Old movies that inaccurately predict the future are always good for a few giggles, and The 10th Victim (1965) gets so much wrong that it cannot fail to entertain on that level: the supposedly futuristic fashions are fabulously silly, with liberal use of PVC clothing; the film's 21st-century technology would have seemed outdated by the '70s (the computers are rubbish and they're still using rotary-dial telephones and CRT TVs); no attempt is made to make modes of transport look like they're from the next millennium; and the soundtrack couldn't be more mid-'60s if it tried. This alone makes the movie fun for fans of kitsch cinema, but the film also benefits from a totally bonkers approach to its story, with satirical humour and a particularly crazy final act. As they might have said back then, 'It's, like, totally far out, man!'.
The basic premise is that, in the 21st century, mankind has developed a way of channelling its lust for violence: The Big Hunt, in which members of the public volunteer to partake in manhunts, taking it in turns to be the hunter and the hunted, with prize money for the survivors. Live through 10 hunts, and a sum of one million dollars is the reward.
In the film's hilarious opening scene, sexy Caroline Meredith (Ursula Andress) turns the table on her hunter by gunning him down with a weaponised bra ("Machine gun jubblies? How did I miss those, baby?"). It's her ninth successive win, and for her tenth hunt, she is approached by a TV advertising company who want to broadcast her final kill as a publicity stunt. Caroline proceeds to play a game of cat and mouse with her next victim, Marcello Poletti (Marcello Mastroianni), and attempts to lure him to where the TV crew is waiting. Poletti is no fool, however, and matches her every move.
Based on a book by Robert Sheckley, the story takes swipes at consumerism, hippy cults, and mass entertainment, but director Elio Petri maintains a light, breezy approach throughout, ensuring that, even though the subject is legalised murder, his movie is a whole lot of inconsequential fun unlikely to offend. The style is very much of the day - pop-art comic-book nonsense (think Barbarella, Matt Helm, Yellow Submarine) with some psychaedlic strangeness that is guaranteed to amuse (those saxophanists on plinths - weird!). The finalé is especially funny, with Meredith and Poletti repeatedly turning the tables on each other, eventually teaming up for a gun battle against Poletti's ex-wife and mistress.
6/10. Not for everyone, but those who dig camp Euro-sci-fi from days gone by will find it agreeable.
The basic premise is that, in the 21st century, mankind has developed a way of channelling its lust for violence: The Big Hunt, in which members of the public volunteer to partake in manhunts, taking it in turns to be the hunter and the hunted, with prize money for the survivors. Live through 10 hunts, and a sum of one million dollars is the reward.
In the film's hilarious opening scene, sexy Caroline Meredith (Ursula Andress) turns the table on her hunter by gunning him down with a weaponised bra ("Machine gun jubblies? How did I miss those, baby?"). It's her ninth successive win, and for her tenth hunt, she is approached by a TV advertising company who want to broadcast her final kill as a publicity stunt. Caroline proceeds to play a game of cat and mouse with her next victim, Marcello Poletti (Marcello Mastroianni), and attempts to lure him to where the TV crew is waiting. Poletti is no fool, however, and matches her every move.
Based on a book by Robert Sheckley, the story takes swipes at consumerism, hippy cults, and mass entertainment, but director Elio Petri maintains a light, breezy approach throughout, ensuring that, even though the subject is legalised murder, his movie is a whole lot of inconsequential fun unlikely to offend. The style is very much of the day - pop-art comic-book nonsense (think Barbarella, Matt Helm, Yellow Submarine) with some psychaedlic strangeness that is guaranteed to amuse (those saxophanists on plinths - weird!). The finalé is especially funny, with Meredith and Poletti repeatedly turning the tables on each other, eventually teaming up for a gun battle against Poletti's ex-wife and mistress.
6/10. Not for everyone, but those who dig camp Euro-sci-fi from days gone by will find it agreeable.