Duri a morire (a.k.a. Tough To Kill) is a movie with a set of balls so large that they drag on the ground. Sam Peckinpah probably would have left the theater with a tear in his eye if he had ever had the chance to see this D'Amato outing.
The story, a simple one, concerns Martin, a small-time mafia hitman, who receives word on where he can locate a high-profile political assassin. The bounty on the man is up to one million dollars. The assassin has been doing mercenary work in the jungles of Africa to earn some extra cash. With very little effort, Martin manages to infiltrate the merc squad and gains access to the assassin.
Martin, and four others, use a routine attack on a bridge to take the assassin hostage. They set off into the jungle for their rendezvous in Georgeville. They won't all make it. Along for the journey is a congenial villager who seems to act as the group's guardian angel.. or is he?
Excellent cinematography helps to pump this film up a little but the bad dialogue manages to deflate it again. What I really enjoyed about Duri a morire was the way D'Amato introduced each of the mercenaries, gave them each a distinct personality, then played with them. He never allows the audience to form a solid opinion of them. I also enjoyed the ending which took me completely by surprise, even despite DAmato's various hints throughout the movie.
In closing, Duri a morire is a gritty, low-budget film about brooding men with enough machismo, chest-beating and testosterone for any two Nick Gomez movies. If you you can get around all the violence and silly, tough-guy, one-liners you might actually get a kick out of this film. I sure did!
The story, a simple one, concerns Martin, a small-time mafia hitman, who receives word on where he can locate a high-profile political assassin. The bounty on the man is up to one million dollars. The assassin has been doing mercenary work in the jungles of Africa to earn some extra cash. With very little effort, Martin manages to infiltrate the merc squad and gains access to the assassin.
Martin, and four others, use a routine attack on a bridge to take the assassin hostage. They set off into the jungle for their rendezvous in Georgeville. They won't all make it. Along for the journey is a congenial villager who seems to act as the group's guardian angel.. or is he?
Excellent cinematography helps to pump this film up a little but the bad dialogue manages to deflate it again. What I really enjoyed about Duri a morire was the way D'Amato introduced each of the mercenaries, gave them each a distinct personality, then played with them. He never allows the audience to form a solid opinion of them. I also enjoyed the ending which took me completely by surprise, even despite DAmato's various hints throughout the movie.
In closing, Duri a morire is a gritty, low-budget film about brooding men with enough machismo, chest-beating and testosterone for any two Nick Gomez movies. If you you can get around all the violence and silly, tough-guy, one-liners you might actually get a kick out of this film. I sure did!