Killing in Istanbul (1967)

You won't be disappointed!

Pretty Good

One of my all time favorites.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

TV editor and chess player Yılmaz Atadeniz reforms his old gang to put his disparate skills to good use paying homage to the American serials of his youth with the now forgotten first entry in a long running series of once popular films loosely based on the Italian photo novel creations of Max Bunker and Magnus.King of rogues Kilink is resurrected to complete his plans for world domination but as Kilink is in Istanbul so can be Superhero, the son of Kilink's victim given powers by the wizard Shazam, however let us not forget that Kilink really exists, while Superhero is an imaginary hero, in the ludicrous set-up to this brutish boys-own adventure.İrfan Atasoy puts in a square-jawed central performance worthy of George Reeves and Buster Crabbe as the highly unauthorised Captain Marvel/Superman hybrid hero whilst as usual far more fun is to be had by Yıldırım Gencer who turns the gentlemen thief of the source material into the sociopathic titular villain of this piece.Muzaffer Tema heads up a powerful supporting cast which includes turns from Hüseyin Peyda and Feridun Çölgeçen as well as the über-vampish Suzan Avcı, veritable victims Aynur Aydan and Pervin Par and a scene stealing Mine Soley who expresses herself by removing the glasses and white coat of a victim to reveal the black dress of a vamp underneath.The filmmakers do a surprisingly good job of recreating the feel of a classic American serial, albeit some twenty years too late and infused with Turkish machismo fuelled sex and violence, which if nothing else firmly paved the way for the later excess of Turkish pop cinema's copyright defying remakes that were inevitably to follow."Adventure and danger are the meaning of my life."

KILINK ISTANBUL'DA is almost exactly the same movie I wanted to make when I was 11 or so, right down to the appropriated James Bond themes "borrowed" from YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. Actually I wanted to use Queen's soundtrack from FLASH GORDON, but the comparison is still valid. Kilink is described as "the great Turkish super villain" and is probably the most interesting performance ever given by an actor who's face is never seen and voice never heard. He is a master of disguises, but for reasons never revealed in the film goes around in a Halloween skeleton costume with the bones painted onto a black body suit. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, I prefer going around with a little blond myself.The superhero is named Superhero, dressed in a Salvation Army Superman costume and speaking the name "SHAZAM" (pronounced SHA-ZAHM) for his transformation scenes. He is impervious to bullets, has the strength of a front end loader, and can fly like a bird -- except when chasing bad guys up the side of a hill, when running is of course easier.The movie is deranged, or insane, in the sense that it is not concerned with "reality" and exists as it's own closed universe. It makes perfect sense for the villain to be dressed in a skeleton costume, for the soundtrack to repeat the same snippets of music over and over again, for the villain's henchmen to all have the letter K on the front of their tunics, and for the movie to exist in a sort of bizarre discontinuous nature due to missing footage from splice breaks. Effects follow cause: we see the water splash in a pool before a character is thrown in, see people spinning away from a punch before it is thrown, and are treated to otherwise unfathomable dialog that is perfectly fitting: Kilink calls his underlings "Losers", tells our hero to watch his mouth after being called "king of rogues", and in my favorite line (recreated here for effect) announces that with his new secret weapon nobody will be able to stop him from ruling theworld. His goal is to not only rule the world but to tell people what they will think, what they will eat, if they will live or die, and what they will put on. One might be tempted to opine that the person who did the translation was struggling with their English, but for my money it's in the actual verbatim, especially the scene where our hero jokes about whether or not he dares to beat his sexy fiancée again. At ping pong.I cannot recommend this movie highly enough, especially if you have a sense of humor. It delivers on so many angles, yet manages to actually be thrilling while still having a MST3K sort of goofball appeal. The women in the film are all agonizingly hot, and Kilink has his way with them like any good movie villain or 11 year old would. He does not even bother to remove his mask when kissing his mob moll, and she doesn't seem to mind. It is a very special film, and what's left of it can be found on an excellent Greek made DVD from Onar Films that has an English subtitle for the original Turkish audio track. The runtime is only 70 minutes, and with minimal bathroom breaks you can play it over and over again about thirty times during the course of a day & each time see or hear something which slipped past you before. It's just that kind of movie, and exactly what I had in mind when in the 5th grade. Good ideas don't grow old.9/10

Talk about Psychotronic film, this movie from Turkey is one of the most amazing and jaw dropping things I've ever seen.The plot has Kilink, a man in a full skeleton suit, being raised from the dead in order to continue his evil ways. His latest plot has him looking for a secret formula that will destroy the world and allow him to rule over whats left. The formula was created by a scientist who once worked for the evil Kilink, but fled from England to Turkey when he had the chance. Kilink catches up with the turncoat and kills him. The search for the formula is then on. Meanwhile the son of the murdered scientist is visited by a god like figure who gives him super powers whenever he says Shazam, yes that Shazam (though the suit isn't the same)Can you say copyright infringement? Not in Turkey, where they have been stealing characters an film bit from Western movies for years. Kilink is actually based upon an Italian comic book character which they co-opted for their purposes. The origin of the Shazam character is lifted out of American comics. Its an odd mix and yet it some how it works. Taking the infringement even farther all of the music is lifted from other places, the Bond films primarily. No one is credited of course.Kilink is a vile character, he's probably one the best screen villains I've run across, arrogant, amoral, charismatic. and deadly. Its simply a joy to see a character this bad plot to destroy everything. Darth Vader and Hannibal Lecter have nothing on this guy.The film is full of sex and violence and everything that mom said was bad for us. Its done in a wild abandon that is absolutely charming. The fights are done with a sincerity that turns their raw violence into something often better than their polished Hollywood counterparts. At one point Kilink forces himself on a busty blonde who's just tried to kill him. With barely veiled promises of sexual ecstasy the rape becomes a seduction almost instantly, and while you can consider it sexist, there is something about the way that its done here that makes it less than morally reprehensible. Kudos aside there are some warnings before you see this film. First off its often not up to "Hollywood" standards, at times it looks like a better than average home movie. It was done fast and cheap and at times it shows. The sound is tinny, or has been obviously over laid on top of the picture. You have to be forgiving of its imperfections. Worse the prints of this, and many early Turkish films, are awful. The films from the period were not preserved. They were churned out as fast as possible and then put aside in favor of the next one. There was no film preservation so whats survived are scratched, broken and missing bits of the action. If you don't go with it you will be driven mad by jumps in scenes due to lost footage. (and odds are its going to be subtitled) If you can forgive the physical flaws of the film, you really should see this film if you get the chance. Its a wild mad dog experience thats the type of thing that real film lovers search out. Its a full steam fun film experience, with out a deep thought anywhere in sight.Rating of 9 out of 10 is on the Psychotronic/Drive-in scale of unique movie experiences.

Kilink Istanbul'da (1967) is one of three films starring the Turkish rip-off of Killing, the Italian photo novel rip off of the famous comic strip series Kriminal - are you still following me. The FANATIK (Turkey) VCD plays grainy black and white but it is still a joy to watch with all its 60's style Turk look, fight scenes, Turkish dialogue, scantily clad women and the man himself. Also thrown in to the soundtrack is a ton of "borrowed" tracks that you'll just love.