Disclaimer: All opinions are those of the author, and do not reflect the opinions of DreadCult, staff or owner. Posts may contain Amazon affiliate links, marked with. If you purchase a product through one of these links, we recieve a small commission at no additional cost to you
Finding a bunch of forgotten Italian exploitation films sends you down a rabbit hole you might not be prepared for.
Cry of a prostitute is a story about a hitman, played by brutish tough guy Henry Silva (Dick Tracy, Manchurian Candidate), playing two sects of the mafia against each other for his own benefit—basically a remake of Fistful of Dollars, which was a remake of Yojimbo but with a Mafia backdrop.
It was supposedly one of the most shocking and brutal Italian crime films ever made. For the first 45 minutes, I was like, “Okay lots of Italian Gunshot blood splatter. Nothing odd really,” but then Tony ( Silva) makes a move on one of the mob boss’s wives. Who also happens to be an ex-prostitute. Barbara Bouchet plays Margie, the ex-prostitute surrounded by men with extremely violent kinks. Then “it” happens. An incredibly graphic sex scene where Silva rams Bouchet’s head in a dead pig carcass. He forces her head inside as he forces himself in her. They are covered in blood as they writhe in lust for each other. It is a what the fuck moment that will live in my brain for a long time and in a long line of what the fuck moments.
Then we just casually get back to the Yojimbo rip-off mafia-style story. Everything after that scene comes off as very tame and that is including a scene with some table saw head splitting and some very seductive banana eating.
This movie is full of sexually deprived and violent characters. This is for Italian exploitation junkies. Even though it is a crime drama, it will appeal to old-school gore hounds. If for nothing else than to see a scene that will make you go, ” Okay. What?”. So be prepared. The shock value is pretty high.
Silva repeatedly proved that he was good enough to be a leading man but usually ended up as the bad guy. Most famously in Above The Law, Dick Tracy, Shark’ys Machine, and Alligator. He would play a role in Ocean’s Eleven even later in his career. Silva was lean and athletic and could handle himself in the stunt work. He was commonly forced into fistfights with the film’s hero, was believably intimidating enough, and was in good shape to hold his own. He was basically the antagonist version of Charles Bronson or Chuck Norris. So it was a smooth transition when he played a vigilante or a hero.
The Blu-ray of Cry of The Prostitute can be found through licensing distribution by Kino Lorber as an acquisition from the deceased physical media company CODE RED.
