Judging by the juicy title and exhilarating VHS-cover, "Cauldron of Death" appears to be a genuinely nasty horror film, but it is in fact a rough 'n tough revenge-thriller! It's still extremely gory and sadistic, but the storyline is more reminiscent to those typical Italian Godfather rip-offs of the early 70's, with relentless mob bosses violently eliminating their competitors in order to become the only reigning king of crime in a certain city. The titular cauldron refers to the favorite killing-method of the meanest bastard in town, who throws his enemies (and sometimes even his loved ones) into a giant bath of acid where they meet a slow and painful melting-death. During the outrageous opening sequences, which immediately set the right violent mood, we witness how the accomplices of Don Vito mercilessly execute the current crime-leader. Two years later, his son returns to town from prison and plots to single-handedly avenge his father as well as to recover his girlfriend Rosa who got claimed by Don Vito. From then on, "Cauldron of Blood" turns into a tremendously exciting macho-showdown between the charismatic young blond hero and the sleazy old bastard, with treasonous characters, lurid ladies and a whole lot of bloody gunfights. Whenever Rico humiliates Don Vito or steals some of his crime-monopoly, the other one responds by executing one of Rico's innocent family members, like his pregnant sister or his crippled mother. "Cauldron of Death" is incredibly fast-paced and, surprisingly enough, the script dissociates itself from all the feared clichés and taboos. There are certain deaths in this film that you can't possibly see coming and even the final battle at the end of the story is shockingly unpredictable. For this reason alone, I highly recommend "Cauldron of Death" to every fan of unusual Euro-Trash cinema! Other than the convoluted structure and the highly effective plot twists, this undiscovered gem of Italian smut-cinema also features some of the most outrageous gore you've ever seen. In one particular sequence, which clearly got edited back into the film after an initial censorship, we explicitly witness how a poor guy gets castrated for messing around with Don Vito's woman and subsequently gets thrown into the acid. His extendedly depicted agony is still horrifying, even though the make-up effects are cheap and very cheesy. There's also a lot of graphic nudity and sleaze (or what else did you expected), provided by two of Italy's most contemporary popular muses, Barbara Bouchet and Malisa Longo. I don't really understand why this film is still so obscure, especially with the recent revival of euro-crime cinema, which put several other highlights of the sub genre on DVD, like "Almost Human" and "Rabid Dogs". Maybe it's because director Tulio Demicheli never truly belonged to the prominent circle of Italian exploitation filmmakers? So far, this film is only available on VHS (or bootleg DVD-R) and quality of both picture and sound is horrendous. Here's to hoping it gets rewarded with a fancy DVD edition any time soon!