Killer Cop (1975) User Reviews (7)

Often neglected, but well worth seeing Italian crime flick

[The_Void · 7/10 · 28 June 2006]

Ever since Clint Eastwood delivered that immortal speech in Dirty Harry, Italy; king of cheap rip-off films, began production on a number of cheap crime films; many of which were stylish comic book affairs; but not this one. Despite its rather silly title; Luciano Ercoli's Killer Cop is actually an entirely serious Italian crime thriller (or 'Poliziotteschi'), that handles themes such as murder and terrorism. My main reason for seeing this film was because it's directed by Luciano Ercoli; the same underrated director behind the unfairly criticised 'Death Walks at Midnight', and the supremely sexy 'The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion'. However, I'm also becoming a big fan of Italian crime films (already a big fan of Giallo), and this is one of the best that I've seen. Typically for Italian cinema, the plot is overly complicated; and it picks up after the explosion of a bomb in a hotel lobby. We then follow the convoluted investigation into the bombing through the eyes of a young police detective.

Luciano Ercoli only directed a handful of films, and that's a shame as he did a really good job with his Giallo's, and this film makes a mark too. It can be a bit irritating at times, as several plot threads that don't really go anywhere creep into the plot; but Ercoli orchestrates it well, and several scenes; such as the end shoot-out in a train station and an earlier pivotal scene in a hotel room are tense and exciting. Ercoli does well in implementing a good gritty atmosphere, which bodes well with the idea of someone callously blowing up a hotel lobby. The investigation into the crime is well rounded, and although there is too much emphasis on the police procedure at times, the film mostly manages to stay away from boredom for its ninety minute duration. Claudio Cassinelli puts in a good lead performance and receives good feedback from a host of lesser known actors; although unlike most Italian films, this one doesn't feature much female flesh; and it's a shame that there's no role for Ercoli's muse, Susan Scott. Overall, while this isn't a top quality Italian film - it's certainly good enough to warrant tracking down and comes recommended to fans of Italian cinema.

Myopic Terrorists

[Bezenby · 7/10 · 14 June 2018]

The director of Death Walks On High Heels tries his hand at the crime genre and gives us a film that to me has the same tone and pace as his gialli. That's not a bad thing, mind you, but this is a more realistic film that you'd expect from the Eurocrime genre.

Cassanelli plays a narcotics detective who keeps caught up in something more complex than drug trafficking when, while tailing a dealer, a young myopic kid runs into the hotel the dealer is staying at, trying to get everyone to run from a bomb he claims is planted there. He runs off before the bomb explodes, killing a dozen people and setting Cassanelli on a path to find the short sighted kid based purely on the glasses he left behind. Trouble ensues as Arthur Kennedy is put in charge of the investigation...and he still playing the stubborn cop from the Living Dead At the Manchester Morgue! That means he hates Cassanelli and won't listen to him, by the way.

We also get to meet the bombers and a shadowy organisation that seem to be behind it all, a plot device that's occurring quite frequently in 1975's Italian crime films. Director Ercoli does throw in the odd bit of quirkiness, like the blind kid having to go to an opticians for new glasses and nearly getting caught, only for him to spend the rest of the film with those steel frames they make you wear while testing lenses. There's also a lot of focus on Cassanelli's investigation and a lot of time spent on his partner's nervous disorder following someone holding a gun on him, so don't expect massive shootouts or car chases.

HD is not kind to Arthur Kennedy I notice. Cassanelli still looks hunky though.

The Hands of the Police Are Tied !

[Coventry · 8/10 · 31 January 2021]

Those who already had the (dis-)pleasure of reading some of my reviews might know that I have a bizarre fetish for the original, almost poetic sounding and native-language titles of Italian cult movies, whereas I have a natural aversion for the commercial, unimaginative and downright irrelevant retitling in English. Quite often, it's really preferable to just literally translate the Italian title rather than to go by the international English title. The theory definitely also stands for Luciano Ercoli's exquisite thriller "La Polizia Ha Le Mani Legate". The film is commonly known as "Killer Cop", but that is - bluntly said - a horrendous title. It makes the film sound like a hyper-violent Poliziotesschi, like Umberto Lenzi or Stelvio Massi usually made them with Maurizio Merli in the lead role, but it's much more of an intelligent and slow-brooding political thriller. Also, come to think of it, the title "Killer Cop" reveals things you're not supposed to know. The original title translates as "The hands of the police are tied" and, as usual, it's a much better and meaningful description of the overall movie.

As mentioned already, this isn't the type of contemporary Italian thriller that thrives on virulent car chases, extreme gratuitous violence or heroic coppers sadistically massacring kidnappers and drug-dealers. Instead, it's a very tense and delicate tale in which a young commissioner (Claudio Cassinelli) and a veteran district attorney (Arthur Kennedy), independently from each other, try to uncover who set off a powerful bomb in the lobby of a crowded hotel full of elite and international guests, and why this act of terrorism was committed. There isn't a lot of action in Ercoli's film, but the plot is unimaginably compelling, and I often found myself at the edge of my seat during the pivot sequences. There are a handful of unforgettable sequences, like shortly after the explosion in the hotel when the camera slowly zooms in one almost all the casualties, or the exhilarating chase in the subway station.

