Shoot First, Die Later - 1974 - Italy

Shoot First, Die Later - 1974 - 6/10
AKA - Il Poliziotto è Marcio

 
Yes, they are celebrated heroes.  Stopped a heist, chased down the wheelman.
They are also on the take.
Domenico has an expensive girlfriend, Garrito likes fast cars.  Porsches.
When their crime lords want a case closed, a file retrieved, Domenico drags his feet.
The wheels of villainy are impatient, however, their methods cruel and obvious.
Italian Poliziotteschi opens in a fury, simmers down as the later conflict builds.
This one is fairly sadistic.  Caveat emptor.

Violent Rome - 1975 - Italy

Violent Rome - 1975 - 6/10
AKA - Roma Violenta

 
After bus hijackers kill a passenger for loose change, Betti and his team crack down.
A bank robbery results in even more mano a mano violence.
Ultimately, the inspector joins forces with a vigilante group.
You got it, this plot bounces more than a monkey given a bag of cocaine-laced Tootsie Rolls.
Exciting, very pulpy, dripping with sadism and vengeance.
This jump-started the career of Maurizio Merli, who played a fistful of tough cops until the end.

Eye Of The Spider - 1971 - Italy

Eye Of The Spider - 1971 - 5/10
AKA - L'occhio del Ragno

 
Convict Paul is freed from a prison transport van.
He was part of a three-man jewel heist earlier, but abandoned by his mates.
The mastermind (a bored Van Johnson) gets him out to recover the jewels and loot.
Paul wants likewise, but also revenge, so he keeps getting sidetracked.
This one predates the era of Euro-Crime, so the violence, chases, energy are all pretty low.
Despite nudity and Kinski, this feels / looks like TV. The Sweeney or Starsky & Hutch.
There was one scene where Paul driving a Citroen was chased by baddies in a ‘64 Corvair.
One was a rally sports car, the other my grandmother drove.  I watched and laughed.

Street Law - 1974 - Italy

Street Law - 1974 - 6/10
AKA - Il Cittadino si Ribella

 
Wrong place, wrong time.  Carlo is in a bank during an armed holdup.
He tires to retain his own money, but is kidnapped and beaten for interfering.
Manly pride wounded, he vows revenge.  Murder.
Trying to infiltrate the Underworld gives him nothing but more danger.
Euro-Crime is bookended with adrenaline and violence.
Mid-section more leisurely as Carlo plans, fails, inches closer to retribution.
Franco Nero connects as the highly strung vigilante, Barbara Bach underutilized.

The Big Racket - 1976 - Italy

The Big Racket - 1976 - 6/10
AKA - Il Grande Racket

 
A quartet of enforcers shake down small businesses for protection money.
No pay, the stores are trashed, burned.  Wives and daughters raped, murdered.
Cops hound them, but they hide behind the law.  If police get tough, lawyers cry foul.
Extremely violent Euro-Crime, heavy on beatings, misogyny, and ballistics.
Lead villains are particularly well cast, their smirking arrogance, sadistic satisfaction.
As with so many of these, even with blood vengeance, the aftertaste is bitter.

Fury In Marrakech - 1966 - Italy

Fury In Marrakech - 1966 - 5/10
AKA - Furia a Marrakech

 
International crime syndicate has located Hitler’s immense cache of counterfeit dollars and pounds.
The CIA send clean-scrubbed Dixon to investigate, Special Branch sends Alexander King to observe.
Plot is paper thin.  Dixon comes across as naive, inexperienced, perhaps chaste.
Action runs along chases and shootings.
Locations must have been pretty exotic: the Caribbean, New York, Marrakech, the Swiss Alps.
There is a poor man’s Q, whose gizmos rescue Dixon from time to time.
Skiing sequences predate On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Empty headed knockoff, capitalizing on Bond mania.
Movie buffs, check out the theaters marquees at the twenty minute point!

