What at first would seem to be your prototypical poliziotteschi (an Italian sub-genre infusing action and crime), Cry of a Prostitute (1974) – its more subtle titles: Love Kills and Guns of the Big Shots), directed by gritty film maker Andrea Bianchi (Strip Nude for Your Killer; Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror), actually holds more in common with the classic spaghetti western.
Taking inspiration from Shakespeare’s Capulets and Montagues, the real life Hatfields and McCoys, and perhaps most importantly, films like Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars (1964), you’ll probably note that each reference relates to two feuding families. . . which is the main element of the story here.
With a major drug fight brewing between the numerous crime families in Sicily, top dog Don Casemi (Vittorio Sanipoli) brings in a violent fixer of sorts, Tony Aniante (Henry Silva), to investigate the two mafia families that are likely behind everything (just a warning – the scene where they pull the stashed heroin is rather macabre. . . just one of many).
With the families led by patriarchs Don Ricuzzo Cantimo (Fausto Tozzi) and Don Turi Scannapieco (Mario Landi), it does not take much for these two groups to get their guns out and start shooting. Instead of doing anything in a rather straightforward way, Tony decides to play both sides, pretending to be friends of all while agitating from the inside – it’s also worth noting his patented trademark, an echoing whistle before he kills. . . a definite callback to Charles Bronson’s harmonica in Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).
Complicating things, the extremely rough around the edges Tony (of note – he immigrated to the United States before being called back to resolve this issue), is bizarrely ensnared by Don Cantimo’s ultra loose wife Margie (Barbara Boucet – Don’t Torture a Duckling; Black Belly of the Tarantula) – a former American prostitute that the boss picked up on his tours through the U.S., while young lovers Paolo Cantimo (Pier Maria Rossi) and Carmela (Patrizia Gori) are stuck hiding their affair from everyone like Romeo and Juliet – with the ominous hombre the only one aware of it.
As bodies begin to pile up in a most gruesome way (not a big surprise when considering Bianchi’s favourite stylistic flavour is to shock and awe), it becomes clear that Tony is playing a most dangerous game. Will the tough man be able to evade both sides as he picks them apart? If so, might there be an even more complex plan at play behind these drug wars? Is there any chance for the self-titled whore Margie when surrounded by such bad men? And, could there be a silver lining if the two young lovers can evade a bloody result?
Often considered one of the edgier poliziotteschi to come out of Italy, if you like your films grimy, gritty, violent, and kinky (in more than a bit of a repellent way), then this B movie is for you. There’s no glossy sheen here, with a perfect example being Tony (as vile an anti-hero as you’ll see) with constant sweat marks on his clothing – the Italian summer heat furthering the ever growing anger amongst the guy and surrounding gangs. This can truly be seen with some of the rather brutal deaths, the hand to hand combat and gunfights giving way to certain things you’d likely never expect to see in a movie.
In no way for the faint of heart, Cry of a Prostitute is most definitely not for everyone, but should appeal to fans of violent 70s Italian B movies, the edgy work of director Andrea Bianchi, or those who desire to delve into a poliziotteschi/spaghetti western hybrid. Echoing A Fistful of Dollars, in many ways this can be seen as a sort of crime remake of the classic. So, be the boss by taking a twisted turn at watching this one, it’s a doozy.
As this film was shot with an international cast, it can be watched in dubbed Italian or dubbed English