99 and 44/100% Dead

A perplexing mix of styles clash and sputter when screenwriter Dillons satiric, quirky parody of gangster movies meets flashy director Frankenheimers slick and inventive visuals. OBrien, a gruff and aging gang lord, hires hit-man Harris to kill Dillman, a rival gangster who is muscling in on his rackets. The milieu Harris enters is a strangely futuristic realm where almost anything can happen. High-speed car chases, a society of cement-shoed corpses in the river, and a sewer full of albino alligators are just some of the bizarre sights to be seen. Perhaps the strangest creation is that of Connors character, dubbed the "Claw." This crazed killer has a metal stump for a hand that can be fitted with dozens of detachable appliances from household (a corkscrew) to lethal. All in all, the film is wildly inventive with moments of funny satire being punctuated by outbursts of sadism and violence. Surprisingly, Dillon and Frankenheimer teamed up again for FRENCH CONNECTION II (1975). (Verleiher-Text)