Death Rage (1976) User Reviews

"If I were you I'd still shoot"

[bensonmum2 · 6/10 · 30 April 2006]

I found Death Rage to be a fun little Euro-crime movie that's much better than it's reputation would suggest (or at least better than many of the reviews I've read). Yul Brynner plays Peter Marciani, an aging hit-man hired to go to Italy to kill a mob boss. At first he refuses until he learns that his intended target is responsible for his brother's death. Along the way, he meets and befriends a young, overly helpful, wannabe mobster and a beautiful showgirl. Can these three pull off the job?

Quite simply, Yul Brynner is the man! He brings a certain authenticity and coolness to Marciani and makes most of the film a blast. I bought into his hit-man persona completely. When confronted by two hoods wanting to take him to see their boss, Marciani calmly says "If I were you, I'd shoot." One of the hoods tells Marciani that he's worth more alive. Marciani's response - "If I were you I'd still shoot". How classic is that! Death Rage also features a number of exciting car chases and gun battles in the narrow street of Naples. These scenes are exciting and very well done.

The film co-stars Barbara Bouchet. For the most part, she is underutilized and most of the scenes involving her are too predictable. You just know that at some point the bad guys are going to use her to get to Marciani. Also, I never really believed the relationship between Marciani and Bouchet's character. The two made a ridiculous looking couple.

Finally, I can't really end this without mentioning the subplot involving a problem with Marciani's eyes that, I suppose, relate to the film's title in some way. These scenes are pointless and go nowhere. Can you say "padding"?

While I've rated Death Rage a 6/10, I'm almost positive that my rating would change if I ever have the opportunity to see an uncut copy of the film. My copy of Death Rage has a runtime more than 15 minutes less than that listed on IMDb.

Let Yul Brynner's bald head hypnotize you...

[Jonny_Numb · 4/10 · 18 July 2006]

The "Chilling Classics" 50-movie pack was staring me down like a salivating jackal as I stood in the horror aisle of Circuit City, contemplating the pros (50 movies for dirt cheap!) and cons (probably crap quality as a result). My inner consumer scanned the titles on the back of the package, and was intrigued enough to hand over the greenbacks. First flick: "Death Rage," a Naples-set crime thriller starring stoic bald superman Yul Brynner, an ex-hit man who is brought back into the world of organized crime to avenge his brother's murder--car chases ensue; an unlikely pupil is taught the ways of contract killing; a blonde sex kitten (Barbara Bouchet, from "Don't Torture a Duckling") falls for our chrome-domed hero; and Martin Balsam shows up to pay the rent. Director Anthony M. Dawson (really Antonio Margheriti) keeps the pace moving along, and stages some good (if ridiculously unrealistic) action sequences. And Brynner's performance is a wooden hoot... While "Death Rage" is hardly brilliant, it is low-budget, low-down fun.

Action-packed Euro-crime movie in Italian style with the always great Yul Brynner as a relentless hit-man

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 26 September 2020]

A retired hit-man named Peter Marciani (Yul Brynner) decides to take one last job to avenge the murder of his sibling carried out by a mafia gang led by mobster chief named Gennaro Gallo who allegedly was the actual responsible for the murder of his brother . He goes Southern Italy , Naples , where Peter hires the small-time crook called Angelo (Massimo Ranieri) to work for him and the latter introduces him subsequently a beautiful Strip-tease dancer named Anny (Barbara Bouchet) who falls for him . Along the way an obstinate commissario (Martin Balsam) investigates the criminal happenings , as the Italian police inspector unsuccessfully attempts to track down the killer by anticipating Marciani's move . Vengeance is the trap set for an assassin!.The second chapter of the big city vigilante! BRONSON started it... BRYNNER finishes it! First, "DEATH WISH", Now... Con la rabbia agli occhi ¡

This crime thriller packs intrigue, suspense , car pursuits , noisy action-packed with grisly killings , explosive excitementc, thrills and lots of violence and nudism . This moving film is as calculating , cold and passionless as its central characters , two hired assassins , the master and his pupil ; as the prime contract killer pretending reckoning for revenge when his brother is murdered . Yul Brynner with his usual tough acting displays efficiently his weapons and killing mercilessly his objectives . It's certainly thrilling , though the morality may be questionable , even in this time, as the spectators were clearly on the two-fisted Brynner's side in spite of being a cruel killer . Brynner is pretty good as a wealthy murderer who travels from New York to Italy to carry out a merciless vengeance , and he offers the sort of strong acting as always . Along with Massimo Ranieri who is nice as the eager would-be hired killer helps him . And enjoyable performance of the gorgeous Italian actress Barbara Bouchet as Brynner's love interest, having a love affair with him , but the romance isn't what this movie offers , it is about action and violence and director knows his work . Furthermore , here appears a nice secondary cast , such as : Martin Balsam playing a stubborn Police Inspector , Giancarlo Sbragia as a powerful mobster and Sal Borgese as a nasty henchman .

