Poliziotteschi

[The Reaper Man@Cult Labs]

My VIOLENT PROFEESIONALS (and the NUN) arrived from 88 on Tuesday....

Not seen the VP since the quality Vipco 'dvd'

Be great to see it looking pristine.

[Demoncrat]

Street Law (1974, EG Castellari)

Franco Nero falls foul of some ne'r do wells. The police aren't any help, so what's an engineer to do? Not as macho as some flicks in this genre, our erstwhile hero is not some jack of all trades etc. Recommended.

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by Demoncrat

Street Law (1974, EG Castellari)

Franco Nero falls foul of some ne'r do wells. The police aren't any help, so what's an engineer to do? Not as macho as some flicks in this genre, our erstwhile hero is not some jack of all trades etc. Recommended.

Franco Nero at his best...one defiantly for a re-watch

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Violent Professionals aka Milano trema: la polizia vuole giustizia - Translated as Milan Trembles:The Police Want Justice (1973)

A classic Poliziotteschi in which disgraced cop Luc Merenda goes undercover deep inside Richard Conte's mob as a getaway driver so he can infiltrate and get revenge for the death of a close friend and colleague.

Merenda is on typically good form as is Conte in Sergio Martino's fast paced thriller. The title confuses as both undercover cop and mob thugs are as violent as each other as everyone from the police, villains, kids and pregnant women get wasted in a hail of bullets along the way.

What really stood out for me were the magnificent car chases. The direction and camera work is spot on, properly in and around the action. It's beautifully constructed, not messy cameras that shoot anything except the cars Paul Greengrass style, but classic Bullitt and French Connection brilliance.

Oh and i mustn't forget the soundtrack from Guido and Maurizio De Angelis. Groovy is certainly the best word to describe it.

Oozing with thrills and suspense, twists and turns, i really enjoyed The Violent Professionals.

88 Films Blu-ray is a nice package with a colourful informative 40 page book and double sided poster on quality paper all nestled in a lovely hard case. The outdoor scenes look lovely in 2K.

[Demoncrat]

Noted D!!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Savage Three (1975)

Three young colleagues at a computer analysis center become so bored with their mundane life in Turin they go on violent rampages at night.

I suppose the film is an allegory for a world where three young men so bored they become almost dehumanized in a society that cares less than they do. The three, led by Joe Dallesandro, begin by starting a riot at a football match, before stealing cars then evolving into murderous thugs akin to the band of Droogs in A Clockwork Orange (1971). It all becomes remarkably sleazy and beautifully sadistic especially when Dallesandro impales one naked girl on a fork lift truck. Even more impressive, the brutality and violence plays out to a brilliant space rock score by Franco Campanino.

Enrico Maria Salerno gives the standout performance for me as a cop demoted from the flying squad due to his unlawful way of dealing with criminals and he has some wonderfully strained meetings with Dallesandro during the course of the film.

I'd never heard of The Savage Three before acquiring Arrow's recent Years of Lead box set and although it doesn't really feel like a typical Poliziotteschi it's one that definitely stands out from the crowd due to it's brutal originality.

Note - If you change regions on your Blu-ray player to anything but (B) you'll be able to see the uncut version complete with 13 seconds of mice brutalizing one another. Otherwise the screen goes black as the soundtrack plays.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Like Rabid Dogs (1976)

Cesare Barro plays Tony, a good student from a wealthy family who with a couple of friends go on a prostitute killing spree in the evenings.

In a way this was similar to the other film on this Arrow Blu-ray disc in the Years of Lead set - The Savage Three - the idea of seemingly decent young men leading a double life ending up out of control murderers. Their crime sprees seemingly senseless other than because they can.

Where this differs however is that one of the three killers is a girl, a girl who seems to get as much of a thrill of violating naked women as the males do in a psychosexual manner.

The police led by Inspector Muzi (Jean-Pierre Sebagh) are seemingly powerless against the wealth on the side of these ruthless criminals.

Like Rabid Dogs is pretty much summed up by it's title. It's a violent, harrowing film and serves up the exploitation in spades. I hadn't seen this before and i loved it.

Based on the two films i've seen Arrow's Years of Lead box set is a highly recommended release.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Milano calibro 9 (1972)

A Poliziottesco directed by Fernando Di Leo, starring Gastone Moschin as a Statham look-a-like small time crook released from prison but immediately harassed by his old mob associates until he goes back to work for them.

Caliber 9, as it's known by it's English title is quite a slow moving example of what is a rather lively crime genre. It's really well acted by Moschin as the jaded con as well as Philippe Leroy as his mate. Although Mario Adorf pretty much shouts his way through the film and does grate quite a bit. Where it stumbles a bit are some lengthy dialogue scenes which go pretty much nowhere other than showcasing Frank Wolff as the aggressive police commissioner and Luigi Pistilli as his number two. Wolff grates more than Adorf and the usually excellent Pistilli looks bored by it all.

On the whole Milano Caliber 9 is an enjoyable character driven crime movie thanks to excellent performances by Moschin and Leroy.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

No, the Case Is Happily Resolved (1973)

An excellent Italian crime drama about a young man who witnesses the murder of a prostitute by a respected university professor. To avoid hassle he decides not to report it to the police but soon realises the killer has reported him to the police and blamed him for the murder.

Another from Arrow's Years of Lead box set and another classy film. The initial murder is pretty harrowing to watch but the rest of the film plays out like a game of cat and mouse as the young man tries to extricate himself from the crime as the police hunt him down. It's highly intriguing and a very satisfying watch even if the ending is as downbeat and ambiguous as at all possible.

As with the other two films i've seen in this collection the film deals with the class struggle in Italy during the early seventies and the idea that the wealthy commit crimes partly out of the dreariness of their own lives and also because they simply feel they can get away with it.

The acting is uniformly excellent and the plot a real gripper. Vittorio Salerno's film is for me an unheard of gem and a beautifully vitriolic swipe at the Italian justice system

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Colt 38 Special Squad (1976)

An awesome poliziottesco movie. Massimo Dallamano's film is action all the way as a police captain whose wife has just been murdered by crime lord Ivan Rassimov sets up a secret squad of four rogue cops, each armed with an unlicensed .38 Colt Diamondback revolver and a fast motorbike.

With more than a few nods to Clint Eastwood's Magnum Force from three years previous this is fast paced, violent mayhem, replete with thunderous road chases and shoot outs a plenty.

Totally different to the other three films in the Years of Lead box set i've seen (Still got Highway Racer to go) as it's not as much of a social commentary and more a classic breathless action packed crime film with several brutal terrorist style bombings thrown in.

I really enjoyed this. Highly recommended