“Hey, man,” Banana-Man said standing in nothing but his underwear. “Don’t kill me.”

The Revenging Manta, the ninja vigilante of downtown Orlando, held his sword at the ready. I could see the bloodlust in his eyes. He wanted to cut the head off of this man who feigned selling chocolate covered bananas to children with some fentanyl on the side. 

“You don’t understand,” the Banana-Man said. “I’ve got a family! I’ve got kids!” 

The ninja flicked the blade lightly across the man’s left cheek making a red gash.

— To be continued. 

Tonight’s movie is 1979’s From Corleone to Brooklyn from director Umberto Lenzi. Some of you may remember my first ever review for this blog was Umberto Lenzi’s Nightmare City. Hey, can someone please tell me why that movie doesn’t get the same respect as 28 Days Later? Lenzi introduced the whole running zombie thing way before Danny Boyle’s movie. Plus, Lenzi’s zombies can operate machine guns. Boyle’s zombies are one note: rage, rage, rage. They don’t stop to sip some Southern Comfort.

From Corleone to Brooklyn may bring to mind a certain movie about a Godfather and there is definitely a mafia connection in this movie. A mob boss named Michele Barresi (Mario Merola) has fled to New York City to escape Italian authorities for his many crimes. Hot on his trail is police inspector Giorgio Berni (Maurizio Merli), a tough guy cop played by a man with an incredible mustache and a fur-lined jacket. I remember Maurizio Merli as the tough guy cop in The Tough Ones from director Umberto Lenzi. He made the villain in that movie literally eat a bullet. 

Michele Barresi was involved in the murder of a rival mob boss named Salvetore Santoro. The Italian police are hoping a witness they have in custody for another murder, Salvetore Scalia, will testify against Barresi in New York City so he can be remanded to Italian authorities. Scalia won’t squeal at first, but when he learns of his sister’s murder as ordered by Baressi, he agrees to testify. Now, all Berni has to do is get this witness to New York in one piece and Baressi will spend the rest of his life rotting in a cell.

This isn’t as easy as it sounds as every two-bit goon working for the mafia is ready to eliminate this stool pigeon. I loved seeing one of the goons get runover by a truck. The driver was upset saying the guy ran out right in front of him. Who cares? That goon deserved to die, painfully. After more attempts on Scallia’s life, the two of them get on the airplane and it’s off to New York City, but they’re not out of the woods yet.

While in New York, Berni and Scallia hideout in a room atop an Italian restaurant. Berni is good friends with the owner, but the local mod is on to this hideout. These gangsters tell the owner to leave with his family and to forget they ever saw them, but before their plan can go into action, some disgusting punks show up to rob the restaurant. Even after the owner empties the register, the punks keep threatening him, and tell him how they’re going to have some fun with his daughter. But the punks don’t like the mafia guys with their fancy suits and their leader makes it sound like he’s going to shoot one of the mobsters in his private parts. The mafia men have had it and lay waste to the punks. This alerts Berni and Scalia to the danger and they get the hell out of there. Funny how I hated the street punks more than the mafia guys. I guess there are levels of depravity in this movie. 

Jeff Shuster (episode 47, episode 102, episode 124, episode 131, episode 284, episode 441, episode 442, episode 443, episode 444, episode 450, episode 477, episode 491, episode 492, episode 493, episode 495, episode 496, episode 545, episode 546, episode 547, episode 548, episode 549, episode 575, episode 596, episode 597, episode 598, episode 599, episode 642, episode 643, episode 644, episode 645, and episode 670) is an MFA graduate from the University of Central Florida.