This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Long haired, outcast hippie guy gets out of jail and is victimized by the mob. I love it. Somehow, some way, it took me years to see this one and it's ashame because it's definitely worthy of a spot on any Italian horror/crime fan's DVD shelf.Music is swanky, clothes are hippie, dubbing is atrocious. Castration scene near the end is especially sickening, definitely stands out as the 'gross out' moment in the movie. It surprised me; was not expecting it as it kind of comes out of nowhere...sure there's plenty of fighting and goofy kung fu prior in the film, but nothing like that! I loved it.Fans of Castellari or Fulci should enjoy this one! 5 out of 10, kids.

Christopher Mitchum is Ricco, a pretty boy with a blonde fringe fresh out of prison who sets out to avenge the death of his father, who was murdered 2 years ago in by his competitor in the Italian mafia underworld, Don Vito. As if that wasn't enough, slick Don Vito even stole his girl-friend. Well you'd think Ricco has plenty of reasons to be really angry. I'm talking Charles Bronson angry. Instead Ricco has this "I have nothing better to do this afternoon, so I might as well take on the mob" attitude that makes you wonder if anyone on the set told Mitchum exactly why he's supposed to be taking revenge. Mitchum might not be able to emote for the life of him, but at least he has two modes: smirk and stare blank. He also kisses like a fish, rolls on the ground with his sister and her boyfriend because they're too happy to see him out of prison, feigns laughter when he nearly evades car accidents, blinks in close-up when he recognizes his mother and sister's dead bodies (that's emotion for you), heck he even karate chops people in a flashback to impress his father. His karate moves are a hoot and the movie is worth the price of admission for that scene alone. Don Vito is a slick Italian mafia boss type with a mustache. He owns a soap factory, says stuff like "don't you know by now I hate soap... and men that sweat" and turns his own men into it when they fail him. If you sleep with his sultry girl-friend you get castrated in graphic detail, fed your own penis then you're thrown in a tank full of acid (that's how he turns people into soap). You don't wanna go around messing with this guy. Now for the sleaze. It comes in the form of the drop dead gorgeous Euro babes Barbara Bouchet (regular in 70's gialli) and Malisa Longo. We get get close ups of Bouchet's ass and breasts while she walks, she has a striptease scene on the hood of a car, she's lucky enough to bed Ricco and is her all around cute self. Longo in the role of Don Vito's girlfriend spends most of the movie scantily clad and seduces Don Vito's underling in a very sexy scene. Refer to the previous paragraph for what happens when you have a sex scene with her. The first half of the movie is so delightfully cheesy that I kept wondering where's Joe Bob Briggs when you need him. The second one is more gritty and sadistic with a graphic castration scene and lots of gunplay. The sleaze has a steady presence throughout and so does the silly dialogue. The score reminded me of The Godfather. That about sums it up I think. Ricco is by no means a profound crime drama but it's entertaining and schlocky enough to warrant a viewing or two. Fans of 70's Italian crime b-movies will lap it up and ask for more.

