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DisturbingeventsleadanartistwhophotographsstrangerstosuspectthatsomeoneoutthereiswatchingHER.Boundariesblurbetweenrealandimaginary,crimeandart,thewatcherandthewatched.

Umberto Lenzi is undoubtedly the king of Italian crime movies, but unfortunately; Syndicate Sadists is not the best examples of his work in this genre. Lenzi's crime flicks tend to be a cut above the rest because he makes films based on stories with a point, and they don't lack direction; but this film feels a bit too wayward to fully fit with the rest of his stuff. The film takes obvious influence from Sergio Leone's landmark western 'A Fistful of Dollars' (which in turn, took influence from Akira Kurosawa's landmark samurai flick Yojimbo), in that it features two warring families and a strong character at the centre. The crime that Lenzi focuses on is kidnapping, and we centre on a character called 'Rambo'. Rambo is dragged into the war between the two families after his brother is killed because of it. Rambo uses his brains and brawn to pit the two families against one another, in the hope of gaining revenge for his brother's death, rescuing a young boy that they've kidnapped, and ultimately letting the two sides destroy one another.　　The film's biggest asset is undoubtedly Tomas Milian. Milian was put to great use by Lenzi in almost all of his crime thrillers. The range of characters he has played for Lenzi is immense, and this one is easily one of the coolest. The character is called Rambo, which immediately sprang to mind the popular Sylvester Stallone character - but for once, the Italians actually haven't stolen this name as Syndicate Sadists was released first! As usual, the film is wickedly entertaining, as we get to watch Milian get himself involved in the usual array of car chases, shootouts and brawls. Lenzi has got him riding a motorbike this time round, and every scene featuring it and Milian is a real standout! However, the film often feels like it doesn't really have anywhere to go, and this means that the running time is stretched out more than it should be. Compared to the crime films of other Italian directors, Syndicate Sadists is more than above average; but in relation to Lenzi crime flicks such as Almost Human and The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist - it doesn't stand tall as one of Lenzi's best. Still, if you're looking for ninety minutes of testosterone fuelled mayhem - Syndicate Sadists will suffice!

号称是美国七十年代最非著名的一部科幻电影杰作，导演索尔·巴斯是设计师，还曾两次获过奥斯卡奖，但不知为何这部经典的心理科幻片至今都没出DVD。　　Desert ants suddenly form a collective intelligence and begin to wage war on the desert inhabitants. It is up to two scientists and a stray girl they rescue from the ants to destroy them. But the ants have other ideas.　　Phase IV is an incredible full length feature film by Saul Bass who is most acclaimed as a graphic designer who's work can be seen as the opening credits from The Seven Year Itch, Vertigo, West Side Story to Alien, Broadcast News and Casino. Phase IV is a much overlooked film that is very much in the style of The Andromeda Strain. What it perhaps lacks in story, it gains in the photography of the millions of ants.　　索尔·巴斯，美国动画片绘制家、美工师、导演，1920年5月8日生于纽约市，少年时曾经在布鲁克林学院学习绘画，毕业后从事过十年自由职业设计师的职业，1946年在洛杉矶创立索尔·巴斯合作公司。他在为一些影片进行美术设计时，猜出心裁地为片头片尾的演职人员表配上生动活泼的动画人物，这些动画人物的形态动作巧妙地提示了影片的主题，反映了影片的基调，从而使单调乏味的演职人员表和谐地成为了影片不可或缺的一部分，这种大胆的创新丰富了电影的表现形式，广受观众们的喜爱，其后为不少国家的影片所沿用。索尔·巴斯设计片头片尾的影片以《卡门·琼斯》(1955)、《红衣主教》(1963)等片最为著名。此外，他还监制和导演了很多电视广告片、动画片片和纪录片，如《敏锐的眼光》(1963)、《第四相》(1974)等。