Back in the late 80s/early 90s I was not allowed to watch the many horror films that adorned the plastic shelving of my local video store. Some might say that is wise parenting, considering I was only 5 or 6 at the time. But strangely action films were deemed ok to view (such as substandard fare from Cannon Pictures and Guild Video).
Horror fans nowadays are spoiled rotten. They’ve grown up with fancy special effects and boundary-pushing thematic content packaged with the latest genre titles, whereas viewers way back when made do with the main actor staring at everyone as a movie’s big draw.
In 1988, Dick Maas, a Dutch film director who has gain success within his native country with films such as De Lift and Flodder, brought to the screen one of his biggest pictures, the horror action thriller, Amsterdamned. Which at the American Film Market of 1988, would go on to become the third highest selling motion picture that year.
But what is Amsterdamned and should we thank Shameless for bringing it to us in their latest release?
Umberto Lenzi’s Almost Human is an unrelenting, uncompromising and mean-spirited poliziotteschi that succeeds on every possible level. This ultra-violent, ultra-stylish Italian crime film stars Tomás Milián as the sadistic Giulio Sacchi, a low life criminal sick of the social class disorder in Milan after a bank robbery turns sour leaving him desperate for cash. His luck however is about to change… Almost Human is a wildly violent, depraved and entertaining poliziotteschi that has easily become Lenzi’s greatest achievement in Italian crime cinema.