Luciano Ercoli perhaps isn't the most known or prominent Italian cult director from the early 70s, but it's nevertheless already the fourth film of his that I absolutely adored! Sadly, this is his only (sort of) Poliziotesschi, but he did make three wondrous gems in that other favorite Italian sub genre of mine; - the Giallo. These were "Forbidden Photos of a Lady above Suspicion", "Death Walks on High Heels" and "Death Walks at Midnight". That man earned the Nobel price of literature for his titles alone.

Servicable Italian cop movie

[Wizard-8 · 7/10 · 24 March 2018]

"La Polizia ha le mani legate" (better known on these shores as "Killer Cop") is a somewhat different than usual kind of entry in the "poliziotteschi" film genre. For one thing, it takes itself somewhat more seriously. In fact, those who are expecting a lot of action will be somewhat disappointed, since there isn't that much action. In fact, the main character played by Claudio Cassinelli doesn't become the exact English title character until the last ten or so minutes of the movie! Instead, the movie focuses more on the investigation and bureaucracy aspects. While this focus is a little slow and plodding at times, surprisingly for the most part it's actually pretty interesting. It moves from scene to scene at a fairly brisk pace, so you won't get bored, Also, you'll wonder if Claudio Cassinelli 's character will be able to succeed when the odds are against him, and that creates some genuine tension and suspense. There are other good features here and there, such as Stelvio Cipriani's catchy musical score and decent production values. Also, the few times when there are action are pretty well executed. Mindless action junkies may be a little let down by this movie, but if you are in a mood for a more realistic and serious Italian crime flick, give this one a try.

'Killer Cop' has some strong moments for sure and is a rare find these days.

[bryank-04844 · 5/10 · 11 August 2015]

When you see the movie title 'Killer Cop', you might have an idea of what to expect. It could be a vigilante cop out for blood, killing all the bad guys, or it could be a serial killer, murdering innocent people who happens to be an officer of the law. None of these are the case in the 1975 Italian film 'Killer Cop' by Luciano Ercoli, which happened to be his second-to-last film.

I'm not quite sure why this is called 'Killer Cop', because it doesn't really feature one. In other countries, this movie is titled 'The Police Can't Move' and 'Portrait of a 60% Perfect Man'. With odd titles like those, I can see why the studio wanted a title like 'Killer Cop'. Much like the other 70's Italian films that feature the Italian crime scene, this relies more on talking things through instead of showing any sort of action. 'Killer Cop' takes its cues from the real 1969 Piazza Fontana Bombing that took place in Milan and killed 17 people and injured many others.

The terrorism and suspense here is done very well and the film goes to a dark place from time to time, however through most of the film, we only get debate after debate about what to do and how to handle the situation in taking out these criminal masterminds. 'Killer Cop' follows Matteo (Claudio Cassinelli), who is a cop who witnessed the bombing and the prime suspect who carried out this attack.

Now Matteo must figure out who else exactly is behind this bombing, which might go higher up the political chain than he expected. There are a couple of short lived action scenes that involve explosions and gun blasts, but the bulk of the film is full of dialogue as Matteo uses his street smarts to talk with people on and off the street. Ercoli does use a unique realness in directing this film, focusing more on character development and the dialogue, rather than big expensive action sequences.

It slows down the film to a crawl at times, but the emphasis on the political and social climate in Italy at the time is paid strict attention to. Cassinelli turns a great performance as well here, as he struggles with the death of a friend and trying to weave in and out of the political police force in solving this crime. 'Killer Cop' has some strong moments for sure and is a rare find these days where most action crime movies rely on the chase and violent sequences over actual story telling. That being said, this movie has to slow a pace for my liking, despite the rather fantastic ending.

A forgotten but a "must see" Italian "Poliziotti" movie

[falmoury · 6 May 2003]

Shot in a beautiful techniscope and released in France with the quite bizarre title "BOITE À FILLETTES" on the print (VHS cover gives LA POLICE A LES MAINS LIEES as box title !) though there is no virgin nymph involved by the plot whatsoever, it is a rare and interesting testimony of the political situation in Italy near the 75's. Atmosphere is quite dense and heavy, since it tells the story of a judge (Athur Kennedy) and a Police officer (Claudio Cassinelli) wandering between "Red Brigade" and "Black Section" of Secret Services on the other wings... the bombing sequence is very well-made and the Milano outdoors takes are, as usual in Italian thriller of that time and genre, very realistic. Very pessimistic and dark movie since Franco Fabrizzi dies, then Arthur Kennedy is said by end titles to be soon murdered (good side) and all the bad ones too are dying except their undercover (not for the spectator)leaders.

The bomb sunk the film

[Garrington1954 · 5/10 · 12 February 2021]

A solid cop thriller gets dragged down by a bomb, here great lovelable performances are ruined by the worst bomb explosion I have ever seen, no fire random things explofding, no blood. What went wrong here i don't know, but an ambitios attenmpt to creat something different just lost all purpose.

I struggled to get passed the bomb trauma, the rest of the film was solid, but all i'll ever remember is that bomb.