Paul Morrissey wrote and directed this sprawling, comic/serious neighborhood saga that scrambles ethnic identities, lopsided honor codes and the twisted ‘normality’ of mob rule in the borough of Brooklyn. Do we like our hero Spike?  He’s an arrogant, entitled Italian-American, macho to the core. He impregnates both of his girlfriends, Maria Pitillo and Talisa Soto. The only objection comes from Pitillo’s father, local mob boss Ernest Borgnine (the best thing in the movie). Spike’s a legend in his own mind, but does he have a future in the Mafia?

Spike of Bensonhurst
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Fun City Editions
1900 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 101 min. / Street Date August 11, 2026 / Available from / 44.95
Starring: Sasha Mitchell, Ernest Borgnine, Maria Pitillo, Talisa Soto, Rick Aviles, Anne DeSalvo, Sylvia Miles, Geraldine Smith, Antonia Rey, Karen Shallo, Christopher Anthony Young, Mario Todisco, Rodney Harvey, Frank Adonis, Frank Gio, Robert Compono, Tony Goodstone.
Cinematography: Steven Fierberg
Production Designer: Stephen McCabe
Film Editor: Stan Salfas
Composer: Coati Mundi
Story and screenplay by Paul Morrissey additional dialogue Alan Bowne
Executive Producer Sam Grogg
Produced by Nelson Lyon, David Weisman
Directed by Paul Morrissey

Viewers that know Paul Morrissey only from his Warhol days will be surprised by  Spike of Bensonhurst, the tale of a rude ‘n’ crude Italian-American boy, out to Get What’s His in Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst. Our selfish leading man believes his Italian-American heritage puts him a cut above all other ethnicities. All he wants is his avowed birthright, an easy life in the mob system. He skates on his good looks and remains unfazed when both of his girlfriends get pregnant. In fact, making that happen ends up being part of his plan.

Several characters in Spike of Bensonhurst seem overacted. The show has farcical elements yet tells a (depressingly) believable story. The screaming arguments and profanity are fairly routine now, but in 1988 the show could have been perceived as “Son of Scarface” in the profanity stakes. Everybody says what they think, loudly and with little heed as to who’s feelings might be hurt.

The show isn’t highly rated, yet it seems a template for pictures that attempt to illuminate a particular American sub-culture. It’s a mob picture with some tension but no killings. Family feuds, mob business and ethnic contrasts clash, big time, but since everybody accepts a world with injustice and corruption, nobody’s protesting. The conflict is all wrapped up in the leading character’s inflated opinion of himself. Spike of Bensonhurst seems primed to promote actor Sasha Mitchell into the orbit occupied by superstar Sylvester Stallone. The Italian Stallion, however, made sure to play a character that audiences would like. The show has a number of good personalities to observe faces, but the reall attraction is Ernest Borgnine, a real pro. His upper-middle rank mob boss is so believably human that he transcends the general crudeness… Crudity… Crud. He’s an honest character within a shaky satire.

Bensonhurst is a somewhat upscale neighborhood in Broolyn. Good-looking Spike Fumo (Sasha Mitchell) abuses his family, friends and any girl that takes up with him, yet he’s considered a prince of the neighborhood. Fumo believes whole-heartedly in the mob’s rule, and the way it makes 4th-class citizens of the Puerto Ricans in neighboring Red Hook. He’s in a boxing club that puts on fights that everyone knows are rigged, and it doesn’t seem to matter. Spike and others take turns being knocked out, for pittance pay. Local mob boss Baldo Cacetti (Ernest Borgnine) compliments Spike on the way he takes a dive.

