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Released by: GMVS
Released on: 4/26/2004
Director: Silvio Narizzano
Released: 1973
Cast: Telly Savalas, Franco Nero, Mark Lester, Ely Galleani, Maria Michi
Year: 1973
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The Movie:
Silvio Narizzano (of Fanatic) directs Telly Savalas (Violent City, Kojak) and Franco Nero (Django, Hitchhike) in this rather unusual Italian action/thriller featuring a supporting role by Mark Lester of all people, the kid who played the lead in the 1968 version of Oliver!
Memphis (Savalas) and Mosquito (Nero) are two thugs who rob a jewelry store in Rome and hope to get across the French border before the cops nab them. Mosquito's girlfriend Maria (Ely Galleani of Baba Yaga and Five Dolls For An August Moon) is along for the ride, but unbeknownst to the three of them, so is a kid named Lennox Duncan (Lester) who happens to be hiding in the backseat of the car they just hijacked.
It turns out that Lennox is the son of a prominent member of the United Nations and that his mother, who was in the car with him until they stole it, is able to ID the two hoodlums. This puts the group at the top of the police's wanted list and the chase is on.
As things get tense and they discover just who Lennox really is, Memphis starts to snap and his behavior becomes more and more erratic. When he starts killing people and blaming it on everyone else, Memphis and Mosquito are turned against each other with Lennox's life hanging in the balance.
Redneck would probably work really well as a serious and gritty crime drama if not for two things - Franco Nero spending the last twenty minutes of the movie in a woman's fur coat looking like a pimped up drag queen, and Telly Savalas in a performance so over the top that it truly has to be seen to be believed. Add to the fact that Savalas sports one of the strangest southern accents I've ever heard, and a scene in which a far too young Mark Lester disrobes in an attempt to emulate Nero's character and Redneck becomes almost deliriously exploitative.
Take those odd elements out of the picture though and you've got a fairly straightforward crime movie that moves along at a quick pace and has some nicely executed moments of tension and action. Nero is slick as always, except when he looks like he's in drag, and the story, despite being semi familiar, is a fun one with a couple of unexpected twists and turns along the way. Galleani is fun to look at, even if she isn't given much to do here, and the camerawork keeps the picture looking good from start to finish.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Presented in widescreen at roughly 1.85.1, Redneck is not enhanced for anamorphic sets and sadly appears to have been culled from a VHS source. The night scenes are way too dark and at times almost incomprehensible. The daylight scenes fare considerably better and don't look quite as bad, though there is noticeable grain and print damage throughout.
The Dolby Digital Mono track is presented in a dubbed English format with not other audio options or subtitles available. Quality is mediocre at best - at times it is quite hissy and it always sounds quite flat. Most of the time you can understand the dialogue but the quality leaves a bit to be desired and in a few spots the soundtrack seems to be coming in just a wee bit too loud, resulting in some mild distortion.
This disc is completely barebones, it doesn't even have a scene selection option. All that you can do off of the main menu is select 'play.' That's it. The Final Word:
Redneck is a pretty wacky film. Savalas spares no expense in chewing through all of his scenes like a maniac and his 'good ol' boy' accent provides a whole lot of unintentional hilarity. Sadly, GMVS's DVD is weak with below average audio and video and absolutely not extra features at all.