A young man named Ricco(Chris Mitchum)gets a year off his sentence after serving two years in prison, and quietly sets out to even a score against mafioso king Don Vito(Arthur Kennedy), the man responsible for murdering his mob boss father so that he could have control over the entire city. What erupts is a blood feud where many tragic casualties, innocents whose blood are shed, lie in the wake of Ricco and Vito's rivalry. Ricco finds an ally in an old friend of his father's niece, Scilla(Barbara Bouchet)..Scilla, at first, participates for kicks, but soon finds that she's in love with Ricco and realizes that his feud with Vito will only leave a lot of innocent people dead. Once Ricco gets mixed up with a crooked partner of Vito's, Cyrano(Eduardo Fajardo), once a pal of his father, there's no turning back. Diamonds, and collected dues of those benefactors for whom Vito "protects", soon play into matters as does Ricco's old squeeze, Rosa(Malisa Longo)now "property" of the Don. Vito cherishes Rosa, and anyone who dares even attempt to touch what is his will inherit a trip into his vat of acid. The climax is a shoot-out at Don Vito's factory with Ricco seeking revenge when those he loves are slain in horrific gang-land style fashion.Ultra violent crime thriller with Christopher Mitchum walking tall, saying only what needs to be said..like his father Robert, Chris doesn't overexert himself. He's quite the cool customer, approaching even the most violent situations with a laid-back calm staring down possible death at every turn. Kennedy inhibits the sadistic Don Vito as if born to play him..having portrayed villains in westerns with ease, playing the heavy in "Ricco" is a piece of cake. The true star of this film, besides Barbara Bouchet who always knows how to make a scene, is Malisa Longo as Rosa, who takes you completely away from the film immediately casting your eyes towards her. She's quite a feast to salivate over..the kind of sex kitten who would have you turning cart-wheels and barking like a dog. She's "to die for" and one does, but I certainly understand why one would risk the chance to bed her. Whether walking around in lingerie or bathing top-less, she's a tasty dish..no a gourmet meal. Matter of fact, she's the best part of the meal..she's the desirable dessert. I found that Mitchum and Bouchet had good chemistry and that both knew the wattage they carried on screen. Mitchum carries that effortless cool and Bouchet is so damn sexy, and knows it, I never questioned why I liked watching them together on screen. Bouchet even performs a nice little strip-tease for the viewer..thanks dear for providing another memorable scene(..like Bouchet hasn't provided ample memories already!)I can carry away into my fantasies.Getting away from the babes, I have to mention the castration scene. One fellow, Tony(Manuel Zarzo)can not resist Rosa's sexual advances(..given the situation, I can see why he succumbs to her wiles)and is caught by the Don. Tony fights three of the Don's goons before getting his privates sliced off with a knife..he then gets his penis and testicles shoved down his throat before being tossed in Vito's acid vat! If the opening scene where Ricco's father's face is shot in point-blank, then this gory sequence of events does. When it comes to subtlety, you'd better look elsewhere because the Italians always go for broke.

That sure was fun! Ricco (or The Mean Machine or whatever you want to call it) may not be the best, most dramatic, or grittiest Euro-crime film I've run across, but it is one of the most entertaining I've ever seen. Ricco (Christopher Mitchum) is a young man out for revenge. He's just finished serving a two year prison sentence for attacking the man he holds responsible for killing his father and assuming control of his criminal organization. And now that he's been released, Ricco discovers that Don Vito (Arthur Kennedy) has also taken his girl. Let's get this out of the way up-front – Ricco has its fair share of obvious weaknesses and problems. Chief among them is Mitchum. He may look a lot like his father, but that's where the comparison ends. I'm guessing he was going for introspective and brooding, but unfortunately Mitchum comes off as vacant and robotic. His fight scenes are often hysterical. Watching him go through his kung-fu moves, I can just imagine the director off-screen giving him step-by-step instructions. I've never seen someone move so unnaturally.But I've always said that I rate movies based on entertainment value and Ricco provides a good test of that statement. Looking past Mitchum's shortcomings, Ricco is wildly entertaining. It's a trashy good time. The movie has a feel to it that I found unique for this kind of movie. It never seems to be taking itself too seriously. I may be way off on this one, but to me it's as if the director, Tulio Demicheli, realized how absurd some of the situations were and just let everyone have fun with it. The plot is actually little more than the standard revenge theme, but it held my interest throughout. There's hardly ever a dull moment. Ricco has the violence I've come to expect from this kind of movie – including one particularly nasty scene that makes something like the cut-off ear in Django look like child's play. The supporting cast is top notch. Arthur Kennedy makes for a wonderfully slimy villain, complete with a ridiculous looking mustache. Ricco's old flame is played by the insanely gorgeous Malisa Longo. And genre favorite Barbara Bouchet's surreal stripper routine in the middle of the road is another of the film's highlights. What more could you ask for?