Fred "The Hammer" Williamson headlines the cast in this low-budget Italian take on Stallone's COBRA. Here, Williamson is the good guy, a hard-ass DIRTY HARRY-style cop who'll do anything to blow the bad guys away. His enemies are a crew of mismatched bikers, led by a muscle guy wearing the same mirrored sunglasses that Stallone wore as the hero in COBRA. That's all you need to know about this film, really. Anyone who's familiar with Italian action films of the 1980s will know what to expect: a ton of overblown cheese, hilarious dialogue and a general lack of originality all round.However, there's something I really enjoyed about this movie, which keeps things moving along swiftly with plenty of shoot-outs and car chases to enjoy. Fred Williamson is also at the top of his career, and he offers the type of performance that movie goers love: tough mannered, tough talking and quick to shoot and ask questions later. The opening sequence with the hostages at the swimming pool is a case in point: As Detective Malone (and wearing SHAFT's leather trenchcoat), Williamson is ordered to go in and negotiate, but instead he draws a pistol and shotgun and blows the baddies to kingdom come. If that's the kind of thing you like watching, then this film is for you.The plot is somewhat nonsensical and the bit about the fashion photographer being stalked by the criminals is just an excuse for the female lead's character. Instead, the fun comes from focusing on the action. There's a nicely-staged hospital shootout that makes inventive use of a wheelchair and a gore effect when a cop is blown away by the villains. The major action set piece is located at a deserted quarry or somewhere similar and is pretty involving, recalling the grand old days of Italian cop cinema in the 1970s, such as the film MANHUNT. Watch out for the enjoyable stunt that's performed by Williamson himself – okay so it's not particularly dangerous, but it's nice to see the actor doing his own work. I thought that was the end, but no, there are further, fun action bits.There are plenty of the head-scratching moments that Italian rip-offs are famous for. Watch out for the bit in the script where Malone talks like DIRTY HARRY – literally, with his "how many bullets do I have left?" speech. Enjoy the cheesy synthesiser score that occasionally sounds like something out of ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS during the suspense scenes. Laugh as the film-makers try to convince you they filmed in New York, not Italy, by incorporating bits of stock footage (or perhaps location shooting) here and there. Director Stelvio Massi learned his craft through decent '70s polizia flicks like FEARLESS and CONVOY BUSTERS and proves to be the perfect man for the job here. Grimaldi, who looks like Yancy Butler in HARD TARGET, is an awful actress and really doesn't have a great deal to do in the film. Better is Bruno Bilotta (DEMONS 2) as the main bad guy; wisely, he keeps his mouth shut for much of the film and therefore he has something of an imposing presence. Sword and sorcery regular Sabrina Siani (CONQUEST) is on hand in a minor role as a kidnapped daughter, although she keeps her clothes on this time.BLACK COBRA is nothing new, but it's a pretty decent example of the late '80s Italian crime film. There are beatings galore, some dodgy car chases, lots of cop-on-criminal showdowns and cheap sets everywhere you look. The film was successful enough to spawn three sequels retaining this film's title, which implies that "black cobra" is Williamson's nickname rather than the name of the gang of bikers in this movie. Fans of '80s nostalgia will have a ball.

I have watched black cobra for the first time in 1987 on TV, and I re watched it not so long ago on DVD. Yes it contains a lot of grim scenes with free violence and blood. But the main thing here is the story of one cop, Malone who decides to make justice himself by killing the whole mob of bikers who kills people randomly.The acting from the bandit leader is very good as the bad guy and the dialog even not at its highest peak is funny. The scene where Malone frees the hostages in the pool by killing the suspects and the scene where he shoots a scum group member in the hospital were awesome. A good flick to watch the week end.I give it 6 out of 10.

