Almost Human (1975)

Tomas Milian begins his topsy turvy relationship with Umberto Lenzi in perhaps the duo's classiest pairing, taking more than a little inspiration from A CLOCKWORK ORANGE with Milian playing just as morally bankrupt of an anti-hero.ALMOST HUMAN (aka MILANO ODIA) really works and contains enough action, violence, nudity, and sharp-witted dialog to keep most B- movie lovers entertained. It's not quite realistic enough and a little too over-the-top to really attract the same foreign film aficionados who would do better with similarly-themed ASHES AND DIAMONDS. In a lot of ways, the ODIA becomes so dark and disturbing (even warranting its release in the United States as a HORROR movie) that things often slingshot back into black comedy.Milian's main stooge Gino Santercole (dubbed by Michael Forest) gets in most of the funniest lines such as "it was worth killing a couple of people for this money!". He's an interesting character, being a very loyal henchman through and through with little qualms graduating from low level criminal to kidnapper/murderer. The same cannot be said for secondary stooge Lovelock, whose constant crises of conscience make him a subject of amusing taunts by Milian in his most unhinged performance yet.Somehow, Milian so makes the character believable and human enough... charming, cunning, arrogant, and determined... that he somehow remains likable even after killing and abusing so many people (including his own friends and girlfriend). Strindberg as his middle-aged (though quite fetching) girlfriend isn't the most believable either, but their passionate albeit pathetic excuse for a relationship provides even more interest in this multi-layered movie. Henry Silva's also on-hand as a hard-nosed inspector not-so- hot on Milian's trail, charming in his own way though not enough to make us really root for him.All in all, it's an interesting film and a little smarter and more plot-driven than you'll usually find in a high octane Italian crime film as the cycle tended to gravitate into the mid-70's. It's one of the few cases though where I'd recommend the slightly edited U.S. version from Joseph Brenner over the Italian as it does inject a little more pathos and creepiness than the Italian version.

Even if you're only just slightly interested in cult-cinema of the golden 60's-70's period, you know that whatever trend the Italian directors took on; they did it better. Whether it was horror, westerns or – as in this case – crime thriller, the Italians always surpassed the standards of any other major film-producing country and delivered politically incorrect but hugely entertaining & genre defining movies. One of the few (brilliant) directors active in all different fields was Umberto Lenzi, whose marvelously restored "Almost Human" is a truly terrific and ultra-violent classic. Tomas Milian gives a formidable one man show as a small time crook who desperately wants to climb up Milan's crime-ladder and therefore commits the vilest and most atrocious crimes, like relentlessly shooting people for the spare change in their pockets and buy cigarettes. Hell truly breaks loose when Giullio, along with two companions, kidnaps the daughter of a prominent businessman and demands a gigantic ransom. Many people, all innocent, get killed in order to still Giullio's sadistic hunger for violence. Particularly one sequence is excruciatingly intense, namely when the kidnapped girl Mary Lou briefly escapes and hopes to hide herself in a secluded country mansion. Giullio & C° also invade the mansion and extendedly torture, humiliate and terrorize all the inhabitants. Umberto Lenzi totally went berserk here and blends sick violence with ultra-sleazy footage, as Giullio even forces a MALE hostage to give oral sex. The kidnappers are hunted down by obsessive copper Henry Silva, who totally lives up to the stereotype of 70's cops. Inspector Grandi is rough, tough and actually prefers to personally execute the bad guys rather than to put them behind bars. "Almost Human" is incredibly fast-paced, with super-exciting car chases and outrageous gunfights throughout the entire playtime. The script offers a lot of unexpected twists to keep you on the edge of your seat and Tomas Millian's performance alone is enough to consider this a masterpiece of 70's exploitation cinema. The camera-work is masterfully restored in the new DVD-release, but Ennio Morricone's score is as mesmerizing as it ever was. A true must!

This seems to be a very typical Italian crime film...and boy, do i love it. Ennio Morricone has a short, but killer instrumental tune going on at the very beginning of the film, setting the mood for what this movie is all about. We have the fine Tomas Milian playing a pathetic, gunhappy bastard who gets ticked off very easily and spends most of the movie killing the people he gets near. A high bodycount for mr. Milian here. Great boys...are you happy??? i know i am for owning this movie. I even have the soundtrack in my collection. Go see it boys!!! The American title for this movie "Almost human" is very misconceiving, as Milian in no sense seems like a human being. A translation of the Italian title is more correctly "Hate in Milano-the police can't shoot".

This was reportedly released in the U.S. in the 70's in a badly cut form and billed as a horror film. It is clearly a CRIME film, one that focuses first on the malefactors (led by a crazed, sociopathic Tomas Milian) and only second on the pursuing detective (one mightily p****d-off Henry Silva). The version I saw, supposedly "uncut," certainly did not leave me bored. It's trashy, over the top and exploitative, expressing much the politics of a "Dirty Harry" rip-off with its emasculated cop driven to vigilante tactics and its sleazy anti-hero (Milian) who will literally stop at NOTHING, not even remorseless, cold-blooded murder, just to steal a few bucks out of a cigarette machine. But it didn't leave me bored. Milian's riveting (as usual) performance--many complain that he exaggerates too much but I feel they're missing the point--suffers greatly due to the bad English dubbing. This is quite frustrating, since Milian speaks English and could have done it himself. The excellent Morricone score also suffers, since the music suddenly gets lowered or stops altogether every time a character speaks. But these are faults, I'm sure, of the English language version and not of the film itself. The film itself, taken on its own terms, is entertaining as hell. Especially if you think Hell might be entertaining. Milian's character, a small-time hood named Sacchi who is determined to make it big by kidnapping a rich guy's daughter, is on a hell-bent mission. He doesn't care who he kills, tortures or rapes as long as he doesn't leave witnesses. When he's not killing, torturing and raping, he's committing brazen acts such as following the cops who are supposed to be following him and going to the police station to report his own crimes. It's a bloody crime film that never lets up. It's set in a desperate, anarchic urban landscape where Grandma and Grandpa sell machine guns. Morricone's score adds a whole ominous dimension; the music in the opening credits just says, "Ugly things are about to happen." And they do. Just look for a version with subtitles, if you don't speak Italian. Quentin Tarantino's mother was blowing his nose, damn straight.