A Godfather imitation gone completely, utterly, gloriously insane, Massacre Mafia Style (better known to VHS junkies via its Video Gems release as The Executioner) kicks off in an office building where our two main mafiosi, Mimi (director/star Mitchell) and Jolly (Caesar), wipe out what seems like an entire office building's worth of victims while performing a hit, allowing only a small kid on an elevator to leave unscathed. However, this title sequence sets up the violently hilarious overkill with which the entire film treats its subject, dabbling in "the Italian-American experience" while delivering pure exploitation sensation on an Ed Wood budget. See, Mimi wants a better life for his family and, after leaving his son back in the old country, finds his violent nature brought out by working for the mob with the blessing of his crime boss dad. Intent on seizing control of the Hollywood underworld from the wet-behind-the-ears new criminals, he and Jolly might have bitten off more than they can chew and have to shoot everything in sight to realize the American dream.
Thanks mainly to its theatrical trailer (essentially the opening scene sans credits), Massacre Mafia Style continued to intrigue viewers into the DVD era despite the maddening inability to see it anywhere outside of a die-hard tape collector's library. Fortunately the rest of the film lives up to the promise of its opening with Mitchell delivering an impassioned, eccentric, unpredictable performance unlike anything else ever committed to film. This is definitely one man's vision up onscreen, and considering Mitchell's background (as a nightclub regular and one-time comedy partner with Jerry Lewis imitator Sammy Petrillo, with whom he starred in Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla), he apparently was more than a little familiar with the real-life interaction of Hollywood glitter and the criminal element. You've certainly never seen another gangster movie like this.
The video history of Massacre Mafia Style has been confusing to say the least since the VHS rode off into the sunset. Grindhouse Releasing included the trailer on almost all of its releases going back to the late '90s, but well over a decade later, their version has yet to surface. Whatever the ownership issues of this film may be, Mitchell's son Jeffrey has issued a privately-distributed, double-disc version (dubbed "The Family Edition") loaded with supplements. On the downside, the transfer is yanked from a VHS tape (you can see some tape tension lines at the bottom of the screen without overscan) and looks exactly like it did in the '80s, all soft and murky, for better or worse.
Disc one heaps on three commentaries featuring Jeffrey Mitchell, his dad's writing friend Frankie Ray, and George Jacobs ("Frank Sinatra's assiant and valet," which gets pretty colorful as you might imagine). They don't really address the actual film directly very often, focusing more on Mitchell pere's background and creative endeavors while Mitchell shares a lot of info about himself and his family. You also get the original trailer, a couple of Duke Mitchell-voiced radio spots, and a peek at a Duke Mitchell concert film, "An Impressionistic Tribute to Jimmy Durante," which has apparently been vaulted for decades. You can also find a batch of hidden Easter eggs including Mitchell-performed songs and, of all things, a trailer for Brooklyn Gorilla!
On to disc two, you get "Like Father, Like Son," an hour-long video piece on Duke Mitchell and his son featuring Jeffrey, Frankie Ray and George Jacobs talking about the career of "the man who was Mimi" interspersed with home movie and nightclub footage. Also included are what appear to be outtake interviews with Ray and Jacobs, a still gallery of Mitchell's photos throughout his career, audio recordings from one of Mitchell's last live performances, the screenplay in different stages of evolution via DVD-Rom, and three '70s songs by the younger Mitchell ("Jacknife," "Whiskey," "In a Dream"), all packaged with an amusing reproduction of the director's "Italian cheat sheet" used during filming. Definitely an all-but-the-kitchen-sink release, this one loads on the extras and, if you're not expecting anything from the presentation of the main feature, sheds some light on a one-of-a-kind entertainment personality.
