An ex-soldier with a personal honor code enters the family crime business in St. Petersburg, Russia.Read More »
Crime
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Aleksey Balabanov – Brat AKA Brother (1997)
Aleksei Balabanov1991-2000CrimeRussia -
Ignacio F. Iquino – Los violadores del amanecer AKA The Dawn Rapists (1978)
1971-1980CrimeIgnacio F. IquinoSpainThrillerIMDb review:
Although it isn’t too surprising that “Rapists At Dawn” is banned in it’s native land, I’m not sure why it isn’t available elsewhere. It’s counterparts, like “Last House On the Left,” “House On the Edge of the Park” and “I Spit On Your Grave” etc are out there for commercial consumption. What makes Dawn more disturbing isn’t the graphic nature, as the film never ventures into hardcore territory; but the sheer amount of rape and violence. This is one nihilistic and angry film. The four youths depicted are like a gang of hyenas, raping and beating random women with utterly no sense of guilt or remorse. And it just goes on and on. Read More » -
Werner Klingler – Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse AKA The Terror of Doctor Mabuse (1962)
1961-1970CrimeGermanyHorrorWerner KlinglerSynopsis
Evil genius Dr. Mabuse hypnotizes the director of an insane asylum in this remake of Fritz Lang’s 1933 cinematic landmark.Read More » -
Johnny Mak – Sheng gang qi bing AKA Long Arm of the Law (1984)
1981-1990ActionCrimeHong KongJohnny MakThugs sneak into Hong Kong to rob a jewellery store, killing a cop during their getaway. They plan another heist while hiding from the police hunting them down to avenge their slain comrade.Read More »
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Ka-Fai Wai – Yi ge zi tou de dan sheng AKA Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 (1997)
Ka-Fai Wai1991-2000ComedyCrimeHong KongJohn Woo protégé Wai Ka-fai follows up on his acclaimed Chow Yun-Fat vehicle Peace Hotel with this wild and woolly black comedy. With a nod to both Tarantino and Kieslowski, Wai fashions an inventive narrative based around ideas of fate and accident.
The film follows Wong Ah-kau (Lau Ching-Wan), an inept gangland foot soldier with no self-esteem, no money, and no clue. One day, a friend of his offers him a stack of cash to deliver some cars to Mainland China for a big crime boss. It seems like easy money. Around the same time, he gets another offer to go to Taiwan and do a mob hit for an even bigger sum of dough. Due to some narrative trickery, both options are explored.
Over the years, this film has become something of a cult classic for mavens of Hong Kong cinema.Read More »
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Damiano Damiani – Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica AKA Confessions of a Police Captain (1971)
Damiano Damiani1971-1980CrimeDramaItaly

Commissioner Bonavia has hygiene-obsessed mafioso Lipuma release from the insane asylum where he has been incarcerated for the past six years knowing fullwell that Lipuma’s first action once released will be to make an attempt on his former rival Dubrosio’s life.
Indeed this is what Bonavia, who is pursuing his own personal vendetta against Dubrosio is counting on; he knows that there is no point in pursuing legal channels when just about the entirety of the Palmero administration and judiciary is in league with Dubrosio.Read More »
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Cindy Sherman – Office Killer (1997)
1991-2000Cindy ShermanComedyCrimeUSASynopsis
When Dorine Douglas’ job as proofreader for Constant Consumer magazine is turned into an at-home position during a downsizing, she doesn’t know how to cope. But after accidentally killing one of her co-workers, she discovers that murder can quench the loneliness of her home life, as a macabre office place forms in her basement, populated by dead co-workers.Read More » -
Demofilo Fidani – Sedia elettrica AKA The Electric Chair (1969)
1961-1970CrimeDemofilo FidaniFilm NoirItalySynopsis (possible spoilers):
At Santa Monica, during 30s, two contending gangster bands claim for dominance on the city. Willing to solve permanently this situation, Johnny Bello sets an ambush for Jack Lo Dolce’s gang, killing them brutally.
The only survivor is Fred “il Solitario”, Jack Lo Dolce’s brother. Expecting Fred’s revenge, Johnny Bello charges one of his killers with finding and eliminating him. Fred, after avoiding successfully the killer’s search, becomes a friend of Fanny, Johnny’s girlfriend, from whom he hears details about a next coming robbery to a bank van. Lurking at the place designed to attack the van, Fred exterminates the whole Johnny’s gang, but during the shootout also Fanny dies. Captured and sentenced to die by the electric chair, Fred, while waiting for death, thinks back to his life, till that remote day when he, as a child, was forced to stand and watch his own parents’ murder: a trauma which had to lead him, along with his brother Jack, into the world of crimeRead More » -
Marcel Carné – Thérèse Raquin AKA The Adultress (1953)
Marcel Carné1951-1960CrimeDramaFrance

After being adopted by her aunt, Thérèse Raquin was forced into marrying her sickly cousin Camille at an early age. For the past 17 years, she has been trapped in a loveless marriage, working in her aunt’s haberdashery shop in Lyon to support the husband she has grown to despise. One day, Camille gets himself drunk and has to be carried home by Laurent, an Italian lorry driver. The instant that Thérèse sees Laurent she is attracted to him. He is everything a man should be, not the mean sickly creature she is married to. Laurent is equally drawn to Thérèse and the two embark on a clandestine love affair. When he realises his wife’s infidelity, Camille decides to take her to Paris, to place her with relatives who will cure her of her wanton nature. Read More »






