Peur sur la ville (1975)
Directed by Henri Verneuil

Film Review

This high budget, fast moving action thriller typifies the kind of film that was hugely popular in France in the mid- 1970s.  Peur sur la ville epitomises the crime thriller or 'polar' of that decade, in which tough cops pursue tough villains, with an emphasis on action stunts over plot and characterisation. The film starred Jean-Paul Belmondo, then one of the most popular actors in the country, and attracted a respectable four million cinema-goers in France.

Although the film is unashamedly popularist, Peur sur la ville is not a shallow cops and robber film, of the kind which the polar genre degenerated into towards the end of the 1970s (parallelling the demise of the same genre in American cinema). Henri Verneuil was one of the most talented and versatile directors of his generation, certainly in the action thriller genre.   Few of Belmondo's subsequent thrillers have the drive and grim sense of menace that Peur sur la ville has, and it also features one of his most terrifying adversaries, a schizoid psychopathic played brilliantly by Adalberto Maria Merli.

Unusually for a film of this genre, the characterisation is rather good, arising from a combination of a fairly good script and above average acting performances.  Add a touch of black comedy and some chilling music and you have what many regard as a classic.

What most viewers remember from this film is the sheer daring in the action stunts.  Not only does the film boast some of the most impressive car chase sequences to feature in a French film, but we also have a heart-stopping chase sequence on top of the Lafayette galleries and an extraordinary helicopter stunt filmed in the middle of Paris. Best of all, the film includes what is possibly Belmondo's most famous, and most impressive stunt sequence - a delirious chase atop a fast-moving metro train.

Widely regarded as the best of Jean-Paul Belmondo's many crime thrillers, Peur sur la ville is also a rare example of a popular film of the genre which has genuine artistic merit as a work of cinema.

Film Synopsis

After receiving a series of threatening phone calls, Nora Elmer falls to her death from a high-rised apartment.  The death is investigated by police inspector Jean Letellier, who soon receives a mysterious phone call from someone calling himself Minos and who claims to want to purge Paris of loose women.  Realising that he is dealing with a dangerous maniac, Letellier embarks on a perilous hunt for the serial killer…