Early in "Black Cobra," Detective Robert Malone establishes himself as a maverick, uncompromising policeman (otherwise we'd have not movie) when he guns down several criminals during a hostage standoff. Next, he finds himself protecting a female photographer who has witnessed a murder. She is sought by a moronic gang of motorcyclists who have been murdering and raping at will. Malone finds them, confronts them, and takes care of (police) businessWhat I found interesting about this movie it was made in 1987 but has the look of those 70s Blaxploitation films. I had assumed these flicks would have died out by 1982.It's very much a foreign production with Fred the only American in whole thing and all the roles clearly dubbed. his salary was probably the biggest part of the budget. It's filmed like a spaghetti western. Horrible porn music, and no time for multiple camera setups so there is lots of zooming in and out.It's actually a very slow movie that spawned a number of sequels, so it had to make money. Still I come back to the 1987 copyright. It looks sooo dated.

If you've watched the movie Cobra so many times you feel you can't get any more out of it than you already have - and let's face it, the movie is truly a modern-day classic and makes for highly addictive viewing, so it's understandable viewers become repeat viewers - try Black Cobra, a movie that follows the outline of Cobra so closely, you just have to laugh. It's almost as if writer Danilo Massi got a hold of a copy of the script to Cobra, and every time the name "Cobra" popped up, he crossed it out with a Sharpie and wrote "Malone" (which is Fred's name in the movie, of course). And if you had ever wished that Cobra starred not Sly, but Fred Williamson, your prayers have been answered. God bless the Italians. They're known for their "interpretations" of more famous and popular films, and they simply hired a man of African-American descent in the role of Marion Cobretti, gave it the title "Black Cobra" and dusted their hands and proclaimed they were done with work for the day. So shameless, yet so awesome. Thankfully, Black Cobra is an extremely entertaining film, with Fred at his absolute best. It just may be the most fantastic Fred flick: as an angry Cop On The Edge, he shoots criminal scum first and wears stylish sweaters later.To be fair, this particular Black Cobra also wears a black coat and drives a black car, so maybe that's what director Stelvio Massi (famed for his work in the Poliziotteschi genre) was referring to by adding the word "Black". Nevertheless, the movie is well-shot and well-edited, and contains plenty of "Yes!" moments. The music by Paolo Rustichelli is great and has a very catchy main synth theme. And because Fred's name in the movie is Malone, that makes this romp a cross between Cobra and Malone (1987)...right? So if you can't get enough of evil bikers in an abandoned warehouse, and scenes of women modeling (though surely due to budget constraints, it's a non-robot modeling scene), and other scenes made famous by Sly and the gang, definitely give this movie a shot. But Cobretti never had a cat named Purvis, as Fred does in the movie, so there's an important difference in the character of the two men. Seeing as how the cat received no official credit, it could be spelled "Purr-vis", we're just guessing. The existence of Black Cobra is just more evidence - as if any was needed - of the awesomeness of the original Cobra. Not only did it spill over into creations like the movie at hand, but even this is a three-part series! The main baddie in this movie is pretty reminiscent of Mario Van Peebles in Exterminator 2 (1984), so just do the math: 98% Cobra, 1% Malone, 1% Exterminator 2 + Italian production + Fred Williamson. What does it all equal? Once you've reduced the fractions, it's MUST WATCH! And if you're confused as just exactly how to watch the Quality Special Products DVD (read: gas station quality), there's a very helpful narrator on the menu screen that helps you out. "Welcome to this interactive digital versatile disc! On this disc, you may select the feature film, the movie review, the scene selection menu, the interactive game quiz...press the enter button when you've made a selection. Thank you, and we hope you enjoy the feature presentation!" It tells us. And that's just the main menu. He also helps out with further direction for the game quiz. What would we do without this helpful (and uncredited) man? Truly he predates Siri. He also worked overtime, because the DVD is a double feature with the William Shatner TV movie Incident on a Dark Street (1973), so you get double value for minimal money. It's definitely a good deal, so should you be filling up your tank and you happen to pay inside, you'd be crazy not to pick up this disc.Black Cobra is a triumph for Fred, as well as his fans. We recommend it.For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com