'Cop Killer' (aka) 'Order of Death' (1983) - Roberto Faenza.

Roberto Faenza's stark, downbeat 'Cop Killer' (aka) 'Order of Death' (1983) is a paranoid, palpably grimy,intermitently intense NYC-set poliziotteschi with the singularly arresting concept of pairing muscular method-man, Harvey Keitel's broodingly paranoid Lt. Fred O'Connor, against the preternaturally angsty ex-Pistol, John Lydon, whose blithely bilious, Pil-popping persona is put to lurid good use as the manipulative, morally bankrupt psycho killer, Leo Smith. With shocking bursts of feral violence, and fevered flourishes of Mamet-like intensity, the misanthropic, 'Order of Death' has more refined cinematic qualities than its current bargain-bin obscurity suggests!     

This claustrophobic, enjoyably skewed celluloid oddity is elevated by maestro, Ennio Morricone's compelling theme, and the increasingly tormented, Keitel makes for a memorably vexed, psychologically complex cop. While Faenza's jittery psychodrama is flawed, the gritty film's incendiary dynamics are undiminished,'Cop Killer' remains a darkly compelling entry in the by-then waning poliziotteschi movie cycle, and the sweaty, brusingly antagonistic interrogation sequences between, Keitel and Lydon still make for fascinating viewing! With modest expectations, Roberto Faenza's dingily exciting 'Cat & Louse' thriller is unlikely to disappoint, and should rate higher with the more obsessive Euro-crime, midnight movie addicts!

'This claustrophobic, robustly acted, cop-baiting poliziotteschi oddity with the volatile pairing of, Harvey Keitel & John Lydon yields kinky dividends!!' - Weirdlingwolf.

 

 

  

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