It contains atmospheric cinematography by cameraman Sergio D'Offizi , though a perfect remastering being really necessary because of film copy is washed-out . Shot on location , as exteriors from the horse race track scenes were filmed in Naples, Campania, Italy and harbour scenes/funeral scenes filmed in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, while the interiors shot in Rome De Paolis/INCIR Studios, Rome, Lazio . As well as thrilling and evocative musical score by Guido and Maurizio de Angelis that at the time composed a lot of Spaghetti Westerns . The motion picture was uneven but professionally directed by terror/action/adventure expert Antonio Margheritti, though it displays some failures and flaws . Anthonio often was assisted by his son : Edoardo Margheriti who usually served as second unit filmmaker . Antonio often used pseudonym Anthony M Dawson, he was born in Italy 1930 and passed away in 2002 . Italian writer director of horror and exploitation films, a former university engineering student who began shooting in 1956 . Antonio directs with ordinary aplomb and being especially known for films as Yor, Virus and Horror castle. He was specialist in model-making, optical effects , FX, miniature as floods, scale models and explosions . He directed all kinds of genres such as wartime : ¨The last hunter, Tornado, Codename Wild geese, Der Commander, Command Leopard¨ . SCIFi : ¨War of planets , Planet of the prowl, Criminal of the galaxy, Yor the hunter from the future, Treasure planet¨ . Spaghetti Western as ¨Joko, Dynamite Joe, The stranger and the gunfighter, Take a hard ride, Ghosts go west, Joe implacable, God said to Cain¨ . Terror as ¨Virgin of Nuremberg, Cannibal Apocalypse, Alien from deep, Flesh for Frankenstein¨. Action : ¨Operation Goldman, Indio, The squeeze, Cyberflic¨. Rating : 6/10. Acceptable and passable. The yarn wiill appeal to Italian Poliziesco aficionados and Yul Brynner fans .

Hit-man vs Mafia Kingpin

[Rainey-Dawn · 5/10 · 15 October 2016]

One of Yul Brynner's least known films and the last film he made. Death Rage has Brynner as Peter Marciani, retired hit man that is force out of retirement to avenge the death of his murdered brother. Marciani (Brynner) goes to Naples and after the man he learn killed his brother, mafia kingpin Gennaro Gallo.

The film is fine generally speaking: not great but it is not horrible but it is the storyline that that seems to be lacking something to me and I'm not sure what - maybe a little bit more action scenes and a little less talking at times? My point being: the film needed some "spice" that it lacked to make this film stand out better. Really the only thing to make this film stand out is Yul Brynner himself - and that's it.

If you like 1970s crime-action films you might like this one but just remember this film could use a wee bit more action... also if you are a fan of Yul Brynner's then I would recommend the film to you.

5/10

A Violent Day at the Races

[Coventry · 6/10 · 26 November 2006]

Just in case you didn't know it yet, Yul Brynner isn't the type of guy you want to mess with! This charismatic tough bastard starred in a whole lot of western & war movie classics and wasted the lives of approximately a thousand bad guys on screen. Being a big fan of his macho style, I loved to see him star in a typically violent crime-thriller, particularly because this an Italian crime-thriller and those guys always add more of the red stuff and sleaze! The plot of "Death Rage" is unimportant and routing Mafia & Revenge guff, but the car chase sequences are exhilarating and the wild shootouts are truly blood-soaked (at least in the uncut version...). The events are set in Italy – mainly on the horse racecourse – where the American hit-man Peter Marciana has come out of retirement especially to kill the gangster boss who was responsible for the death of his beloved brother. Peter gets entangled in the local mafia network, falls in love with a ravishing strip bar dancer (Barbara Bouchet!) and makes a young and spirited thug his hit-man-acolyte. This last sub plot is stolen directly from the Charles Bronson flick "The Mechanic", but who cares, as every fan knows that Italian cinema loves to borrow ideas from popular American blockbusters. Yul Brynner is still the total definition of coolness, even though he clearly didn't put too much passion into his performance of the ageing assassin. His bald head, his eyes (that appear to malfunction) and his sneaky smile are enough to make his character convincing! Martin Balsam is another veteran actor whose character isn't really important, but it's still very nice to have him around. Antonio Margheriti is – in my humble opinion – Italy's most underrated cult director and "Death Rage" is another amiable effort in his repertoire.