Mark Strikes Again - 1976 - Italy

Mark Strikes Again - 1976 - 6/10
AKA - Mark Colpisce Ancora

 
Detective Mark works undercover in the plaza, catching petty drug dealers and small thieves.
By chance, he is drawn into a team of terrorists, specialty – assassination.
Italian police brass approve, as does Interpol, who wants Mark to gain trust and find the leaders.
Euro-crime flick dashes along with shootings, bombings, betrayals.
Surprisingly, things misfire from time to time, like when street thieves snatch a purse carrying a bomb.
Franco Gasparri exudes breezy charm, and he is not one of those unstoppable killing machines.
Alas, this was to be his last film.

A Special Cop In Action - 1976 - Italy

A Special Cop In Action - 1976 - 6/10
AKA - Italia a Mano Armata  (Italy At Gunpoint)

 
All in a very busy week.  Commissioner Betti has his hands full.
Hijackers grab a school bus of children, hide, demand ransom.
Meanwhile, a violent gang is targeting big banks.
And, arms smugglers are ever bolder, more flagrant.
Betti thinks the mastermind behind it all is Albertelli (John Saxon), an untouchable crime boss.
The result is three disjointed tales, stitched together with car chases, rooftop chases, fistfights.
Oh, and bullets.  Blazing firepower in this high voltage Euro-Crime actioner / thriller.

No Way Out - 1973 - Italy

No Way Out - 1973 - 6/10
AKA - Tony Arzenta (Big Guns)

 
Under looked crime story mixes Noir with Euro-Crime.
The late assignment came on the day of his son’s birthday.
Afterward, Tony wants out, wants to be a father, not a mob assassin.
His boss will see what he can do, but Tony knows too much.
Syndicate heads from Sicily, Italy, Copenhagen, opt to retire him permanently.
Only the hit goes terribly wrong, whereupon Tony begins a string of vengeance.
Alain Delon, Richard Conte, Anton Diffring bolster a macho cast.
Plenty of chases, beatings, torture, while most speak from the sides of their mouths.
Viewers of Poliziotteschi should enjoy.

Eurocrime! The Italian Cop And Gangster Films That Ruled The '70s - 2012 - USA

Eurocrime! The Italian Cop And Gangster Films That Ruled The '70s - 2012 - 7/10

 
Thorough documentary on Italian film subgenre that followed Spaghetti Westerns, concurrent with Giallo.
The Poliziotteschi.
Influences for these films were Bullitt, Dirty Harry, French Connection.
Italian style.  More gunplay, bloody violence, crazy chase sequences, nudity, and corruption.
Key interviewees include John Saxon, Franco Nero, Henry Silva, Antonio Sabato, Fred Williamson, Leonard Mann, Joe Dallesandro, along with writers, producers, directors.
Methods explained.  As with Hong Kong, no sound during shooting.  Stunts real, guns loaded, jumping from speeding cars – yes, the actors did that.
Reasons why these were wildly popular in Italy and much of the world, yet flopped Stateside.
Fast paced, funny, informative, this is an outstanding overview, although not necessarily an introduction.
Filmed just in time, as many of the subjects are now gone.

The Tough Ones - 1976 - Italy

The Tough Ones - 1976 - 6/10
AKA - Roma a Mano Armata

 
The head of Rome’s police crime division is no fan of laws being used to coddle criminals.
Early Euro-Crime poliziottesco blisters with high octane excitement.
Car chases, rooftop fistfights, bank robberies, nudity, rape, not to mention brutal police interrogations.
Maurizio Merli is seething fury throughout, boiling over into violent reactions.
Music is terrific, as well, a pulsing backbeat even during rare lulls.
For fans of these (c’mon Giallo fans, check out Euro-Crime), this one is pounding hammer time.

Savage Three - 1975 - Italy

Savage Three - 1975 - 7/10
AKA - Fango Bollente

 
The three work for a huge computer / data-information company.
Work is monotonous and dehumanizing.
They are cogs in an electronic grid.
Releasing steam, and to feel alive, they engage in escalating criminal behavior.
Provoking riots, car theft, causing traffic accidents, beatings, murders, rapes, brutality.
The theme is 40-50 years ahead of its time.
Excellent German commentary equating this prescient film with ongoing human madness.
Dallesandro leads a forceful cast in what turned out to be a fantastic surprise for me (I was expecting a routine Poliziottesco or Euro-Crime).

