Raymond Lovelock Movies
Lucio Fulci's thriller Murder Rock takes place at a dance academy. When students start turning up dead, Candice (Olga Karlatos) becomes an amateur sleuth in order to track down the person responsible for terrorizing the place. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1980
A visually evocative period piece set in late 1930s Italy, this drama is about one man's eventual awakening and transformation. Oberdan (Ray Lovelock) is born into a wealthy family, and although his father is Jewish, he does not pay that much attention to his heritage. He marries an equally wealthy woman, and then his life changes when he goes off to war in North Africa. Returning with nightmare images of his years in the service, he leaves his wife and home and goes to Bologna to work as a journalist. With a lively new friend (Adalberto Rossetti) and a new love interest (Martine Brochard), it seems, for awhile, that life might take a turn for the better. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymond Lovelock, Martine Brochard, (more)
The internationally produced From Hell to Victory is evocative of the works of Erich Maria Remarque. Several close friends of varying nationalities are separated by WW II. German Jurgen Dietrich (Horst Buchholz) is isolated from his old chums by his loyalty to the Fatherland. Still, he and his former comrades hold out hope for a happy reunion at war's end. George Peppard, George Hamilton and Capucine also appear. Despite some well-done battle sequences and a star-studded cast, From Hell to Victory never received an American theatrical release. In some prints, director Umberto Lenzi is billed as "Hank Milestone" (possibly an homage to All Quiet on the Western Front director Lewis Milestone). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Peppard, George Hamilton, (more)
This shameless knockoff of Last House on the Left even goes so far as to repeat the detail of having the theme song performed by the lead villain. Florinda Bolkan (Non Si Sevizia un Paperino) plays a nun who takes the teenage girls in her care to a remote house where they rehearse A Midsummer Night's Dream. Ray Lovelock and a pair of thugs show up, brutally raping and terrorizing the girls -- killing one by raping her with a cane -- until Bolkan renounces her teachings and seeks bloody revenge. Utter nonsense, but AC/DC and Roxy Music are on the soundtrack, so it isn't a complete waste. Director Franco Prosperi is best known for co-directing Mondo Cane and Africa Addio. Sherry Buchanan (Dr. Butcher, M.D.) co-stars with Laura Trotter. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Florinda Bolkan, Raymond Lovelock, (more)
- 1977
Silver screen sexpot Edwige Fenech headlines this bawdy Italian sex comedy about a gorgeous housewife who plots mischievous revenge against her philandering husband, a powerful businessman. Gioia (Fenech may be a stunner, but that doesn't stop her husband Gianni (Alberto Lionello) from attempting to seduce any woman who crosses his path. Upon deciding that a taste of his own medicine may serve Gianni well, lusty Gioia recruits handsome stranger Patrizio (Ray Lovelock) in teaching her husband that it pays to remain faithful. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- PG
The American prints of Battle Force credit the direction to one Humphrey Longan, but in fact the man behind the megaphone of this European war flick was Umberto Lenzi. Orson Welles narrates this crazy-quilt of stock battle footage and hapharzardly staged new scenes. A lot of potent acting talent -- Henry Fonda, Stacy Keach, Helmut Berger, Samantha Eggar -- is squandered herein. Since we know who won the war, it serves no purpose to offer a random series of events leading up to the victory if they aren't going to be interestingly presented. Originally titled Il Grande Attaco, this one was also shipped out as La Battaglia di Mareth, The Biggest Battle and The Great Battle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This bizarre entry into the disaster film genre concerns a group of hapless passengers aboard a transcontinental luxury train who are infected with a viral plague by a group of terrorists. Burt Lancaster plays military man Mackenzie, who wants to send the train across a rickety bridge so all the passengers will die, with Mackenzie reasoning the tragedy will give the terrorist movement a bad name. Among the passengers on the train trying to build up antibodies are Jennifer Rispoli Chamberlain (Sophia Loren); Nicole (Ava Gardner), who is embroiled in an affair with a younger man named Robby Navarro (Martin Sheen); and Dr. Jonathan Chamberlain (Richard Harris), a physician who wants to save the passengers but ends up duking it out with the terrorists. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, (more)
- 1975
The title of the Italian At Last, At Last refers to sex. In fact, virtually every line of dialogue in this domestic comedy has an erotic tinge. The plot concerns a newlywed couple's attempt to cure the husband's impotence. You guessed it: "outside specialists" are brought into arouse hubby's libido. Carroll Baker, Edwige French, Renzo Montagnani and Ray Lovelock star. Originally titled La Moglie Vergine, the film has also been released as The Virgin Wife and You've Got to Have Heart. Though At Last, at Last couldn't get it up on American TV screens, it stood firm and proud on cable television, where it premiered in 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
When state officials test out a new experimental pest-control device that uses subsonic waves to kill insects, it produces an unwelcome but interesting side-effect: the noise is enough to wake the dead -- literally -- and the corpses of the recently deceased begin to rise from their dirt-naps with ravenous appetites for warm human flesh. Since the predicted zombie jubilee starts off with more than a whimper than a bang (actually it's more of a wheeze, since these are particularly asthmatic undead), viewers are left with a rather mundane police drama as clueless detectives try to pin the mutilation murders on a group of free-wheeling hippies. Despite high production values and some audacious gore effects by Giannetto De Rossi (who would later lend his splattery talents to Lucio Fulci's Zombie and many more Italian zombie films), this Spanish/Italian co-production falters in the middle thanks to sluggish pacing and dull investigation scenes, which are devoid of suspense since the zombies' existence is already made known. Also released under the quaint title Breakfast at the Manchester Morgue, among others. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
