'The Rebel' (1980) - Stelvio Massi.

By the 1980s the halcyon days of the blood-thirsty Italian poliziotteschi was on the wane, if not, it was pretty close to extinction; so it comes as a pleasant surprise to discover that the veteran Euro-crime master and all-round exploitation don, Stelvio Massi had one more righteous movie up his sleeve. This successful German-Italian Co-production is an unreconstructed heft of compulsive poliziotteschi action, that makes excellent use of its oppressive Berlin backdrop and frequently delivers all the exhilarating action one expects from the uniquely explosive cinematic admixture of, Stelvio Massi & Maurizio Merli!

'Poliziotti solitudine e rabbia' finds everyone's favourite zero tolerance moustache of vengeance, Maurizio Merli on ferociously fleet-fisted form as undercover cop, Nicola, unleashing his inimitable methods of unrepentantly brutalist policing against the nefarious activities of a shadowy Mafioso blackmailing outfit operating in West Berlin. Maestro, Stelvio Massi's dynamic poliziottesco, 'The Rebel' is highly recommended, this exciting crime thriller has a fabulous, Stelvio Cipriani soundtrack, and also includes the triumphantly testicular display of next-level machismo, whereby daredevil cop, Nicola, determinedly slo-mo's himself through a window in order to waste some frantically absconding gunsel, arguably being one of the more dynamic examples of Italian icon, Maurizio Merli's quintessentially strident screen persona!

'While arriving pretty late in the waning poliziotteschi cycle, 'The Rebel' is certainly NOT to be missed, energetically remaining a heroic heft of bravura Euro-crime action by true masters of the form!' - Weirdlingwolf.

 

 

 

 

'I ate my own face off in solitary, I don't sweat you, twinkle-nuts!'