PSYCHOPATH (1969)
(a.k.a. MISTER ZEHN PROZENT – MIEZUN UND MONETEN)
Article #1200 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-27-2004
Posting Date: 11-24-2004
Directed by Guido Zurli
Featuring George Martin, Ingric Schoeller, Karin Field

A thief whose modus operandi is to rob other thieves during their robbery attempts, and then to return the stolen merchandise to the owners (minus his ten percent) faces off with Scotland Yard while attempting to profit from the theft of a jewel known as the Eye of Allah.

Adventures in moviehunting: According to the source from which I compiled this movie, it’s supposed to be about a psychiatrist who discovers that his girlfriend’s ex-husband is a murderer. Maybe there’s a Klaus Kinski film out there that actually tells such a story, but if there is, it isn’t this one, even if the credits listed in the entry clearly point to this movie. In fact, the movie is badly named; there’s not even a psychopath to be found here, and though the picture on the tape case shows a threatening and glowering face of Klaus Kinski hovering over a bunch of uniformed police and a gun pointed directly at the viewer, in truth, Kinski plays the servant to the main criminal, and merely helps him on occasion. I smell deceptive marketing at work here.

So what is this movie? It’s an Italian super-criminal movie, and a fairly fun one. I’m not sure it really fits the genre; it’s noticeably short on gadgetry, and the only thing I can find that might remotely put it in the realm of science fiction is the alarm system used to guard the Eye of Allah. It’s actually a highly amusing movie; it has a strong sense of humor, an interesting premise (check the above plot description for the criminals modus operandi), and actually name-drops James Bond several times during the proceedings. It’s enjoyable in its own right; why they chose to market it as some sort of psychopath movie is beyond me.