Murderous, sadistic London gang leader Vic Dakin, a mother-obsessed homosexual modeled on real-life gangster Ronnie Kray, is worried about potential stool pigeons that may bring down his criminal empire. The brutal Vic cuts the throat of one bloke who has been a little too loose-lipped, afraid that his gossiping may turn into a grand operatic performance for the coppers. Vic, who enjoys playing at rough trade with his sidekick Wolfe, plans a payroll robbery and directs the blackmailing of Members of Parliament with a taste for unorthodox sex. Scotland Yard Police Inspector Matthews, playing Javert to Vic’s Jean Valjean, is moving in on him and the gang. Gang-member Edgar is hospitalized for an ulcer, and Inspector Matthews might be able to make him sing. Will Edgar spill the beans to the coppers before Vic can silence him?
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Crime
Return from the Ashes (1965) J. Lee Thompson, Maximilian Schell, Samantha Eggar, Ingrid Thulin, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Stanislaus Pilgrin, a Polish chess master and handsome gigolo, marries wealthy Jewish widow, Dr. Michele Wolf, an X-ray technician and has an affair with her step-daughter, Fabienne and then plots to murder them both in a scheme that will have him inherit their money.
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Deadly Force (1983) Paul Aaron, Wings Hauser, Joyce Ingalls, Paul Shenar, Action, Crime, Drama
Stoney Cooper, a former Los Angeles police officer, is at a low point in his life. Kicked off the force because of his anti-authority attitude, he now ekes out a living as a freelancer in New York. All this changes when the daughter of an old friend is killed by a serial killer terrorizing L.A. Although almost nobody in his old home town is happy to see him back, Cooper pledges to bring the killer to justice before any more innocent people die.
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The Executioner Part II (1984) James Bryan, Christopher Mitchum, Aldo Ray, Antoine John Mottet, Action, Crime, Drama
A lone vigilante is taking out the criminals of the city one by one. A detective and reporter are trying to find out who the vigilante is, but he just might be closer to them than they realize. A true head-scratching revenge thrill ride that has to be seen to be believed!
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The Broken Shore (2013) Rowan Woods, Don Hany, Claudia Karvan, Anthony Hayes, Crime
An evocative crime thriller that captures the chilling action and sharp wit of Peter Temple’s acclaimed novel The Broken Shore. In this gripping adaptation, Detective Joe Cashin uncovers a web of lies, betrayal and police corruption in a small coastal town where tensions are at boiling point and the shocking face behind the community’s respectable mask is slowly unveiled.
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12 O’Clock Boys (2013) Lotfy Nathan, Coco, Pug, Steven, Documentary, Biography, Crime
Pug, a wisecracking 13 year old living on a dangerous Westside block, has one goal in mind: to join The Twelve O’Clock Boys; the notorious urban dirt-bike gang of Baltimore. Converging from all parts of the inner city, they invade the streets and clash with police, who are forbidden to chase the bikes for fear of endangering the public. When Pug’s older brother dies suddenly, he looks to the pack for mentorship, spurred by their dangerous lifestyle. Pug’s story is coupled with unprecedented, action-packed coverage of the riders in their element. The film presents the pivotal years of change in a boy’s life growing up in one of the most dangerous and economically depressed cities in the US.
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Yasha / Demon (1985) Yasuo Furuhata, Ken Takakura, Ayumi Ishida, Hisamitsu Nakamura, Drama, Crime
Retired yakuza gangster Shuji (Ken Takakura) moves back from Osaka to a remote coastal village to start a new life as a fisherman with his family, his arrival from the city coinciding with that of the beautiful bar hostess Keiko (Yuko Tanaka, who provided the voice of Lady Eboshi in Princess Mononoke). Keiko’s new bar, as its name Hotaru (‘firefly’) suggests is soon acting as a magnet for all the local fishermen, much to the chagrin of their wives. Not soon after the arrival of Keiko’s roguish lover Yajima (Kitano), also an ex-mobster, the locals are drawn into a host of collective vices including gambling and all-night drinking sessions. After a truly stand-out scene in which Yajima runs rampage through the village on a heroin-induced spree with a carving knife, he is run out of town by Shuji, but not before slashing Shuji’s shirt open during the fracas to reveal the tattoo of a woman’s face upon his back. With Shuji’s gangster past now revealed he finds himself ostracised by the local community and drawn towards the sympathetic character of the bar hostess with whom he shares a common past. When Yajima rears his ugly head one more time in order to borrow money from Keiko to pay off a debt to the yakuza, it is to Shuji that she turns for help, threatening to upset his domestic apple cart and pitch him back towards his old life.
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No Way to Treat a Lady (1968) Jack Smight, Rod Steiger, Lee Remick, George Segal, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Christopher Gill is a psychotic killer who uses various disguises to trick and strangle his victims. Moe Brummel is a single and harassed New York City police detective who starts to get phone calls from the strangler and builds a strange alliance as a result. Kate Palmer is a swinging, hip tour guide who witnesses the strangler leaving her dead neighbor’s apartment and sets her sights on the detective. Moe’s live-in mother wishes her son would be a successful Jewish doctor like his big brother.
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Sweeney 2 (1978) Tom Clegg, John Thaw, Dennis Waterman, Denholm Elliott, Action, Crime, Drama
Second cinematic spin-off from the popular 70’s police series. Regan & Carter head a Flying Squad investigation into a series of bank raids by a team of well-armed villains who are flying in from the continent.
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Hoodlum (1997) Bill Duke, Laurence Fishburne, Tim Roth, Vanessa Williams, Crime, Drama
The film focuses on the war of two gangs in 1930s Harlem for the control of illegal gaming – one headed by black strategic godfather Bumpy Johnson and another by white ruthless hothead Dutch Schultz. Negotiations proposed by white syndicate boss Lucky Luciano never get under way, blood flows and Johnson gets jailed. When Johnson is paroled, he gets the work of enforcer for mighty Stephanie “The Queen” St. Clair. She is also jailed for racketeering and when she leaves she makes him promise “no violence”.
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