Surely anyone reading this site is familiar with Italian post-apocalyptic movies, and The Final Executioner certainly falls into that sub-genre, but it is a decidedly second (or perhaps even third)-tier entry. Just imagine 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982) or The New Barbarians (1982) crossed with The Most Dangerous Game (1932) with a dash of The Rules of the Game (1939).After the nuclear apocalypse, a class system developed. A privileged, non-contaminated upper class, and the radiation-contaminated masses. Presumably to do double duty as a really entertaining sport as well as cleanse the population of "undesirables", the rich invented a game: "The Hunt", where they let loose the unwashed masses and shoot them for fun. The upper, hunting classes consist of Edra (Costa), Louis (Miracco), Evan (Zinny), Melvin (?) and the flashy, mercenary-style hunter Erasmus (Muller). One day, a disgruntled member of the underclass decides to fight back. After the baddies kill his wife (Bonfantini), Alan (Mang) becomes intent on revenge against the hunters. Being an intellectual and having no fighting background, Sam (Strode), a former New York City cop, extensively trains Alan in the warrior arts. Will Alan and/or Sam wreak vengeance upon those snobby "hunters"? The director, Romolo Guerrieri, was a journeyman-type director, having worked in many different genres over his long career, delivering product to keep pace with the varying trends in Italian cinema. You'd think someone with his filmmaking experience would have noticed the weird, sluggish pace and nonsensicality of what he was directing. Perhaps he DID notice this, so he gave the film a lot of exploitative elements, plenty of sex, nudity, constant violence, shooting, chases, blow-ups and even rape. Amazingly, this film is still boring. It just goes to show, if you have zero character development, the audience cannot become interested no matter how much sleaze and violence you throw at them.Thankfully, this does have most of the hallmarks of the Italian post-nuke world we've come to know and love: absurd dubbing, motorcycles and cars with crazy, "futuristic" appliances on them, unbelievably wacky costumes and the like. Interestingly, this also has a comment on the Italian class system, using the apocalyptic wasteland as a backdrop for it. Perhaps the filmmakers had Salo (1975) in mind, but the end product is junky and uninspiring.But it does have a nice electronic score, and it is worth noting that the movie is called The Final Executioner, and there is a scene with a flamethrower, recalling the two Exterminator movies. Could that be a coincidence? Released by Cannon, the VHS in the U.S. was put on shelves featuring the memorable silver big box. If you're looking for a good example of Italian post-apocalypse movies, this is not a good example to start off with, but the presences of Harrison Muller Jr. and Woody Strode are among its redeeming qualities.For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

I saw this movie way back in 1985, one of many Italian post apocalyptic movies around that time (think Endgame,2020 Texas Gladiators and 2019 After the Fall of New York) A piece of absolute crap, with unsympathetic characters (excluding Woody Strode and William Mang) The rape scene was too much and the depraved lifestyle of the 'rich' was sickening.The best part in this film was when William Mang's character took his revenge, and on the plus side, Harrison Muller displays some talent in his portrayal as one of the villains. Can't say the same for the other cast members and for the life of me I can't understand why Woody strode even did this film. Give this turkey a miss!

Here's a decidedly average Italian post apocalyptic take on the hunting/killing humans for sport theme ala The Most Dangerous Game, Turkey Shoot, Gymkata and The Running Man.Certainly the film reviewed here is nowhere near as much fun as the other listed entries and is furthermore dragged down by poor voice over work, generally bland action sequences, a number of entirely tasteless scenes such as a prolonged rape sequence and some truly stupid and illogical points throughout.Take for example towards the end of the film, when our hero manages to infiltrate the compound of the villains. He initially kills a sentry and leaves him in his jeep. Upon discovery of the said corpse, the villains response? (bearing in mind that our hero has come to brutally murder them all) – They resolve to wait until the next morning to look for the culprit (!!!!!!!!!!)However, I suppose to be fair the film remains nonetheless about watchable if you can suspend your disbelief during such stupid scenes and does benefit immensely by the presence of the always excellent Woody Strode (even if his screen time is very limited)Not a classic by any stretch of the imagination but still just about worthy of a watch for Italian B-Movie enthusiasts.

Okay, we all know the post-nuke sci-fi action picture score by now. Well, here we go again. Once more what's left of society following a devastating nuclear holocaust has degenerated into total every-man-for-himself, kill-or-be-killed, survival-of-the-fittest barbarism. The callous, haughty upper class get their twisted sicko jollies off by hunting expendable contaminated poor folks. One team of contemptibly snooty wealthy scum nihilists, lead by vicious master swordsman Erasmas (a superbly hateful Harrison Muller) and arch bitch Idra (played to the eminently hissable hilt by Marina Costa), almost succeed in killing wimpy decent dude Allan (a likable performance by William Mang). Allan is saved and nursed back to health by tough, but tender-hearted ex-cop Sam (grizzled veteran macho man supreme Woody Strode in peak rugged form). Sam transforms Allan from a slow, clumsy pushover into a mean, fast, ultra-lethal fightin' machine through an especially harsh, painful and arduous bout of rigorous training. Allan, primed and ready to stomp some serious booty, tracks down the rich a**holes who nearly did him in and picks 'em off one at a time.Basically just another rehash of that much copied and ripped off hoary old chestnut "The Most Dangerous Game," this spare, gritty, very ugly and ferocious little number gets by on the basis of its raw, no-frills, rough-edged brutality alone, unnervingly blurring the line between the good guys and the bad guys by depicting a grim future where violence and savagery are an everyday part of life. Although marred by a tepid opening third and an all-too-apparent two-cent budget, "The Final Executioner" does possess the right sleazy materials to measure up as a properly hard-hitting and two-fisted up to speed action item: Besides the copious nasty and often unsparingly grueling violence, there's also a generous sprinkling of sex and nudity, plus rape, torture, degradation and even voyeurism. Now, that's exactly what low-grade exploitation trash is all about!