Deceptive Thriller

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 20 October 2014]

When a mobster is assassinated in Naples by the gangsters of Gennaro Gallo (Giancarlo Sbragia), the retired hit-man Peter Marciani (Yul Brynner) learns that Gallo was the responsible for the murder of his brother. He travels from New York to Italy to revenge his brother and he hires the smalltime crook Angelo (Massimo Ranieri) to work for him. Angelo introduces Peter to the dancer Anny (Barbara Bouchet) and they have a love affair. Meanwhile the Italian police inspector (Martin Balsam) unsuccessfully tries to anticipate Peter's move.

"Con la rabbia agli occhi", a.k.a. "Death Rage", is a deceptive thriller with Yul Brynner. The unoriginal story uses clichés most of the time with a poor development of characters. The shameful Brazilian DVD released by the Cult Classic distributor has worn out image and is awfully dubbed in English. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Na Trilha da Morte" ("On the Trail of the Death")

Death Radgey

[Bezenby · 7/10 · 31 July 2018]

Yul Brynner's last film before giving up cinema for the stage, and it's a Naples based crime film directed by Antonio Margheretti. I wonder if that's what put him off.

In New York, Yul is informed by a local mob boss that the guy who killed his brother is now located in Naples, where an American mobster has just been gunned down by the same guy. Yul heads off there for revenge, and recruits a small time crooks called Angelo (who really wants to be in the big leagues) as his eyes and ears. Angelo also introduces Yul to stripper Barbara Bouchet, who immediately falls in love with the fifty-six year old guy who looks like a peanut.

Yul's character also has a reputation of being a hard-ass contract killer, and his running about in broad daylight wasting mobsters draws the attention of cop Martin Balsam, who intends to either use him to destroy the local mob, or at least get Yul killed so he gets some sort of result. I wasn't quite sure to be honest.

Yul also has this strange affliction where, under stress, his vision goes all red and he flashes back to his brother being killed. It's never really explained but I guess it does have something to do with the plot so we'll just let it slide for now.

The main storyline focuses more on Yul's relationship with Bouchet, and his mentoring of Angelo as a contract killer. Will Barbara change Yul's mind about being a cold-blooded killer, or will Yul's cold blooded killing put Angelo off a life of crime? You'll have to sit through a lot of cold-blooded killing to find out!

The De Angelis brother supply a very funky but melancholy soundtrack that adds to the general bitter atmosphere that'll stick with you. For years this was one of the easier Eurocrime films to find as it was in the public domain. I've now watched the complete version and if you track down the shortened free version you don't miss out on much anyway. Good stuff.

Yul be bored to tears

[Zeegrade · 4/10 · 27 January 2009]

When you think of Yul Brynner nine times out of ten it's his roles in either The Ten Commandments, Magnificent Seven or the King & I. Lucky for him that his mailed-in performances at the end of his career are so forgetful that they do little to mar his reputation. Death Rage is one of these movies.

Yul Brynner plays former mob hit-man Peter Marciani that has flashbacks of the murder of his brother. The so-called "Death Rage" appears as an epileptic red montage of his brother's death superimposed over Peter's face whenever something reminds him of that fateful day. At one point in the movie it is proposed that Peter suffers from glaucoma as evidenced by his "eye medicine" however he is then told by an optometrist that nothing is wrong with his eyes and that perhaps the problem is mental. Whether this was deemed necessary to flesh out the story remains a mystery to me because it never factors into the movie. Obviously his sight is fine due to the fact that he's an amazingly accurate shot and the flashbacks do not in any way alter his demeanor. You might as well have named the movie Serious Bald Hit-man and been done with it.

