Maurizio Merli — Actor (16)

Movie

Covert Action (1978)
Sono stato un agente C.I.A. WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: Covert Action – Rauschgift tötet leise / 秘密行動 …
Janssen plays an ex-CIA agent who has become an author, writing both non-fiction exposes (Phillip Agee was in the news at this time) and fiction spy novels. The CIA is on his case, in the person of Arthur Kennedy, CIA chief in Athens, where Janssen is staying. Janssen is pursuing a case that interests him, while dodging the traps set for him by Kennedy and trying to help Maurizio Merli, a former colleague with personal problems.

Movie

Vultures Over the City (1981)
Buitres sobre la ciudad WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: Vautours sur la ville / Buitres sobre la ciudad
Merli, teamed with Mexican star Hugo Stiglitz as his photographer buddy, plays a journalist investigating the shady activities of the local Mafia. Eventually the shit hits the fan, and Merli is cornered and beaten for sticking his nose to close to the action. After his girlfriend is raped, Merli dishes out some vigilante justice and punches, shoots, and bitch slaps his way through the Mafia ranks.

Movie

Convoy Busters (1978)
Un poliziotto scomodo IMDb Douban
other title: Un poliziotto scomodo / 护航警探 …
Convoy Busters may not be the best Polizi movie ever to come out of Italy, but it's certainly an above average crime romp with a great cast and more action packed stunt sequences than you can shake a stick at! The film is set up a little differently to most of the Polizi movies that I've seen, as it's a movie of two halves and a lot of it takes place in settings unlike the thick urban atmosphere I've come to associate with this sort of movie; namely, a quiet seaside town and the rural countryside. Most of these films take influence from Dirty Harry, and Convoy Buster is no different as Maurizio Merli's maverick copper has a definite Clint Eastwood vibe about him; but the fact that it's a little different gives Convoy Busters a lot of credibility in my opinion. The story starts when the dead body of a young girl is found with her throat cut. Commissioner Olmi takes the case, but when his violent methods leave an innocent man dead; he gets transferred to a quiet coastal town. However, the fact that it's quiet doesn't mean there isn't any organised crime...

Movie

Magnum Cop (1978)
Poliziotto senza paura WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: Die Zuhälterin / Policía sin miedo …
A low-rent private investigator and former cop is sent to Austria on a job, and while there sees a number of seemingly unrelated coincidences that lead him into a strange web of corruption and decadence.

Movie

A Man Called Blade (1977)
Mannaja WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: Mannaja, O Cavaleiro Solitário / Mannaja - Das Beil des Todes …
Maurizio Merli stars as a hatchet-wielding bounty hunter with a dark past and an even more desperate future. But when he disrupts the balance of power in a corrupt mining town, he unleashes a firestorm of brutality, betrayal and cold-blooded murder. Now, one man stalks a savage land where justice walks a razor and no bullets slice deeper than vengeance. He is A MAN CALLED BLADE.

Movie

Violent Rome (1975)
Roma violenta WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: Verdammte heilige Stadt / 暴力之城羅馬 …
A detective sick and tired of the rampant crime and violence in his city, and constantly at odds with his superiors, is finally kicked out of the department for a "questionable" shooting of a vicious criminal. However, he is soon approached by a representative for a group of citizens who themselves are fed up with what they see as criminals going unpunished, and they make him an offer he may very well not refuse.

Movie

Violent Naples (1976)
Napoli violenta WikiData IMDb TMDB
other title: Camorra - Ein Bulle räumt auf / Opération casseur …
Inspector Betti (Maurizio Merli) is transferred to Naples and immediately after his arrival receives a warm welcome from The Commandante (Barry Sullivan), the city's crime lord. Betti then goes on a personal mission against corruption and organized crime, and tries to force the syndicate out of town with any means necessary.

Movie

Rome Armed to the Teeth (1976)
Roma a mano armata WikiData IMDb TMDB Douban
other title: 罗马武装 / Roma a mano armata …
Maurizio Merli and Tomas Milian star in probably the most typical, yet completely enjoyable Italian crime movie by Umberto Lenzi. With a blazing soundtrack by Franco Micalizzi and some exciting camerawork by Federico Zanni, this film is fast-paced and furious although the narrative makes relatively little sense. This reminds me of THE RAIDERS OF ATLANTIS, a film Dardano Sacchetti also penned, which was completely fun and enjoyable although it didn't make any sense whatsoever. The best scenes in this movie have to be the extended car chases. Milian hijacks an ambulence and kills all the people on board for no reason. When it crashes in a crowded flea market, Milian jumps out of the ambulence and just starts randomly firing his sub-machine gun into the crowd to create enough confusion to get away. Another great scene has a gang of upper-class teenagers led by the baby-faced Stefano Patrizi who get bored of nightclubbing and proceed to rape a girl and beat up her boyfriend in a vacant lot. Patrizi is wholely unsympathetic as he punches the boyfriend in the gut repeatedly and knees him in the face, then making weird gestures with a nearby piece of wood. Merli later pops by their nightclub and smashes Patrizi's face right through a pinball machine and then simultaneously beats the tar out of the six or so members of the gang! This film comes fast and furious. Good performances all around by a veteran cast (with Arthur Kennedy, Ivan Rassimov, and Luciano Pigozzi along for the ride). It's not the most coherent of Lenzi's works, but it's definitely a genre classic. imdb comment

Movie

铁血警察 (1978)
Il commissario di ferro Douban
other title: Il commissario di ferro
This Film seems to be some kinda sequel to the Hunted City. Comissario Ferro comes from Rome to Milan. The violence is at a all time high. Gangsters dress up with some bizarre Carnival-masks. They use this outfit to liquidate some opponents. Ferro is no friend of such behavior and so he uses his gun the traditional way and lightens their masses a little bit. Even though the ending is a bit disappointing, the film contains a great fight in a plastic-factory with lots a white plastic bottles. Visually nice! I like the documentary-style of Massis Camera very much. It makes the film so involving and real. His Experience in the Western-Genre as Camera operator in films like "C'e Sartana vendi la pistola..." and "Dio Perdoni la mia Pistola" sure comes in handy. Joan Collins had no trouble with face-surgery at that time.