"The Executioner" a.k.a "Massacre Mafia Style" – which obviously is a much more apt title – was promoted to me by fellow genre fanatics as THE ultimate must-see cult exploitation classic of the seventies. It took me quite a while to track down (apparently it's also one of the most obscure cult exploitation classic of the seventies) but eventually I'm very glad that I took the effort. Not because this is such a great movie, quite the contrary in fact, but the least you can say is that "Massacre Mafia Style" is truly a unique accomplishment and definitely unequaled in terms of ineptitude and entertainment value. This is somewhat the one man project of a good old pal named Duke Mitchell. Duke produced, wrote the screenplay, composed the soundtrack, sat in the director's chair and depicted the anti-heroic lead character in this unsung grindhouse variation on the immensely popular "The Godfather". Duke Mitchell was a godfather, all right
The godfather of absurdity and sheer incompetence! The film is a non-stop series of pointless shotgun assassinations (the craziest you'll ever see), altered with incredibly overlong and wannabe philosophical monologues about how traditional Italian families in America are dishonored by the mafia's vicious reputation ("you see this old woman's hands? They smell of oregano and gave us pizza, lasagna and some of the most appreciated foods in the world! But what did we give her in return? We gave her violence, death and dishonor!"). What the hell, indeed! Mitchell's character Mimi Miceli returns to the US, many years after his father got exiled. Together with his childhood friend Jolly Rizzo he intends to work his way back to the top, but he merely only succeeds in becoming an efficient hit man and raising a couple of family feuds. The opening sequences of "Massacre Mafia Style" are legendary, with Duke Mitchell and his buddy Vic Caesar strolling around an office building and liquidating everyone in sight (including secretaries, black guys with immense Afros and a crippled man in a wheelchair) to the tunes of a cheerful Italian party song. This scene as well as all the other massacres in the film, are supposed to be extremely violent and nihilistic, but they're actually downright hilarious and the complete opposite of shocking. The poor people who volunteered to appear in this mess of a movie are just standing around, not looking the least bit surprised by the sounds of screaming and heavy shotgun fire, waiting to be killed next to the elevator or behind their desk, and the next shot shows their exaggeratedly bloodied body. I have a lot of admiration and respect for Duke Mitchell, because he made this movie even though he probably realized himself that it is spectacularly awful in all possible departments, but I can only recommend this to a very limited number of people. Crazy cult fans, rejoice!
Review of Massacre Mafia Style