The cast also includes Massimo Ranieri as Angelo, Peter's eager beaver apprentice who tries very hard to impress him. One of Angelo's gifts to Peter is the introduction to Amy played by the gorgeous Barbara Bouchet. She instantly falls head over-heels in love with Peter and provides the few scenes worth viewing as she is topless in a strip club and fully nude in a following hotel scene. This, it appears to me, is the only reason this movie was given an R rating as the violence is the soft side. Martin Balsam rounds out the cast as, guess this, an Italian commissario! I'm sure Mr. Balsam cashed all of his checks thinking to himself if at some point he would still get paid for playing the same character.

The reason I think so lowly of Death Rage is because it is boring and forgettable. Two sins that supersede production value, sound editing, or poor acting that plagued many seventies flicks. To top it all off, Dino DeLaurentis released basically the same movie three years before this called Frank & Tony starring Lee Van Cleef of spaghetti western fame as Mean Frank and his entertaining sidekick wannabe Tony LoBianco as Crazy Tony. Watch that one instead.

Low-Budget Italian Revenge Flick That is Actually Pretty Decent

[Cyber256702000 · 21 April 2006]

Peter Marciani's brother was killed by the mafia. Now Marciani is traveling to Italy to kill his brother's murderer and he is going to take out his mob one man at a time. Low-budget revenge flick similar to The Punisher movies as far as plot. Slow paced, but peppered with some nice shoot-outs and car chases. I thought it was a fun little movie. Yul Brenner playing Marciani really makes the movie. Martin Balsam was good as the police inspector. The only problem was that their wasn't much characterization on the female lead Anny. Worth a look at if you like movies like The Punisher, other people might want to stay away. ** out of ****

A Story of the Mafia, Revenge, and International Relations

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 23 January 2007]

Yul Brynner stars as a retired mafia hit-man who is called out of retirement to avenge his brother's death. Packing up his fishing pole in New York, he returns to Italy where he confronts the man who killed his brother and his associates, while taking on an apprentice and picking up a lady.

This film had two things working against it: most notably, horrible picture quality. If anything wasn't completely filling the screen, you couldn't always tell what it was supposed to be. This made it difficult to recognize characters, especially when we were looking at things fro ma distance. For the most part, I was able to adjust. But also, this film lacks blood. People get shot from guns with invisible bullets, to grab invisible wounds and fall as they bleed invisible blood. That's some cheap special effects! I guess the "R" rating was used for the nudity, which is nothing spectacular when the camera can't stay focused.

The story itself was decent, and a time-honored tradition in mafia films. Revenge. Maybe that plot gets old for you, but I think it worked quite well here. And the characters were alright. Someone said they weren't surprised this was Brynner's last starring role... I liked him. His apprentice was also alright and the cop was a nice touch (more on this in a moment).

One running theme I liked was the triangle between Brynner, the police and the mafia. The police knew Brynner was there to kill a man (and in fact kills several people) and in one scene the chief even has a lunch with him. The message he sends is "be careful" rather than "you're breaking the law". Now, I understand the point: mafia crime is cleaned up without the police being involved, and because Brynner's an American they can just say he escaped and not waste time on a manhunt. But I still find it hard to believe cops just let killers roam the streets.

My judgment: not a bad film, if someone would provide the labor of love to clean it up. Maybe even a remake is in order, although with all the other mafia and revenge films out there, it's not really one that would stand out. If Brynner is still alive, maybe have him in a cameo role. But seriously, if you can tolerate poor filming and like this type of thing, not a bad picture.

Mediocre Gangster Thriller

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 29 September 2007]

Before surrendering himself completely to touring with The King And I as completely as Bela Lugosi surrendered to being Dracula or James O'Neill surrendered to being The Count of Monte Cristo, Yul Brynner made this final farewell screen appearance in this very mediocre gangster thriller.

Along for the ride on this wild turkey is Barbara Bouchet as Brynner's gangster girl friend, Martin Balsam as the Italian police inspector in Naples and Italian pop star Massimo Ranieri as Brynner's apprentice hit-man.

Brynner is a retired hit-man that gets brought back into the active Mafia by news that a top Naples crime boss ordered and carried out a hit on Brynner's brother. Brynner leaves New York and plots his revenge.

