Mad Dog Killer (1977)

Out Of Prison... Out Of Control... And Totally Out Of His Mind!

Deranged murderer Nanni Vitali (a completely unhinged performance by Helmut Berger of SALON KITTY and THE DAMNED) and three violent thugs escape from prison and begin a psychotic spree of robbery, rape and revenge. But when Vitali brutalizes a beautiful young woman (the luscious Marisa Mell of DANGER: DIABOLIK and PERVERSION STORY), he lights the fuse on a deadly trap set by an obsessed cop (Richard Harrison). In this bloody urban jungle, life is cheap, vengeance is law and the ultimate maniac is a MAD DOG KILLER.

Also known as BEAST WITH A GUN and FEROCIOUS, this rarely seen sickie was the final film directed by the notorious Sergio Grieco (THE SINFUL NUNS OF SAINT VALENTINE) and is packed full of vicious sex, relentless violence and more gloriously sleazy delights.

Passable Italian Crime Flick

There's nothing like a good Helmut Berger movie....that's what I always say. In Mad Dog Killer he's Nanni Vitali, a violent criminal who's just escaped from the slammer with a few of his flunkies. He kills a guy responsible for his incarceration, rapes Marisa Mell and tries to get her help in a large robbery before he escapes to Venezuela. Meanwhile he's pursued relentlessly by cop, Richard Harrison. That's more or less what it all is.
There are many good Italian crime films, but this one isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sure it's not terribly original, but I don't mind that. What I mind is that a movie based around the concept of an out of control psycho on a rampage presents us with one rather limp noodle villain. Berger's performance isn't terrible, but his character is weasley, wimpy, and really not all that violent. Numerous times throughout the film, Harrison is calling him a coward, and as the viewer you really begin to see what he means. Sure he's an unpleasant character, but no so in that interesting way that keeps our eyes glued to the screen like with Albert Ganz(James Remar) in 48 HRS or Mr. Joshua(Gary Busey) from Lethal Weapon. Those two(Remar especially) come across as way more "mad dog" than Berger. Plus the film isn't near as violent as the quotes on the box would have you believe.
I certainly wouldn't say it's a boring movie, and it does have it's moments, that's why I gave it 3 stars. But writer/director Sergio Grieco(who did The Sinful Nuns Of Saint Valentine, and who hasn't seen that flick?) certainly is no threat to Enzo Castellari or Sergio Sollima. June 7, 2008

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