Welcome to guilty pleasure. Or rather, welcome to Enzo Castellari's low grade Warriors/Escape From New York inspired saga of a post apocalyptic New York wasteland inhabited by violent rival street gangs. Looking at first glance for all the world like yet another Italian cash in on a bigger and more successful American film, these three flicks are actually quite entertaining and enjoyable, and while the acting and dialogue is on par with Cannibal Ferox for idiotic and laughably quotable, you can see just why a certain Mr.Tarantino never shuts up about this trilogy or its lovable and cheery director. Let's not forget that this is the chap who directed the original Inglorious Bastards back in 1978. He comes across as a thoroughly likeable guy on the DVD extras and remains passionate and proud of his films to this day, as he runs us through the film's development and legacy.
Recently replacing Vipco's terrible VHS copies are Shameless Screen Entertainment, who for starters aren't advertising these films as anything other than the fun trash they are (Vipco claimed they belonged in their infamously bad "Vaults Of Horror" series, which couldn't be less accurate) and have gone and put out a superb looking trilogy box set in a wonderfully skull embossed metal tin. The care and attention to detail these guys are putting into their DVD releases is a great way of introducing bizarre films such as these to an audience who would otherwise not know they existed. And as daft as this trilogy is (its pacing is at times uneven and makes no sense), it's also pretty hard to dislike, especially if you're a fan of The Warriors, Mad Max or just post apocalypse films in general.
There's a tradition with most Science Fiction films of this type, and sometimes with the more respectable ones, of slapping a date on the film, and in this case it's 1990. Made during the golden period of Italian exploitation films and sharing more than just a passing resemblance to Lucio Fulci's films of the early 80s, Castellari also shared producer, screen writer and apparently location. There are several scenes set on the same Bronx harbour as the famous opening sequence to Fulci's Zombie, and the twin towers crop up ominously in several shots.
The story itself revolves around Anne (Stefania Girolami) 17-year-old heiress to The Manhattan Corporation. Feeling guilty over having to inherit a morally questionable company on her 18th birthday, she flees into the lawless wasteland of New York and hides out with the street gang The Riders, and their charismatic leader Trash (Mark Gregory, who for some reason walks more like a horse than a man). Throw into the mix a Clockwork Orange-esque rival gang in clown paint, an insane ninja pony tailed George Eastman(of Absurd and Rabid Dogs fame) and a low key appearance from Vic Morrow as the infiltrating ex cop and you have yourself an entertaining night in of some sort of rock n roll urban hell. Though not anywhere as near as violent or brutal as you would think from the poster art or the time they were conceived, all three films pack quite a punch, and surprisingly, both sequels are fairly strong for this sort of thing.
The New Barbarians(is it actually part 2 or part 3? Different sources say different things) was shot the same year as the first film and is intentionally silly in comparison. Taking place in 2019 where laser guns and cyber punks roam the desert wastelands chopping each other up. And not much else. Escape From The Bronx is similar in tone to the first installment but flies along at a crazy speed as Trash returns alone to stop the Bronx being torn down and turned into a high tech city of the future. Apparently director Castellari thought Mark Gregory had put on too much weight so asked him to leave his jacket on throughout filming. Though slightly more cynical and downbeat in tone, Escape From The Bronx is a great companion piece to the first film and stays truer to its origins than the more lightweight and sci-fi tinged New Barbarians, but sadly the glowing plastic skulls that adorn the gangs' motorbikes from the first film don't make a return.
All in all good trashy fun that, whilst not begging for THAT many repeated viewings, is a worthwhile addition to any good exploitation collection. Especially in this incarnation as it just looks great and feels all the more special for its almost unnecessarily deluxe treatment. Another classy job from Shameless Films.
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