Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Meet Him And Die

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Horace Cordier
    Senior Member

  • Meet Him And Die



    Released by: Raro Video
    Released on: April 1st, 2014.
    Director: Franco Prosperi
    Cast: Ray Lovelock, Elke Sommer
    Year: 1976
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Movie:

    1976's MEET HIM AND DIE is in many ways a perfect midlevel example of the Italian Poliziotteschi genre. It maintains the genre trademarks - long and intense action sequences of both the physical and vehicular type, a moderately nonsensical but complicated plot consisting of multiple double-crosses, and an absurd level of machismo. And a completely gratuitous sex scene of course.

    Ray Lovelock, the handsome blond supporting actor from the likes of Umberto Lenzi's ALMOST HUMAN here takes the starring role of Massimo. Massimo starts off in the film as a seemingly hapless thief. One of the central set pieces of MEET HIM AND DIE is a botched jewel store robbery that lands Massimo in an Italian jail. A strange sense of unreality sets in when we get to the slammer. Guards seem weirdly chummy with various prisoners. Said prisoners have wine served with dinner. Big time mobster Giulianelli (character actor legend Martin Balsam from PSYCHO) has a free hand in the clink. He's even organizing prisoner beatings as tests of loyalty to his syndicate. After proving himself in an unusually brutal prison yard Mano a Mano Massimo becomes a trusted ally to the mobster. From there we move on to a prison break and a complicated revenge plot.

    MEET HIM AND DIE is highly enjoyable but it doesn't operate on the level of a classic Eurocrime film like Fernando Di Leo's ITALIAN CONNECTION. The plotting isn't coherent enough and the pacing isn't fluid. The acting is quite strong however. Lovelock has a nice cocky swagger and Balsam is all pro. Beautiful Elke Sommer shows up to aid some plot machinations and deliver the obligatory (but in this case bizarrely shot and edited) sex scene as well. The action highlight of the film is a very inventive truck and motorcycle chase with excellent stunt work that echoes a similar triumph in Di Leo's ITALIAN CONNECTION. The film also has a very nice nihilistic edge to it with a good share of brutal and unpredictable deaths and firearm related mayhem. Lovelock, with his youthful looks and hip wardrobe is a fresh spin on the more usual world weary vibe of genre lynchpins like Franco Nero.

    The main flaws are an extremely abrupt ending and various massive plot holes. But the overall excitement carries the day. MEET HIM AND DIE delivers the goods more than adequately in every area that counts. Just don't go looking for anything approaching realism.

    Video/Audio/Extras:

    This is a highly problematical transfer. The AVC 1.76.1 framed 1080p encode that Raro have offered up suffers from a few serious issues. Mosquito noise - a sort of lightly crawling grain - is visible quite often. This is possibly due to a scanning problem with the original elements. DNR and sharpening are visible. Skin tones tend heavily to the waxy. Detail is weak and smeary. The period cinematography is rife with soft focus shots which exacerbates these problems. Color representation is acceptable but this just isn't a film like transfer.

    The two audio tracks fare better than the video. Both 2.0 LPCM tracks in Italian and English are nicely rendered. The dubbing in the English track is about par for the era in quality and you do get Balsam's distinctive voice. There isn't a lot of oomph here but it sounds good and the music never hits the shrill zone.

    The only extra is a video introduction by genre expert and film documentarian Mike Malloy. Malloy runs us through a basic introduction to the Poliziotteschi and then spends a little time extolling the virtues of the film. It's an engaging and fun little chat. Malloy has also penned some nice liner notes that are included in the booklet with the Blu-ray.

    The Final Word:

    Not the best and not the worst of its type, Franco Prosperi's film is a fun watch and a strong example of the Eurocrime/Poliziotteschi picture. Despite Raro's weak transfer this will probably be something fans want to pick up especially considering the relative rarity of the title on home video.


    Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!




















      Posting comments is disabled.

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • Hot Spur (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Severin Films
      Released on: April 30th, 2024.
      Director: Lee Frost
      Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
      Year: 1969
      Purchase From Amazon

      Hot Spur – Movie Review:

      Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:53 AM
    • Death Squad (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Mondo Macabro
      Released on: April 9th, 2024.
      Director: Max Pecas
      Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
      Year: 1985
      Purchase From Amazon

      Death Squad – Movie Review:

      Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:46 AM
    • Roommates (Quality X) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Quality X
      Released on: February 28th, 2024.
      Director: Chuck Vincent
      Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
      Year: 1982
      Purchase From Amazon

      Roommates – Movie Review:

      Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:10 PM
    • Night Of The Blood Monster (Blue Underground) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Blue Underground
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Jess Franco
      Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
      Year: 1970
      Purchase From Amazon

      Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:

      Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:07 PM
    • Phase IV (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Saul Bass
      Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
      Year: 1974
      Purchase From Amazon

      Phase IV – Movie Review:

      Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:02 PM
    • The Bounty Hunter Trilogy (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Radiance Films
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
      Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
      Year: 1969-1972
      Purchase From Amazon

      The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:

      Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this
      ...
      03-13-2024, 11:30 AM
    Working...
    X