Review of The Stone Killer (1973) by Mereie D — 04 Oct 2009

Just another crime flic in the "French Connection" style, starring Charles Bronson this time. This one does not seem to be that well known - it took ages before it was released on DVD. It is not bad at all, though.

Apart from the usual action scenes including arrests, car chases, police brutality, racism and mobsters, it contains elements that one doesn't usually find in films like these: the concept of the maffia family revenge plan and the idea of using stone killers to execute the operation is new to me.

And the ending is almost profound: whatever the police tries, they'll never get to the root of it: only the faces will change. Balsam's confession at the end is great: it illustrates what sort of a sanctimonious facade Roman Catholisicm was for the maffia.

In a nutshell: this movie is amusing for the obvious, but also for the not so obvious reasons. A must see for fans of this genre.