The grand finale of Italian exploitation master Enzo Castellari’s loosely catalogued, sort-of apocalyptic film trilogy might have nothing to do with the two previous ‘Bronx’ entries (with the first two linked by that über-buff gang leader Trash strutting in his odd giraffe-like way around a devastated, gang-run Bronx of the near future, now a wasted landscape, the ultimate paranoid vision of where the gang-fueled world of Death Wish would have taken us if Charles Bronson’s vigilante architect Paul Kersey hadn’t shown up to make it all safe again), yet it’s got a similar simplicity in its violent, action-orientated storytelling. This time taking place in a post-nuclear war world in which our hero Scorpion (Giancarlo Prete) bands together with Nadir (the cigar chomping, never subtle yet always endearing Fred Williamson), who always unaccountably seems to be following around Scorpion for reasons unknown and saving him with his explosive-charged arrows, to fight off the radical motorcycle and tricked-out fun car riding nihilists known as the Templars, an all male too-old-to-be-a-boy-band in low rent “Mad Max” style futuristic clothing, who are determined to purify the world of everyone but themselves (for reasons not exactly clear, other than perhaps, in a nod towards the twisted underpinnings of extreme conservatism in the film, to ensure there will only be homosexuals like themselves left… not exactly a plan with projected long range growth obviously).

The early 80’s were great if you get a kick out of these “Mad Max”/“The Warriors”/“Escape from New York” rip-offs flowing out of Italy, with most working to make up for their low budgets with all sorts of off-kilter decisions (some of them impressively creative and others… just wonky). Castellari’s trilogy is as entertaining as any of them, being equal parts creative and wonk. Lots of explosions (and exploding people), car chases (even if the vehicles usually seem to be moving a bit slow) and a really catchy (if bordering on repetitive) Claudio Simonetti synthesizer score. This one also has some sex scenes, which the previous two lacked (perhaps the Trash kid was a bit too young — he was only a teenager when he made Castellari’s Bronx films), even if the execution of them are entirely absurd, leading me to wonder if they aren’t there as throw-in obfuscations of the underpinnings of man-love between our two main leads. One thing is clear in Castellari’s view of the post-nuclear landscape; there’s gonna be a lot of man-on-man action up in the house, culminating in that incredible scene where the Templars’ leader (played by the familiar imposing figure of George Eastman) carries out a jaw-dropping choice of punishment on the captured Scorpio for killing his favorite boy-toy that is… well… let’s just say, it’s a physically intrusive penance that would leave most conversion-therapy supporting, feverishly hand-wringing Republicans outwardly outraged… yet secretly excited…

Anna Kanakis is gorgeous as the young hottie Scorpion saves, Mad Max style, at the beginning of our tale (with Nadir always sniffing around on the perimeter). That she was a bit young might explain why, other than Sergio Martino’s 2019: After the Fall of New York from the same year, she didn’t thrive in the earlier Italian genre stuff. She would have been a lock to throw on a cowboy hat for some Spaghetti Western action, for instance, if she had been a few years older when those films were thriving in the mid-60’s into the 70’s. And I’m starting to appreciate actor Massimo Vanni, who with wild crazy hairdo herein convincingly plays one of the Templars, with this role coming just after his stuffy evil corporate executive characters from the previous two Castellari apocalypse entries. It’s clear he was one of those good reliable character actors, lesser known than, say, the George Eastmans, but who was still able to make an impression across the vast swath of the Italian genre rip-off landscape.

Buck A Review   enzo castellari   italian cinema   post-apocalyptic film