Man of Violence
Pete Walker
BFI
Blu Ray or DVD
This is another release from the BFI
Flipside collection which makes available obscure and overlooked British films.
Man of Violence (aka Moon) is a 1970
release from director Pete Walker and offers a superb gangster film set at the
end of the Sixties when optimism was on the wane but Sixties swing was still
in. While Walker is better known for his horror and exploitation films, Man of Violence and The Big Switch are fascinating and unusual films filled with great
cinematography, nuanced plots and eccentric characters, never mind groovy
clothing, swinging music and sexy woman !
In a world of gangs and villains, one man
- Moon - will stop at nothing to get the girl and take the spoils. Moon is a
cynical and seasoned mercenary who works outside the law and beyond
conventions. He is willing to do anything to solve a case including seducing
both sexes along the way. While he is portrayed as a private eye working both
sides of the law he looks and acts more like a “James Bond” character. He is an unusual spy/detective character who
you cannot easily pigeon hole and is superbly played by Michael Latimer who
really brings some panache to the role.
Starring Hammer girls Luan Peters (Lust for a Vampire, Twins of Evil) and Virginia Wetherell (Doctor Jekyll & Sister Hyde, Demons of the Mind), Man of Violence is a colourful journey
to the underworld, filled with music, sex and double cross.
Moon is not quite sure who he has been
hired by or what exactly he is supposed to do, but soon realizes he must steal
90 million dollars in gold from an Arab country decimated by political chaos.
In this cross continent romp he must deal with double crosses, deception and
lots of punch-ups. Moon has to contend with Burgess, who is a crook who poses
as a cop and Nixon who is the criminal who poses as a policeman. Not to mention
Sam Byrant the Northern industrialist with a dirty past and the racketeer
Charles Grayson, who has a penchant for girls and lots of them. At the same
time he is being trailed by a sadistic gay murderer!
The film is marked by a Sixties
soundtrack, strange and quirky characters and lots of action. Walker is known
for his “exploitation” genre touch and this film embodies a real flair, taking
what is primarily a gangster film and turning it into something truly special.
The fact that it acts as a time capsule of the Sixties seemly adds to its
charm, I especially liked to gay club with its “Boys in the Band” young men !
The quality of the high definition
transfer cannot be faulted, it is absolutely perfect, the colours are bright
and clear and the textures in the dimly light clubs and pubs are superb. This
is an amazing edition of a rarely seen film.
Again, BFI offers real value with an added
bonus of Pete Walker’s thriller The Big
Switch (aka Strip Poker), dating
from 1968 and released in two editions. BFI includes both the domestic and
alternative export edition which is 9 minutes longer.
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This
review will appear in Volume 2 No.5
(2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.
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