Woodyanders Review of Redneck

Redneck (1973)

An enjoyably appalling piece of disgusting Italian crime thriller trash

[8/10 · 31 July 2009]

Blundering hoodlum Mosquito (the ever-cool Franco Nero) and his loud, volatile, obnoxious hillbilly psycho partner Memphis (an outrageously hammy Telly Savalas) botch a jewelry store heist. The incompetent duo steal a car and inadvertently kidnap proper and pampered rich lad Lennox Duncan (well played by Mark Lester of "Oliver" fame). Mosquito's meek, whiny girlfriend Maria (the lovely Ely Galleani) tags along for the ride. Naturally, Lennox falls under the evil influence of the two slimy crooks. Director Silvio Narizzano, working from an unapologetically sick and sordid script by Masolino D'Amico and Win Wells, whips up an extremely odd, harsh, and downright repulsive flick that gleefully wallows in excessively bloody and sadistic violence, shocking brutal behavior, and a truly wicked sense of grimly ironic humor. The coarse, rough, and nasty tone gets more vile and upsetting as the seamy story unfolds towards its perfectly depressing bummer ending. Savalas has an absolute field day with his gloriously unrestrained eye-rolling portrayal of the manic and unhinged Memphis: Telly mangles an overdone Southern accent, shoots a little boy dead, gets kicked right where it counts by Lennox, smokes a joint, sings, cries, kills a mangy crippled dog, and even massacres an entire family by pushing their trailer home into a lake so they can all drown. Moreover, there's a bizarre homoerotic undercurrent in the relationship between Mosquito and Lennox which adds an extra freaky edge to the already depraved proceedings. Both Giorgio Tonti's slick, agile cinematography and Maurizio Catalano's eclectic, melodic score are up to par. A satisfying serving of raw and offensive low-grade sleaze.