A young med student is doing his grad work at the local morgue when a series of mysterious and unexplained deaths (ascribed to suicide) surround her. The sudden influx of corpses is more than this fellow can handle. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mimsy Farmer, Barry Primus, (more)
- 1974
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This melodramatic crime film concerns a petty thief named Julio (Tomas Milian) who kidnaps pretty Mary Lou (Laura Belli), the daughter of his girlfriend's rich employer, and holds her for ransom. Much of the film features Julio's hysterical populist rants targeting the wealthy elite, whom he both envies and detests. When the bound Mary Lou mocks him, Julio's anger leads to a bloody gunfight in which nearly everyone dies. Eventually, Police Inspector Walter Grandi (Henry Silva) turns vigilante and guns down the "human trash" on a pile of garbage. Reminiscent of everything from the Dirty Harry series to the Patty Hearst kidnapping, Lenzi's preposterous film is most memorable for its overly ripe dialogue and an outlandish party scene in which Milian forces a balding, craven businessman to service him at gunpoint. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tomas Milian, Henry Silva, (more)
This entry in the Italian crime film cycle of the '70s presents an interesting take on the format. Emergency Squad seems unusually postmodern for its time because it places an equal amount of dramatic focus on its hero and its villain. The hero part is fulfilled by Ravelli (Tomas Milian), a cop consumed with the desire to get revenge on the crook who shot his wife to death during a robbery. The crook in question is Marseilles (Gastone Moschin), who is trying to assemble funds for his own retirement. As the revenge scenario moves toward the inevitable confrontation, Emergency Squad retains interest because it paints both leads in a complex fashion -- Ravelli's obsessive quest makes him as scary as he is sympathetic and the seemingly icy Marseilles reveals some surprisingly vulnerable sides to his character. Emergency Squad was the first of several Italian crime films for director Stelvio Massi, and star Tomas Milian would also become a mainstay of this genre. In 2005, Emergency Squad received a domestic DVD release from Mondo Macabro. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tomas Milian, Gastone Moschin, (more)
- 1973
- R
Based on M. Lermontov's novel Vadim, this costume drama, set in Russia during the 1700s, chronicles the battle between a vengeful, anarchic peasant and the tyrannical landowner who killed his mother and father. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Norman Jewison's adaptation of the long-running Broadway musical is set in the Ukranian ghetto village of Anatevka (the film was actually lensed in Yugoslavia). Israeli actor Topol repeats his London stage role as Tevye the milkman, whose equilibrium is constantly being challenged by his poverty, the prejudicial attitudes of non-Jews, and the romantic entanglements of his five daughters. Whenever the weight of the world becomes too much for him, Tevye carries on lengthy conversations with God, who does not answer but is at least more willing to listen than the milkman's remonstrative wife Golde. After arranging a marriage between his oldest daughter Tzeitel and wealthy butcher Lazar Wolf, Tevye is forced to do some quick rearranging when the girl falls in love with poor tailor Motel Kamzoil. Fancying himself more broad-minded than his gentile oppressors, Tevye cannot accept the notion that his other daughter Chava would want to marry Fyedka, a non-Jew. And after shouting the praises of "tradition," Tevye must change his tune-and his entire life-when he and his neighbors are forced out of Anatevka by the Czar's minions. Topol's co-stars include Norma Crane as Golde, Yiddish theater legend Molly Picon as Yente the matchmaker, and Leonard Frey as Motel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Topol, Norma Crane, (more)
- 1971
A philandering man's wife decides to take matters into her own murderous hands. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1969
A classical music conductor lives with his mistress and her teenage daughter. When he and the daughter begin a love affair, the mother allows the tryst to continue for fear of losing him should she deny him her daughter's affections. The young girl falls for an avant garde musician, and the conductor tries to sabotage the relationship. He is successful for a short time, but the girl eventually runs off with the musician. The man is left with the mother, who for some strange reason still loves the lecherous lout. The film attempts to be critical of the cruel and snobbish high society that the man must tolerate in order to insure his economic survival. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Steel, Françoise Prevost, (more)
- 1968
This gripping crime thriller from director Carlo Lizzani was based on a true story. A daring gang of bandits pull off a series of risky heists in Milan, murdering several innocent bystanders in the film's exciting opening getaway scene. Lizzani then moves the story backwards in time, painting a portrait of Milan as a seething hotbed of vice. Gian Maria Volonte gives an increasingly flamboyant performance as the gang's egomaniacal leader, whose Nazi-like belief in his own superiority proves to be the flaw which foils his plans. Tomas Milian, in a rare nonvillainous turn, shines as the dedicated young police inspector who brings Volonte down, and gun moll Carla Gravina has an amusing (if stereotypical) scene in which Volonte teaches her to drive. The thrilling car chase is among the best in the Italian crime genre, and even Riz Ortolani's typically annoying musical score does not detract from the film's appeal. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gian Maria Volontè, Don Backy, (more)
- 1967
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In this spaghetti western, a cowboy rides into a town that two gangs have taken over. One of the gangs wears black leather and rides white horses. The other gang belongs to a storekeeper. The stranger and the two Indians who assist him manage to survive a massacre between the two rival gangs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tomas Milian, Raymond Lovelock, (more)
