an extremely odd, harsh, and downright repulsive flick that gleefully wallows in excessively bloody and sadistic violence, shocking brutal behavior, and a truly wicked sense of grimly ironic humor. The coarse, rough, and nasty tone gets more vile and upsetting as the seamy story unfolds towards its perfectly depressing bummer ending. Savalas has an absolute field day with his gloriously unrestrained eye-rolling portrayal of the manic and unhinged Memphis: Telly mangles an overdone Southern accent, shoots a little boy dead, gets kicked right where it counts by Lennox, smokes a joint, sings, cries, kills a mangy crippled dog, and even massacres an entire family by pushing their trailer home into a lake so they can all drown. Moreover, there's a bizarre homoerotic undercurrent in the relationship between Mosquito and Lennox which adds an extra freaky edge to the already depraved proceedings. Both Giorgio Tonti's slick, agile cinematography and Maurizio Catalano's eclectic, melodic score are up to par. A satisfying serving of raw and offensive low-grade sleaze.

In my long and numerous years as an exploitation fanatic, I've seen many weird films, but this "Redneck" is weird with a capital W. One thing's for sure, the scenario is poor and unworthy of the talents of the two lead actors, but the strange mix of cruel killings and eccentric character behavior somehow keeps you glued to the screen. The original title translates as "Without Reason" and is definitely more suitable than "Redneck". In my dictionary, a redneck still is a toothless, small-town hick, and nobody in the film fits that description. It's a compound of poliziotesschi thriller and kidnapping drama, funded by both British and Italian money and starring two international top stars (Franco "Django" Nero, Telly "Blofeld" Savalas) as well as an upcoming young talent (Mark "Oliver" Lester). The film starts more than promising, with Nero and Savalas robbing a jewelry store in a busy city center. The heist goes awry, naturally, and they do not only end up killing the store clerk but also crash the getaway car subsequently into a hearse and a fruit & vegetable stand at the local market. They hijack a car, unaware there's a boy in the backseat. He, Lennox, turns out to be the son of a prominent diplomat, so the police and media automatically assumes it's a deliberate kidnapping for ransom. So far, this all sounds like a good and fun, albeit derivative, poliziotesschi. The plot then goes bonkers. They get separated, and Nero develops a sort of father/son bond with the kid whilst Savalas joyously pushes dead ladies in automobiles from cliffs. The two things (actually, one thing) that make "Senza Ragione" fascinating are the multiple cruel and downright shocking murders of innocent people, and Savalas' completely surreal and unpredictable reactions to these murders! His character - Memphis - commits the vilest and cold-hearted crimes, but immediately after he sentimentally bursts into tears and shouts to the heavens that it wasn't his fault. Memphis is a very strange being altogether, who sings at the most inappropriate moments and talks with a hideous Southern accent. I also presume he's an oppressed homosexual, or at least someone struggling with a severe identity crisis. The ambiguity, and the unanswered questions, make it even more unforgivable that "Senza Ragione" contains so many dull moments, though.

An offbeat entry in the Italian crime genre that features elaborate flourishes of brilliance here and there but becomes increasingly disappointing as the story progresses. I love polizia movies and there's every reason to love this one too, from the reliable cast members to Silvio Narizzano's confident direction, but the story seems to lose focus as the running time increases and come the end there's a whimper rather than a bang. It's a pity, because things kick off with a robbery followed by a blistering car chase which is one of the best I've seen in a long time. Once the robbers have become unwitting kidnappers, however, things really start to lose their way. The presence of the hostage would, you think, add to increased suspense and ransom demands, but none of this ever takes place and the police barely register. Instead, the plot meanders its way across the Italian countryside as Telly Savalas chews the scenery and Franco Nero contributes an oddly subdued turn. The film's attempts to become a psychological drama fail thanks to the distractingly over the top cast members. Mark Lester's plummy British accent is an irritant to even this British viewer, while Savalas adopts a grating Southern accent (hence the title) which is truly irritating to listen to. In fact, I refuse to believe Savalas put this excruciating voice on himself and I prefer to think he's been dubbed. Nero, who gave such good value throughout his career as a leading man, is miscast as a clumsy robber and scenes like the one where he accidentally drops his gun are never believable for an instant. An inexplicable interlude, set at night with no lighting, means that a full twenty minutes of the plot takes place in almost complete darkness and by this stage I was starting to lose my patience. Things do pick up occasionally when Savalas commits further depravities – the interlude with the German campers is a highlight – but his antics pale in comparison to the likes of Tomas Milian in ALMOST HUMAN and ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON, where the scriptwriters and director knew how to play up their star to his full potential. In the case of REDNECK, it feels like a missed opportunity.