All that distinguishes Death Rage is some nice location cinematography of Naples in the mid seventies. All those seventies fashions are there as well, I can hardly believe I wore some of that. The Americans look bored and just walk through the roles, the Italian players are poorly dubbed in English.

Death Rage is for die-hard fans of Yul Brynner only.

Yul love it.

[cerealmon · 6/10 · 21 October 2019]

Another selection from the 200 Drive in cult classics from those fine people over at Mill Creek.

Basic euro revenge mafia movie. Yul Brynner's last film. He play a hitman retired from the business but brought back in to kill the man who killed his brother. Decent enough movie nothing really stands out but very watchable. Worth a watch just for Mr. Brynner alone.

Mostly unsuccessful Italian thriller

[The_Void · 4/10 · 31 August 2008]

I can only imagine that Death Rage was meant as some sort of cash in on the success of Yul Brynner's earlier movies because as a film in its own right, it really is severely lacking. This is actually quite a surprise too as it's directed by Antonio Margheriti who, while certainly in the 'B' category of Italian directors active in the seventies, still made some very good films with the likes of Schoolgirl Killer and Danse Macabre. This, however, is not one of his finer hours. The plot is just your average everyday story of a hit-man looking for revenge on someone that he is close to; in this case, it's the death of his brother and on the way to his revenge he falls in love with a stripper played by Barbara Bouchet. Yul Brynner often gets the "hard man" act spot on; but personally I find him to be uncharismatic and I can't really say I'm a fan. The main reason I saw this film is because of the inclusion of the beautiful Barbara Bouchet; but unfortunately for me (and the rest of the red blooded male audience) she is sadly underused. There's a fair bit of action in the film, but to be honest I couldn't really care about it as the plot line is so boring. The film hasn't exactly won itself a good reputation in the thirty years since it was made and I'm not surprised about that. I can't really say there's any good reason to see this film.

Naple Syrup

[sol-kay · 5/10 · 27 December 2006]

**SPOILERS** Being contacted by a top Mafia hood, Cannavale, from his hometown of Naples Peter, Maricania, Yul Brynner, spending his retirement years fishing on the Brooklyn waterfront is told if he's interested to do one last hit on gangster Gennare Gallo, the man who murdered his brother. The hit on Gallo has of course nothing to do with Peter's brothers killing. It has to do with his hoods knocking off one of Cannavale's men at the Naple's trotter racetrack. The fact that Peter is told that he in fact did kill his brother makes Peter quickly get a plane ticket to Naples and check out Gallo's pad getting everything together to put the hit on him.

It just so happens that Peter soon runs into young and wanting to make it big with the mob Angelo, Massimo Renieri. Angelo tries to impress the world famous hit-man with his ability to pick winners at the race track. Peter at once realizes what a fake Angelo is when he sees his way of picking winners is. Hiding in a shack and shooting the soon to be winning horse with an air-gun causing him,or her, to brake and end up being disqualify by the racing officials. While the horse that he picks cruises first across the finish line! You wonder why Peter was so quick to pick this up Angelo's cheating and the racing officials, who for what seemed like months, who's job it is to spot these things couldn't? where they all in together in this scam with Angelo?

Gallo knowing that Peter is out to get him dispatches a number of his hood to get Peter. It's Gallo's boys who end up taking gas with two of them getting it in the Naples subway system, by being run over and killed, and one at a local cemetery who ends up being a resident there permanently. Another one of Gallo's hoodlums is himself done in by Gallo's right hand man at the Gallo estate for him screwing up the hit at the racetrack. That of the American mobster, with two of his associates ,getting shot that brought Peter to Naples to put the hit on Gallo in the first place.

The movie at first moves at a snails pace until we have a couple of exciting but mindless foot and car chase scenes as well as shootouts. We also have Peter getting introduced to Angalo's, by Angelo, girlfriend disco dancer Anny, Barbara Bouchet, who gets it on with the sexy hit-man and has a number of wild spins in bed, that were unfortunately edited out in the films and later DVD US release, with him. Anny is also beaten up by two of Gallo's thugs who attempt to kidnap her. There's also the always reliable to be a pain in one's butt, whenever he's in a movie, the overly annoying Martin Balsam as the Commissario. Who's alway getting in the way of Peters work, in and out of bed, and more or less makes an absolute nuisance of himself to everyone,including the audience, in the movie by just being in it.