Spike’s idea of ‘carpe deum’ is to force his hand. His plan to succeed without really trying is to marry Angel Cacetti (Maria Pitillo), Baldo’s spoiled princess of a daughter. Baldo wants Angel to marry another guy, a square college student with a future. As Spike won’t take no for an answer he gets himself banished to Red Hook, where he takes up with Bandana (Rick Aviles), normally his boxing opponent. Bandana turns out to be a swell guy — and doesn’t seem to mind Spike’s insults against Puerto Ricans. Spike is honestly offended by Red Hook’s open drug market, and makes himself a local hero by chasing away some pushers. [ How he can do this without getting his throat cut is a mystery. ]

Bandana’s emotional mom (Antonia Rey) has values issues; like too many women she loves the handsome Spike, and equates the Mafia with upscale security. Spike takes up with India (Talisa Soto), Bandana’s swooningly attractive sister. Yet he tells India that he’s angling to get back with Angel, to secure that cozy mob future he’s after.

Despite Baldo Cacetti’s precautions Angel and Spike are able to meet up; she announces that the way to make daddy accept Spike is to get pregnant. Meanwhile, India becomes pregnant by Spike as well. Spike’s crime-fighting activities cause more friction with the Mob. Baldo’s superiors are not happy that he is permitting an upstart Bensonhurst punk to interfere with drug sales in Red Hook.

There are plenty of side issues to be debated, argued, screamed. Spike’s mom is living with a girlfriend, a source of derision that he’s able to slough off. Spike’s dad is serving a prison term for a crime that otherwise would have been charged to Baldo. This is why Baldo cuts Spike so much slack, and why Spike figures he can get away with any outrage short of murder.

With so many broadly drawn characters Spike of Bensonhurst can feel like a sitcom gone crazy. The various dramas are credible; it’s the cast members spend their waking hours aggravating each other that seems exaggerated. The interesting thing is that Morrissey stresses an angle ignored by other ‘culture clash’ dramas: the people in this ethnic and criminal battleground accept the system, corruption and all. It’s most telling in Puerto Rican Red Hook. Spike says things we’d think would make Bandana and India scream at him, if not murder him on the spot. No, the underdog PRs know the status quo when they see it. The main test for this comes when Angel confronts India, knowing that they’re both pregnant by Spike. No catfight ensues. The whitebread Angel claims the inner track to marriage. India accepts that she has no rights or status in the matter. Her only response is a serene silence.

Numerous characters make noise, but we’re most impressed by Borgnine’s effective, understated performance. His Baldo can be as crude as the bums around him, but he comes off as sincere about keeping family peace. He follows a skewed but recognizable credo to Do What’s Right. Baldo exercises that decency only in his household, not in the outside world of drug pushing. It’s what most of us do, on an enlarged scale.

Any other tale of this kind would entail a string of killings, reciprocal vendettas with wronged women exacting Old Country vengeance, that sort of thing. The irony is that Spike’s main strategy is undone by a misunderstanding that’s out of his control. For a movie that at first seems uncouth and anarchistic, Spike of Bensonhurst ends in a surprisingly civilized way.

Ernest Borgnine is not the only actor to watch. Sasha Mitchell actually does well, but his career didn’t take off from this starring role. Annie DeSalvo is fun as Baldo’s pampered wife, while Sylvia Miles is more than a little forced as Bensonhurst’s cocaine-sniffing Congresswoman, basically a front for the Mob. Geraldine Smith is coarse as Spike’s mom, and Antonia Rey ia overplayed but lovable as Bandana’s mom. Hardcore Mafia cred is encourged through the presence of familiar faces Frank Adonis and Frank Gio.

Maria Pitillo had quite a few good breaks; she even played Mary Pickford in Richard Attenborough’s now forgotten Chaplin. It was her bad luck to land the leading role in the 1998 remake of  Godzilla, where she became a target for lazy critics looking for actors to slam.

Talisa Soto received more attention at the time. Although her India has short hair and dresses in outfits that look like combat fatigues, she is the expected knockout on multiple levels. Again, critics repeated that she needed acting lessons, even Roger Ebert. We don’t agree that Soto isn’t acting; we think that India’s quiet, observing manner befits a proud, patient woman in a disadvantaged position. Ms. Soto went immediately from this show to the movie most of us know her from, the James Bond epic  Licence to Kill. Everybody noticed her there.

