卢西亚诺·卡蒂

　　故事发生在1980年的澳大利亚，迈克尔（山姆·尼尔 Sam Neill 饰）和妻子林迪（梅丽尔·斯特里普 Meryl Streep 饰）带着他们的三个孩子正在进行一场家庭旅行。某天夜里，夫妻两人将最小的孩子阿扎利亚留在襁褓之中外出访友，哪知道一场意外的发生夺走了阿扎利亚幼小的生命。　　让迈克尔和林迪万万没有想到的是，他们除了要承受失去孩子的巨大悲痛之外，竟然还遭到了指控，指控夫妻两人正是幕后的凶手。随后，法庭开始了对于该案件的漫长的审判，尽管缺乏关键的证据，但林迪还是被判处了终身监禁。在狱中，林迪生下了第四个孩子，孩子被交由迈克尔抚养。漫长的牢狱岁月里，林迪不断的上诉，并最终为自己挣得了清白和自由。

　　该片讲述了一个牧羊少年因目睹一起杀人案，竟被人推下悬崖。一个平民在孤独的抗议，被当街射杀，尸体在流血，无人问津。正直的警察局长蓬纳维亚早就对法律的公正丧失信心，雇凶不成，就自己充当杀手，干掉了这一切罪恶的幕后黑手——一个名义上的地产承包商罗蒙诺。而自己在自首后，被买通的犯人在狱中杀害。

　　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!