After almost an hour into the movie we finally get what exactly Peter is planning and it has to do with the wet behind the ears Angelo. Angelo is, unknowingly, being groomed by him to take his place as a top hit-man. As you would expect the kid screws it all up by not being able to knock off Gallo as planned at a New Years party that has Peter, who at the same time knew that young Angelo wasn't up to it, suddenly and unannounced show up and do the job himself.

Were then given another, like so many before in the film, mindless chase scene with Peter, who was badly wounded by Gallo's bodyguard's, knocking off about a half dozen of Gallo's men with him ending up dead for all the trouble he went through. Not only to get Gallo but at the same time make a clean getaway. In fact it was the inexperienced Angelo who made good his escape and at the same time not reveal himself, like Peter did, to Gallo's men. Angelo didn't at all disappoint his dead friend and teacher Peter. Were given this twist ending that takes place at Peter's funeral that was about as surprising as a horse-racing aficionado finding out who won last years Kentucky Darby.

Actually Yul Brynner's last top staring role and for all the movies faults, which are many, he's really the only reason, with the sexy Barbara Bouchet's nude scenes cut out of the movie, to watch it.

Decent...but not one to rush and see.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 8 May 2016]

This is Yul Brynner's final film, though he lived another decade after completing this Italian film. Not surprisingly, it's been dubbed into English and the two American stars in the film, Brynner and Martin Balsam, provide their own voices in the English language version. How much the two versions differ, I have no idea. But this one downloaded from archive.org is the English one and, oddly, the sound and video are about 4 seconds off!

The film is about revenge. Years before, Peter Marciani (Brynner) was shocked when his brother was murdered--and now a mob boss has told him who was responsible because they want the guy killed. So, like a crazed but cool character (a bit like Lee Van Cleef in his Italian films), he works to bring down the murderer's mob...and he has the help of two people. One is a beautiful woman who inexplicably falls for Marciani and LOVES to take off her clothes (making this a very explicit film) and a young guy who wants to be a hit-man just like Marciani.

The film is short on plot and her high on action, death and nudity. Mindlessly enjoyable...making it far from a must-see but decent entertainment.

Yul's last film

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 1 November 2018]

Before he totally devoted himself solely to the stage, Yul Brynner made one final film. This was it. It's also known as Anger In His Eyes and feels completely out of place on the Chilling Classics box set.

Shenanigans at a horse track lead to an American mafia plater being killed in Naples. They bring Peter Marciani (Brynner) out of retirement to get revenge, which he's all too happy to do once he finds out that the killers were behind his brother's murder. Of course, there are plenty of doublecrosses along the way.

Need a better reason to watch this? Barbara Bouchet (The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, Amuck!, Don't Torture a Duckling) plays love interest and exotic dancer Anny. And Martin Balsam - for the ladies!!!

I'll do you one better - it's directed by Antonio Margheriti, who directed Yor, Hunter from the Future. There are some interesting touches like how Marciani literally sees red when he thinks of his brother.

Interestingly enough - maybe more so than this movie, a Eurocrime mob revenge film - Bouchet was horrified at Brynner's treatment of the crew, so she sent him a bouquet of carnations, a flower he was extremely phobic about being exposed to. Did he get that phobia from acting in the TV movie Flowers from a Stranger, where that was the entire plot of the film? I can't find anything else about it, but that seems like such a weird thing to be upset about. I do know that Bouchet told this story in person when Death Rage played the Beverly Cinema during Quentin Tarantino's first all-grindhouse-classic month in 2007.

Easy to see why this was Brynner's last starring role

[Serpent-5 · 18 April 2000]

This poorly put together mafia hitman film is just another dull movie wasting the talent of the late Yul Brynner. Seeing this film I understand why Mr. Brynner quit motion pictures and stayed in KING & I tour for many years. This mishmash has Yul as a hitman who finds out that a kingpin in Italy is the man that killed his brother. Yul takes on a rookie sidekick, fall in love with a dancer (bouchet) and Martin Balsam plays a italian cop. The film at least have Yul and Balsam not dubbed by someone else, and does have some car chase and nudity to keep the action audience entertained. I think Brynner could've made a career like most action stars who do Italian film, but this was the only low-grade film he ever did. I guess performing to a crowd on KING & I on stage is more rewarding than doing a film going straight to the drive-ins/grindhouse circuit. Only amusing moment is the rock star badly lipsinc a Oliver Onion tune in the opening scene which has nothing to do with the film.

