"Naked Violence" is a crime movie different than some of director Fernando Di Lio's other crime movies, being that it is not action- oriented. Instead, it's a relatively serious and sober look at a rape- murder and the subsequent investigation of it. Parts of this investigation are definitely interesting, the most being the angle of the movie being the teenagers who witnessed the crime but are unwilling to talk about it; it sometimes comes across as an early version of the American movie "River's Edge". However, this angle is eventually more or less abandoned, and the movie becomes somewhat tedious and slow in its second half. Does the movie still have enough interest to make it worth a look? Maybe. If you are interested in seeing a cinematic police investigation that is more realistic than usual, and have enjoyed other movies by Di Lio before, this may be an interesting change of pace.

Be True to Your School: In Milano, a teacher is raped and killed by a class of booze-fueled students, but when the Commissario gives the teener pack the bad cop routine, he hits a wall of silence. Fernando di Leo's fifth film comes along as a predominantly lukewarm, actionless talkie and tries to surf the social commentary wave, a ludicrous endeavour that completely falls to pieces after the first half. Though Pier Paolo Capponi as the tough investigator gives a superb performance – erm, what for? –, soon-to-be Miss Ravishing Italia Nieves Navarro ("The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Beyond Suspicion") is wholly wasted as a mousy social worker, Silvano Spaddacino's soundtrack a jittery alarm-clock pain in the ass, and after 80 minutes of pointless drivel, brace yourself for the cross-dresser jack-in-the-box all of a sudden jumping out of Giorgio Scerbanenco's stenchy script: The conclusion featuring the gross transvestite from transsexual Aniseedonia – presaged with not even the friggin' slightest hint – tops almost any nonsensical rubbish denouement from the giallo department (think Argento's Opera) with mind-blowing panache. As an Emilio Miraglia c-flick, this lesson in ineptitude and stupidità would have been titled "The Closet Queen Kills Two Times", but since di Leo undoubtedly had had the lion's share of the liquor himself he couldn't even come up with a catchy title. And the hangover lasted: Unbelievable, but his next try, Asylum Erotica, is even worse.

Naked Violence is yet another well made and effective offering from Fernando Di Leo; a director that often doesn't receive the praise he deserves. Di Leo would go on to make some of the best Italian crime films in the early to mid seventies, but he also made some interesting stuff in other genres; such as this film. The film is based on a novel by Ulkranian writer Giorgio Scerbanenco, who also wrote books that inspired other Di Leo films. The film is very concise and the director is keen to focus on the important elements of the plot, which helps the film to keep focus and in turn makes it more interesting. The film begins with a scene that sees a young schoolteacher raped and murdered by her class; which just happens to be full of delinquents high on alcohol. Police Inspector Liberti gets on the case and begins by interrogating the kids in the class, but as he continues his investigation; he realises that it's becoming less and less likely that the kids acted on their own accord, and his suspicions are confirmed when his best witness is found dead.The film is essentially a character study and we mainly focus on the Police Inspector and a handful of the boys at the centre of the crime. The locations used are not particularly diverse; especially not during the first third when almost everything takes place inside a room in the police station. The film does have a very minimalist approach, but it's all done very professionally and the film is of a higher quality than a lot of the output from Italy in the late sixties and early seventies. The film is bolstered by a handful of good acting performances; Pier Paolo Capponi is absolutely great as the police inspector and receives good support from Giallo heroine Susan Scott (who in truth doesn't have a whole lot to do) and Giuliano Manetti as the main character of the school class. The majority of the film is build-up as we try to work out the reasons behind the heinous crime at the start of the film; and the brutal climax doesn't disappoint. The motive for the killings might not go down too well in some circles; but it's inventive enough and ensures that the film finishes well. Overall, this is an excellent thriller and comes highly recommended!

Fernando Di Leo was undoubtedly the emperor of Italian crime-cinema during the late 60's and the 70's. The work he did on other genres wasn't exactly impressive (anyone remember "Asylum Erotica"?), but in the area of rough 'n tough exploitation thrillers he was absolutely unequaled. Di Leo has some of the sub genre's classics on his director's repertoire (like "Milano Calibro 9", "Manhunt" and "The Boss") and he even contributed a lot to writing other filmmakers' finest accomplishments, for example Ruggero Deodato's "Live Like a Cop, Die like a Man" and Romolo Guerrieri's "Young, Violent and Dangerous". This "Naked Violence" somewhat predates Di Leo's greatest work, but it certainly is an extremely convoluted and ambitiously scripted gem of Italy's most glorious cinematic cult years. Granted, the title is slightly deceptive and misleading (don't expect to see much nudity, nor violence), but nonetheless the complex screenplay hints at multiple controversial themes, like juvenile delinquency, teenage alcoholism, confused sexuality and rape. The movie opens bizarrely and impressively disturbing, with fuzzy flash-images of an entire classroom of drunken adolescent boys gang-raping their teacher before choking her to death with a handkerchief in the mouth. After the opening credits are finished, we learn that they're all boys with questionable backgrounds and mild criminal records, and the class they were attending actually was some kind of social project to still give them one last chance to normally integrate into society. The slightly unorthodox police inspector Marco Lamberti is charged with the investigation, but the case is very frustrating because the boys turn it into a game of blaming each other and act all innocent. Bit by bit, Lamberti discovers that the influence, as well as the heavy liquor that caused the kids to turn into rapist killers, comes from an adult who always remains in the shadows. This malicious person occasionally uses the young scoundrels for petty crimes, but now he - or she – must have had a reason to revert to murder. The plot of Di Leo's "Naked Violence" is perhaps silly and far-fetched, but the tight dialogs and particularly the powerful acting performances make it rather plausible. Pier Paolo Capponi is splendidly cast as the stubborn cop and also the young cast members are truly convincing in their roles of menacing small-time thugs. The film is overall a bit too talkative and the script reveals too few clues to really get involved in Lamberti's investigation, but the story's evolution is always compelling and worth your complete attention. The flashbacks near the end are atmospheric and a little creepy, and the end-twist is ahead of its time albeit quite silly. Definitely worth purchasing if you're into the more challenging titles of the Italian exploitation-industry.