Fun City Editions’ 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray of Spike of Bensonhurst is the company’s second release in 4K, the first being  Ladies and Gentlemen The Fabulous Stains. We gravitate toward Fun City even when the films being offered are new to us. The offbeat fare that surprised us included George Segal in  Born to Win, Richard Dreyfuss in  The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and Parker Posey in  Party Girl. The exclusive interviews on known quantities  T.R. Baskin,  Cutter’s Way and  Rancho Deluxe are exceptionally good. Fun City gives special attention to quirky dramas that might not be familiar.

Morrissey’s show is a good-looking picture shot on location, if not the exact Brooklyn locations indicated in the script. Cameraman Steven Fierberg can be proud of his slick images, and he shows up in the extas to discuss them. The show has a natural look at all times, but attractive, not docu-gritty.

We’re surprised to hear so many traditional, romantic Italian songs on the soundtrack, crooned by mature singers. Even the kids dance to tunes From Back Home. We’re just happy that Morrissey didn’t stuff his audio track with Disco cues. Spike makes a lot of noise about this music representing his Italian roots. He should enter politics, get caught with his fingers in the cookie jar, and go straight to jail.

Fun City finds good spokespeople to get us a little closer to a filmmaker whose name is remembered more than his movies. His time with Warhol remains a blur of publicity and rumors. They’re still arguing whether Paul Morrissey or Antonio Margheriti is the author of the two made-in-Italy ‘Andy Warhol’ horror movies.

We get Chicago film programmer William Morris to explain how Morrissey landed the rather expensive Spike after two French-funded movies. Morris and casting director Leonard Finger discuss Morrisey’s eagerness to work with fresh faces. The opinions floated include the claim that star Sasha Mitchell “didn’t know how to listen” to Morrissey, which sounds a lot like “he refused to take direction.”  Critics dissed Mitchell as a male model trying to be Sylvester Stallone, but I’ll take almost anyone over Stallone. We don’t mind Mitchell’s performance as a totally self-involved neighborhood celebrity. We accept him as a charismatic brat who must be indulged.

We hear bits and pieces about Morrissey’s reputation as a conservative, based on a few inflammatory right-wing statements he reportedly made. He doesn’t come off as a provocateur on the older Morrissey interview included on the disc, just another director trying to get ahead.

We also get some good reminiscences from the cameraman Steven Fierberg and one of the producers, Sam Grogg. There’s a lot of crossover praise between the testimonials, but also some insight on the careers of ‘post Warhol’ moviemakers.

The feature-length workprint, taken from an old VHS tape, reminds me of the poor-quality tapes we had to work with when cutting trailers back in the day. The work print encoding is 5 minutes longer than the feature. It is said to be comprised of alternate takes, not additional scenes; a few film leaders are part of the transfer.

A trailer is included as well as one for Mixed Blood and an audience reaction trailer for Andy Warhol’s Trash. Clicking on the Fun City logo in the main menu gets us a string of trailers of films ‘not expected’ from the company — or maybe some of them might be?

In the color insert pamphlet, Margaret Barton-Fumo’s liner note essay nails the essence of the show in a few non-judgmental pages. Versatility always impresses: the critic is a host on a progressive radio show called  No Pussyfooting.

The new artwork on the slipcover improves on the original poster graphic. Mr. Morrissey would seem to have been trying to get his own brand going, away from his roots in the Warhol Factory.

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Spike of Bensonhurst
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray rates:
Movie: Good +
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
New Supplements:
Audio commentary by William Morris
Interview with casting director Leonard Finger
Interview with director of photography Steven Fierberg
Interview with executive producer Sam Grogg
Feature-length workprint, including alternate takes, from VHS dub
Archival Supplements:
Archival video interview with writer-director Paul Morrissey
Isolated music track
Image gallery
Theatrical trailer
Color illustrated 12-page pamphlet with a new essay by Margaret Barton-Fumo.
Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? YES; Subtitles: English (feature only)
Packaging: One 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray in Keep case
Reviewed: August 30, 2026
(7582spik)

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