Very forgettable

[ryangilmer007 · 6/10 · 20 April 2000]

This is a short and forgettable film. Brynner is the reason to see the film, but even his role does not have much presence to it. A lot of the dubbing is mediocre and the story is rather straight-forward and nothing new (even for the 70's). Chase scenes are OK and amusing and some of the Brynner/rookie interplay is good, but overall everything could have been better and some aspects were predictable. viewed/owned on VHS

An average thriller

[sb88 · 5/10 · 15 July 2008]

In "Death Rage," Peter Marciani is out to get the man who put a hit out on his brother. It's not the most original story by any means and there's no doubt it's been done other places better. Throw in a couple other very familiar plot plot elements and it brings even less to the table.

Maybe that's a little unfair, though. Despite all the clichés, the movie still isn't bad. It's everything you come to expect, but that doesn't made it can't provide some cheap fun. There's gunfights, car chases, and some funny lines.

Overall, it's fairly harmless. There's worse ways to spend 90 minutes, but there are also better ones. Since it's easily available (and probably for free online), it's not a bad idea to check it out and get some cheap thrills.

Italian Crime Movie with Yul BRYNNER and Barbara BOUCHET

[ZeddaZogenau · 7/10 · 24 January 2024]

With anger in his eyes: Neapolitan revenge thriller with Yul Brynner and Barbara Bouchet

This film by genre veteran Antonio Margheriti grossed ITL 639 million at the Italian box office. The music comes from the De Angelis brothers. Quite exciting, but also a bit conventional! However, appropriate entertainment is guaranteed.

The New York contract killer Peter Marciani (ACADEMY AWARD winner Yul Brynner) has actually already retired. But when he sees the opportunity to bring his younger brother's murderer (Giancarlo Sbragia) to justice, he intervenes in a mafia conflict in Naples. He receives unexpected support from a small-time crook named Angelo (EUROVISION star Massimo Ranieri). This Angelo is a smart guy who influences horse racing in his favor with targeted blank cartridges. The poor horses! It makes sense that the ambitious Angelo sees his chance to get involved with the really bad guys. There is still a lot to do for the investigating detective (ACADEMY AWARD winner Martin Balsam). Love is not neglected either! The busy Angelo introduces the beautiful Anny (Barbara Bouchet) to Marciani. Anny will soon see herself in New York, but before then there will be some conflicts. And then there's Marciani's secret visit to the ophthalmologist (Renzo Marignano), he just has anger in his eyes...

This film was to be Yul Brynner's (1920-1985) last; until his death, the star could only be seen in the theater. The participation of the singer Massimo Ranieri (*1951) as an underworld trainee is interesting. In 1971 and 1973, the extremely popular singer represented Italy in the EUROVISION Song Contest. In February 2022 he could be seen and heard again as a participant at the Sanremo Festival. Barbara Bouchet is beautiful as always in this film. But you can tell that the chemistry with Brynner wasn't very good. Oh yes, Sal Borgese is also there in a small role.

Well worth seeing, but not a highlight of the Italian gangster film!

Brynner's fine in a somewhat predictable hit-man thriller

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 11 June 2016]

DEATH RAGE is one of the probably hundreds of Italian polizia flicks made in the 1970s. These tough crime thrillers could typically be characterised by gangsters, violence, shoot-outs, car chases, and no-nonsense cops investigating the cases and I have to admit that they're among my favourite kind of films. This one is slightly different in that it's more American-focused than usual, in an attempt to pass itself off as a US-made movie. It doesn't work, but the film provides passable entertainment for those who like these kinds of movies. Imagine a '70s version of LEON and you'll be halfway there.

The best thing about the movie is undoubtedly the main star. Yul Brynner has always been a favourite of mine and he trades on his Hollywood hard man image here as the icy assassin. Although he's clearly middle-aged by now, he more than looks the part in his dashing black suit and he acts everyone else off the screen effortlessly. Another big bonus is who he's cast against; Martin Balsam was an old hand in these types of films and once again he's typecast here as the commissioner. So what? Balsam's always excellent and he provides good value for money yet again.

