Almost Human
Almost Human is a 1974 film from Italy, directed by Umberto Lenzi, running 100 minutes. reelscum files it under poliziotteschi.
- Year
- 1974 · 1970s films
- Country
- Italy
- Runtime
- 100 min
- Director
- Umberto Lenzi
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- cult (44/100)
- Also known as
- The Death Dealer · The Kidnap of Mary Lou
Defined in the glossary: Poliziotteschi
Tomas Milian as a repellent psychopath. Deeply unpleasant, very good.
Tomas Milian gives one of the genre's great performances as a small-time criminal too unstable and vicious for organised crime, whose kidnapping scheme spirals into pure sadism. It is a unpleasant film about a repellent man, and that is the point.
Umberto Lenzi refuses to make him charming, and the cop hunting him (Henry Silva) is almost beside the point next to Milian's twitching, cruel creation. The violence is nasty and the film does not flinch.
Deeply uncomfortable and very well acted. Not a good time, a strong film.
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Written about
- Poliziotteschi: the Italian cop film, 1973 to 1980
A moustache, a Magnum, and total contempt for the courts.
On these lists
- Poliziotteschi starter pack
Italian cops who close cases by ignoring the courts and the paperwork. Start at the top, before the moustaches blur together.
Filed alongside
High Crime
Castellari's breakout in the genre, and Franco Nero furious for ninety minutes.
Street Law
Castellari's Death Wish. An ordinary engineer, brutalised and ignored, arms himself.
The Big Racket
Castellari's best. The car-rolling-down-the-hill shot is famous for a reason.
Shoot First, Die Later
Di Leo's dirty-cop picture, and the rot goes all the way home.
Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man
Two cops who are clearly the villains. Ruggero Deodato, before the jungle.
The Italian Connection
Mario Adorf on foot versus a car. Best chase in Italian cinema.
Rome Armed to the Teeth
Maurizio Merli punches Rome for 100 minutes. Politics: incoherent.
The Boss
Di Leo's most cynical crime film. A mob enforcer navigates a Mafia war where everyone is corrupt.
Revolver
Di Leo's saddest. Oliver Reed, and a Morricone theme that hurts.
Violent Naples
Merli takes his no-mercy cop routine to Naples. Fast, brutal, and politically incoherent as ever.
The Violent Professionals
Martino sends Luc Merenda undercover and off the leash. Prime cop-on-a-rampage stuff.
Cops vs. Thugs
Fukasaku again, arguing the two categories in the title are the same.