L'amico del padrino

For a film made by Egyptian/Italian hack director Frank Agramma (who graced the world with the likes of "Queen Kong" and "Dawn of the Mummy")this is is a veritable masterpiece, even though as a violent Italian police thriller it is only a little better than middling. Expatriate American actor Richard Harrison plays a mob hit-man with a troubled past(he witnessed his father being murdered and his mother being fatally raped by mafiosi on the day of his 12th birthday party). He is stationed in Istanbul doing jobs for the unseen "godfather" when he is approached by a treacherous friend who gets him involved in drugs and a mob war, all the while plotting to take over his spot in the mafia hierarchy. Like a lot of these Italian films, and very unlike the Hollywood ones, this movie has a very morally ambiguous tone and decidedly cynical ending. 　　This movie is very similar to an earlier film, "The Long Arm of the Godfather". Both films feature the voluptuous Erika Blanc, but here she's pretty much reduced to a part of the scenery. She's teamed up, however, with Krista Nell in kind of a one-two punch of vintage "Euro-babes", and for Nell this might have been one of her best roles ever, playing a free-spirited mob moll "Layla" who meets a tragic end. 　　The movie was a Turkish co-production and features a lot of attractive Istanbul locations that would have done the local tourist board proud (although Blanc and Nell probably would have caused a riot running around Istanbul dressed like they are this movie). It's not a great movie by a long shot, but it's a mildly pleasant way to waste 90 minutes, I guess.