蟾宫自心爱之人荷花嫁给太守以后从此消沉,沉迷于花天酒地,整天以酒来麻痹自己受伤的心。在村边的湖里有两只鱼妖白秋练、白秋红经常幻化人形,游戏人间,吸取人的魂魄,却经常遭到一心想降妖伏魔的道士真君的干扰。 有一次白秋练正在水中寻觅猎物,突然被岸上动情的萧声吸引,顺着萧声游到岸边,发现了酒醉的蟾宫,并且一见钟情。白秋练发现蟾宫经常出没于太湖边的花楼,便化作花楼女子,为博得蟾宫的关注。在蟾宫酒醉之后误认为眼前的白秋练便是自己朝思暮想的荷花,为之动情,白秋练从中得知蟾宫为情所困,便更加怜爱蟾宫。 真君为学会辟水法,从而降伏鱼妖,用法术将一堆石头变成了银子赠与教他识字的蟾宫,却不想蟾宫拿着这些银子去花楼,露出马脚,银子又变成了石头,被老鸨叫人推入湖中,失去了萧,秋练碰巧捡到萧。秋红发现了秋练对蟾宫的爱意,劝告秋练不能为情所动,否则将为之苦恼……。Umberto Lenzi is undoubtedly the king of Italian crime movies, but unfortunately| Syndicate Sadists is not the best examples of his work in this genre. Lenzi's crime flicks tend to be a cut above the rest because he makes films based on stories with a point, and they don't lack direction| but this film feels a bit too wayward to fully fit with the rest of his stuff. The film takes obvious influence from Sergio Leone's landmark western 'A Fistful of Dollars' (which in turn, took influence from Akira Kurosawa's landmark samurai flick Yojimbo), in that it features two warring families and a strong character at the centre. The crime that Lenzi focuses on is kidnapping, and we centre on a character called 'Rambo'. Rambo is dragged into the war between the two families after his brother is killed because of it. Rambo uses his brains and brawn to pit the two families against one another, in the hope of gaining revenge for his brother's death, rescuing a young boy that they've kidnapped, and ultimately letting the two sides destroy one another.
The film's biggest asset is undoubtedly Tomas Milian. Milian was put to great use by Lenzi in almost all of his crime thrillers. The range of characters he has played for Lenzi is immense, and this one is easily one of the coolest. The character is called Rambo, which immediately sprang to mind the popular Sylvester Stallone character - but for once, the Italians actually haven't stolen this name as Syndicate Sadists was released first! As usual, the film is wickedly entertaining, as we get to watch Milian get himself involved in the usual array of car chases, shootouts and brawls. Lenzi has got him riding a motorbike this time round, and every scene featuring it and Milian is a real standout! However, the film often feels like it doesn't really have anywhere to go, and this means that the running time is stretched out more than it should be. Compared to the crime films of other Italian directors, Syndicate Sadists is more than above average| but in relation to Lenzi crime flicks such as Almost Human and The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist - it doesn't stand tall as one of Lenzi's best. Still, if you're looking for ninety minutes of testosterone fuelled mayhem - Syndicate Sadists will suffice!。