Redneck (1975)

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

This is truly a marmite film - people love it for the madness that's contained within, and other people hate it and dismiss it as a foul piece of exploitation. It's a Euro-crime film but only barely, as it's really a twisted road trip film with a bunch of weird characters. Franco Nero plays dumb robber Mosquito, who hooks up with insane robber Memphis (Telly Savalas) in order to rob a jewellery store. After being in the store about ten seconds, Memphis loses his rag and shoots the owner multiple times, setting off the alarm and causing the robbers to grab the nearest cases and run. Things go from bad to worse when dumb getaway driver Ely Galleani crashes the car straight into a hearse, causing a coffin to smash through the window. After further crashing in a market, the trio finally grab another car from a rich lady and set off into the countryside, making for the border.This isn't as easy as it first seems, as it turns out that they have unwittingly taken the rich lady's son with them as he was hiding in the back of the car. After a strangely slapstick scene of the trio chasing Mark Lester around a field (where he kicks Telly Savalas in the balls) we see why people might hate this film. When he finds out he's being watched by a young Shepherd boy, Telly Savalas coldly murders him - then blames the Shepherd boy for running away!Yep, this is grim stuff alright. We also find out that Lester's parents are so removed from their child that they cannot agree on what age he is, so he's not exactly the most stable child either. The mother however does identify both Memphis and Mousqito, and a huge manhunt ensues. After the discovery that they have stolen a load of useless cutlery, things become even more strained, and Memphis becomes even more unhinged as everyone heads for the border...Although Telly Savalas' southern accent comes and goes, his performance as a nutcase is really quite good. He often sings to himself, refers to things his mother told him, and constantly blames other people when he murders folks, including the dead people themselves. He also spends the last third of the film with his scrotum ripped open for some reason.Nero's character is less insane but still as strange. I guess most people will be wondering why his character shaves naked in front of Mark Lester, and to be honest it is a head scratcher, but I guess the best answer is 'It was the Seventies'. Ely Galleani has a larger role than usual too, and when she is murdered by Savalas (spoilers), Nero ends up wearing her fur coat for the rest of the film. Also - check out the guy on the IMDB who is offended by the nude scene but goes into minute detail about the whole thing, while also constantly referring to actor Franco Nero as actor Fabio Testi - maybe if they spent more time looking at the actor and not the actor's arse they might have noticed that. Methinks the lady doth protest too much.Anyway - strange film, strange decade, I enjoyed it. Stimmerung!

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.

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.

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.