Having made a packet with his earlier sexploitation features, director Pete Walker (of Frightmare and House of Long Shadows fame) tackles the crime action adventure genre with Man of Violence (although the new BFI Flipside release still has its working title, Moon).
Michael Latimer (who would later ditch the acting for a career in writing – amongst other things the 1980s Aussie soap, Sons and Daughters) plays the hard-boiled bisexual gun-for-hire Moon, who accepts a job from Derek Aylward’s nightclub owner Nixon to find out why a property deal has gone sour.
But this being Philip Marlowe territory, nothing is as it seems and Moon soon discovers he being used by two rival gangsters (Derek Francis and Maurice Kaufmann) in a bid to secure a fortune in gold bullion from an Arab country in revolt.
The lovely Luan Peters (of Twins of Evil fame) provides the busty beauty interest as a former consort of the war-torn country’s deposed leader, who leads Moon to his ultimate demise. Oh, that naughty minx.
Vibrant colours, wacky fashions, and some great location shots (London's old East End docks and Tunisia) do not help to lift this tepid adventure. Nor does the terrible soundtrack.
Why this has been lovingly restored by the BFI is anyone’s guess. But for Pete Walker completists, it’s a chance find.
Released on DVD and Blu-ray 24 August
