ALMOST HUMAN

Tomas Milian in Almost Human

Working from a screenplay by Italian genre cinema extraordinaire Ernesto Gastaldi, future trash filmmaker Umberto Lenzi crafted ALMOST HUMAN, one of the truly great Italian crime films of the 1970s. Not quite a poliziotto but close enough to count as one, ALMOST HUMAN follows a trio of low-level criminals and their get rich quick kidnapping scheme. On their tail is an Inspector who will stop at nothing to bring them to justice, even if it means going beyond the law to do so. It's not hard to see why this film caused such a stir during it's initial release. While not excessively graphic, it is completely depraved - it is a Lenzi film after all - and the tone of the film is so troubling that ALMOST HUMAN is hard to shake. You'll have a bad taste in your mouth for hours.


Laura Belli in Almost Human

"A film is only as good as it's villain" is a phrase tossed around quite a bit in regards to genre filmmaking. In Tomas Milian, Lenzi found the perfect actor to portray Guilio Sacchi, a slimy criminal on outs with his old gang and desperate to avoid actually having to work for a living. His plan: kidnap the daughter of a very wealthy man and hold her for ransom. Once the job's over, kill the girl and split. He enlists two of his friends and makes his move. When the girl makes an escape to an isolated villa, Sacchi and his men follow, massacring everyone in the house. All this - not to mention the murder of two cops and a couple of old gun runners - grabs the attention of Inspector Grandi, a hard-assed cop with a mean streak of his own. But Inspector Grandi underestimates Sacchi completely. He might be scum, but he's smart scum and Grandi might have to take off his badge and step down to Sacchi's level if he wants to bring him to justice.


Henry Silva in Almost Human

To call this a work of nihilism is an understatement. ALMOST HUMAN is told predominantly from the viewpoint of it's sociopathic lead. His actions shape the fates of everyone involved and no one - not even the film's hero - gets off clean. Though we expect yet another small time criminal with ambitions far greater than his capacity to bring them off, Sacchi is anything but. Despite a little hiccup with the other two members of his crew, Sacchi's plan is virtually flawless - even blackmailing his old boss for alibis. By the film's end, Sacchi has eliminated all evidence against him and the only thing Grandi can do to stop him is ruin his own life. Crime films - especially the poliziotto - are usually tough pieces of work but ALMOST HUMAN brings them to a new level. While exuberant and undeniably exciting, ALMOST HUMAN is a soul-deadening film where everybody is doomed and absolutely no hope is in sight.


Umberto Lenzi's Almost Human

Umberto Lenzi could make a decent movie when he wanted to. Before he descended into piss-poor zombie nonsense and vomit-inducing cannibal flicks, Lenzi had quite the resume. His early gialli, from EYEBALL to SEVEN BLOOD STAINED ORCHIDS, were all excellent examples of the sub genre and his ALMOST HUMAN ranks close to the top of my list of European actioners. That he is best known for garbage like NIGHTMARE CITY and CANNIBAL FEROX is most unfortunate. Turns out the man knew his way around a good story. He certainly knew what he was doing here. Especially in terms of casting. Tomas Milian, one of the great character actors in Italian genre cinema, is nearly peerless in his performance as Sacchi, creating a character that truly feels like a living, breathing example of ruthless greed instead of just another exaggerated heavy. Henry Silva is man used to playing the heavy in a string of movies that used his intense gaze and imposing figure to great effect. Silva's performance as Inspector Grandi is less of a showcase piece than Milian's but is quiet, studied, and powerful nonetheless. If only Lenzi had found more for the beautiful Laura Belli to do. As it is, her character is just another face, the hostage we should fear for but don't quite know well enough to care.


Essential viewing.