The revenge-style plot is nothing new and there isn't much in the way of twists to make it stand out. In fact, it's not particularly memorable, detailing Brynner's vendetta against a gangster gang, revealing how he works his way up from the small-fry thugs to the head honcho. Some interest is added from the inclusion of a young 'apprentice' killer, played by Massimo Ranieri. At first I didn't like this guy; there was no real reason why he was always hanging around Brynner's character (apart from hero worship). Yet by the closing scenes, in which Brynner sets him up to take over his line of business, I was more engaged and there's a nice twist ending involving his character.

Director Antonio Margheriti is one of my favourite Italian auteurs, simply because he's so enthusiastic about whatever he does. He was there from the early '60s pepla through the spaghetti westerns, crime flicks, science fiction and fantasy. He can always be relied upon to make a decently-shot movie and this one's no exception. The pacing is spot on and there's the requisite number of car chases and shoot-outs just waiting to be enjoyed. The director was fond of fantastic elements in his movies and there's a little gimmick here of an animated blood pool popping up as Brynner relives a traumatic event from his past. It doesn't really make sense or fit in but it explains the title, I guess. The only other thing worth mentioning is an extraneous turn from Barbara Bouchet, who provides window dressing and nothing else. Bouchet is happy to strip for the role (literally) but she couldn't be more wooden. She's not the reason to tune in: Brynner's well-groomed, good-and-evil hit-man is. He keeps you watching.

Enjoyable but not special

[LeoLom · 7/10 · 4 December 2021]

This is a fine B movie with a great cast : Yul Brynner, Massimo Ranieri, Barbara Bouchet, Martin Balsam! Bouchet is underused (but undressed a lot as well) This film and the Squize, both seem to be inspired by The Mechanic (1972) and it is interesting to see different solutions/variations of the main themes that Margheriti comes up with. This film is also close to typical Poliziotteschi however, despite all the violence, it doesn't have the mean streak that is common in that genre and that is a good thing in my book.

Somewhat average Italian crime-thriller

[Red-Barracuda · 5/10 · 7 November 2010]

Death Rage is a poliziotteschi about a retired hit-man (Yul Brynner) who decides to take one last job to avenge the murder of his brother by a mafia gang; he is assisted by an eager young would-be mobster. This is a fairly routine plot-line with no surprises. Yul Brynner plays the role well enough but his character isn't especially interesting. He does suffer from debilitating flash-backs of the killing of his brother; this is shown on screen by an odd red graphic. It's maybe the most interesting idea in the film but it doesn't really ultimately go anywhere, similarly the bad eye-condition that Brynner suffers isn't developed in any way, and feels just like padding. The movie does have an extended car chase and quite a bit of gun-play, so it does at least attempt to keep the action flowing. The problem is more in that the story isn't very dynamic and the villain doesn't seem to do very much or pose too much of a threat, so it's hard to get very involved. The film does also star Martin Balsam in a pretty clichéd role as a police commissario. Much more interesting is the inclusion of Barbara Bouchet as a stripper. This cult Euro actress is a great asset to any film that I have seen her in, and this film is no exception. But, despite being naked quite a lot, she isn't really utilized very well. Overall, this is not a film that comes especially recommended but as a basic crime-thriller it's passably entertaining.

Eeeeh

[loujackandrandy · 4/10 · 20 February 2017]

I actually found this movie to be quite boring. It didn't really keep my attention. I mean, the acting wasn't bad. I guess the main thing was I didn't really care about any or the characters. None of them! And the story itself didn't engage me. My attention kept wandering. And I like mystery/action movies generally. It had its moments I guess. But overall it's one of those movies I'd have on in the background while I'm cleaning or something just to have some noise.

Yul Bryner Has the Death Rage

[evanston_dad · 4/10 · 20 September 2010]

Yul Bryner plays a hit man out to avenge the death of his brother in this low-budget European thriller that also features Martin Balsam (of all people) as an Italian police chief!

There's not much of note about this film except some exquisite but all-too-brief full frontal nudity provided by bombshell Barbara Bouchet. The film's not bad, exactly, but it's too rough around the edges and uninspired to be truly good. The malady that gives the film its title is a sort of mental migraine that afflicts Bryner whenever he's about to kill someone and has a flashback to the killing of his brother, and it's visually represented by a groovy smear of red that runs down the frame like blood. But though the filmmakers make such a definite point of introducing that particular plot point, it oddly plays no role in the film and nothing comes of it.

Grade: C