A pair of thieves called Mosquito (Franco Nero) and Memphis (an extreme Tour-De-Force by Telly Savalas) pull off a heist into a jewelry but it goes wrong . Both of them along with their accomplice called Maria (Ely Galleani) escape and take a car where is hidden a little boy (Mark Lester , also producer) . They are pursued and attempt to cross the border into France . Memphis thinks his colleagues may have double-crossed him , so he goes on the lam with the boy in tow and he carries out a criminal spree . This is a thrilling tale with a twisted screenplay by D'Amico and Wells based on a story by Rafael Sanchez Campoy ; it contains psychological characterization , grisly killings , tense situations , excitement , though resulting to be a mediocre flick dealing with a failed theft and the thieves take it on the lam after the heist goes awry . This thriller has some delirious components, most notably the interpretation and the quirky roles , but is low on real emotions and high on scenery chewing and strangeness . It's atmospheric and slickly developed ; however extremely nasty characters and dark disturbing scenes create an inappropriate film . There are moments worth highlighting though like the violent theft and escape , a great sequence where Memphis terrorises a family of German tourists with unexpected and tragic results . This is an offbeat as well as far-fetched picture realized in unlikely style portraying lurid events . Telly Savalas steals the show as a wacko with ominous purports , though sometimes hands the role overblown and overacting way , as filmmaker Silvio Narizzano proved unable to control him . Average cinematography by Giorgio Tonti , being necessary a right remastering because of the copy of the film is washed-out . Atmosheric musical score by Maurizio Catalano and John Cavacas . The motion picture was middlingly produced and directed by Canadian-born director Silvio Narizzano . He gained high reputation for his shooting of human dramas , as from the mid-1950's, worked in British television in a variety of genres ranging from thrillers and horror to serious dramatic works . Silvio subsequently filmed a Hammer film titled ¨Fanatic¨ with Tallulah Bankhead and his best picture was ¨Georgy Girl¨ with Lynn Redgrave . He also had successes with ¨Why shoot the teacher ?¨ and ¨The class of Miss MacMichael¨ ; however failed directing a Western titled ¨Blue¨ with Terence Stamp . The rest of career has been uneven to say the least and it often seems that he has followed over-heating his movies to fever level such as ¨Rednecks¨ also titled ¨Senza Ragione¨.

Franco Nero and Telly Savalas star in the story of a trio of jewel thieves who take it on the lamb after the heist goes very wrong. Wrecking their car they take another unaware that there is a teenager hiding in the background. As the flight becomes more frantic, the young man is discovered upsetting the balance of the thieves (which wasn't that hard to do since Savalas's character is more than a bit nuts). Dark disturbing film that has some strangely funny moments this is not a film for all tastes. There is a darkness about much of what happens that may not sit well with people who only know typical American movie fare. Children are shot, people are raped and there is an are of death hanging over the whole affair. It's a bleak film, who's humor, while eliciting laughs is often the sort that doesn't really sit well after the fact. I like the film but I don't love it. It's the wrong sort of disturbing. Actually I think part of the problem is Telly Savalas, who's performance is a bit to "mannered" to completely work. The role feels wrong as if the completely self assured actor is pretending to be something else, and you can feel him pretending. I think it diminishes the film. Still if you want to see a crime drama that is not like any other out there give it a shot.

Definitely not your typical Polizia, Redneck just never worked for me. The movie tells the story of a jewel heist gone wrong and a young boy who is inadvertently kidnapped in the process. In their attempt to get away, the robbers leave a bloody trail of death in their wake as they hatch a plan to ransom the boy. The plan is never carried off as the robbers are more intent on getting to France and the boy is intent on staying with them. While I could cite a number of problems I had with the movie, I'll focus on the most obvious – the character Memphis played by Telly Savalas. From his work in The Dirty Dozen and Kelley's Heroes to other Italian films like Crime Boss to his most remembered role as Kojak, Savalas was a winner. I've always thought of him as one uber-cool customer. Unfortunately, Savalas is almost unwatchable in Redneck. Did the director turn on the camera and instruct him to act as psychotic as possible? It might not have been too bad had his actions been done within the context of a plot I cared about, but here he seems to be acting bizarre for sake of being bizarre. It's appears to be random lunacy. And what's with that accent? Savalas might have been a lot of things, but Southern isn't one of them. He sounds completely ridiculous even attempting the accent. Beyond that, I found little of interest in the rest of the movie. As I indicated, the plot never drew me in. I just didn't care about what was going on. And the notion that the boy is so quickly attracted to the criminal lifestyle doesn't ring true. As for the other actors, Mark Lester is almost as bad as Savalas and the usually reliable Franco Nero isn't a whole lot better. Three "name" actors and not a good performance between them. To make matters worse, I believe the director filmed many of the night scenes with nothing more than the glow from his watch to light the shots. I couldn't tell what was going on. Characters I hate, a plot I don't care about, and a production values that failed – little wonder I've given Redneck a 3/10.

I actually went into this film with some expectations, not because I thought the film sounded particularly good, but because I'm a fan of Italian exploitation flicks and with a cast that sees Franco Nero and Telly Savalas starring alongside Oliver Twist, I figured it had to be interesting at least. Well...RedNeck does have one or two positive things going on, but for the most part; it's a dull, lifeless film that is as ridiculous as it is pointless. The plot simply focuses on two criminals (Nero and Savalas) who kidnap a young kid (Oliver). The twist in the tale is that the kid realises that he'd have more fun if he gets accepted into the 'gang'. Telly Savalas and Franco Nero are two actors that have proved they can carry a film on their own on numerous occasions, and they do have some memorable moments in this film - although really for all the wrong reasons. Savalas in particular gives a silly portrayal of the 'bad' criminal. The plot doesn't flow badly, but since nothing interesting happens, that's not really a positive point and doesn't save from the film from being mediocre. Overall, I can't recommend this film; it may appeal to some for its cult value but it didn't do anything for me.