The Iron Commissioner - 1978 - Italy

The Iron Commissioner - 1978 - 5/10
AKA - Il Commissario di Ferro

 
Mauro is a one-man police unit.  Backup?  Ordinary patrolmen?  Who needs ’em?
Almost single-handedly, he busts a kidnapping ring.
When a few escape, he begins the hunt.
Mauro neglects his family, doesn’t bother going to HQ.
Thereby missing out when a terrorist takes over his office.
Two unconnected storylines, neither compelling.
Half baked, rushed Euro-Crime clone.

Revolver - 1973 - Italy

Revolver - 1973 - 6/10

 
Choppy, ofttimes bewildering Italian poliziottesco.
Prison official Vito’s wife has been kidnapped.
The ransom, break out inmate Ruiz.
Ruiz is a foreigner, he has no friends, no contacts.  Who wants him sprung?  And why?
Vito, a bleary eyed Oliver Reed, attempts to find out for himself.
Then Ruiz, an over-earnest Fabio Testi, grows curious and begins to help.
Chases, shootouts, nudity, amidst a prevalent air of corruption and cynicism.

Rulers Of The City - 1976 - Italy

Rulers Of The City - 1976 - 6/10
AKA - I Padroni Della Città

 
Tony is a low level enforcer, busting heads when marks fall behind in protection payments.
He is actually a small fish in a second rate group.
The bigger unit belongs to Scarface (Jack Palance), who cheats the group out of money.
Taking the initiative, Tony cons Scarface big time, and sets off a gang war.
Contrary to how it sounds, this is played with a light touch.
True, beatings and killings abound, and there is a lengthy shootout in the slaughterhouse.
Nevertheless, the pace moves like quicksilver, Tony has charm, and the film is fun.

The Last Round - 1976 - Italy

The Last Round - 1976 - 6/10
AKA - Il Conto è Chiuso

Two families control the northern city.
Manzetti’s with drugs and smuggling, Belmondo through nightclubs and prostitution.
From the South, Marco arrives, looking for work.
After he beats up a half dozen Manzetti thugs, their own boss, Rico, hires him on.

 
Not knowing Marco has his own agenda, and will soon set the rival families into conflict.
Italian Euro-Crime borrows heavily from A Fistful Of Dollars, and an effect from For A Few Dollars More.
Marco (boxer Carlos Monzón) is no Eastwood, but Luc Merenda as the calculating Rico owns his every second onscreen.

Violent Naples - 1976 - Italy

Violent Naples - 1976 - 7/10
AKA - Napoli Violenta

Inspector Betti transfers to Naples, along with his methods of police brutality.
And Napoli is a hotbed of robberies, beatings, rapes, homicidal chases.
Criminals range from street punks to bank robbers to corporate thieves.
Those white collar slicks in expensive suits.

 
Anyone curious about the Euro-Crime genre, this is a cracking good one!
The violence is extraordinary, the pace is outta control hectic.
Inventive pursuit on a funicular, and memorable scene involving a bowling ball. 

Confessions Of A Police Captain - 1971 - Italy

Confessions Of A Police Captain - 1971 - 7/10
AKA - Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica

Our cynical police captain is not crooked, but he is definitely bent.
Not above trying to arrange the murder of an untouchable crime lord.
Enter the newly appointed, idealistic District Attorney.

 
All he needs is evidence, and the Law will take care of the rest.
Martin Balsam is spot-on as the captain, and both he and Franco Nero work well together.
Very good Euro-Crime thriller, though for fans of this sub-genre this reinforces their worldview.

Execution Squad - 1972 - Italy

Execution Squad - 1972 - 6/10
AKA - La polizia ringrazia

 
Oops, sorry!  I forget this robber, this murderer, this predator – has rights!
Not that even capturing criminals matters.
The press screams police brutality, guilty claim they were bed-wetters and can’t be blamed, or they have expensive lawyers.
Roma is besieged as laws protect criminals, not victims.
Until a private team, the “clean-up squad”, starts dispensing lethal justice where the courts have failed.
Citizens are thrilled, others recall the era of fascism.
Euro-Crime poliziotesschi is intelligent, yet talky.  Bloody and cynical.

Bloody Friday - 1972 - Germany

Bloody Friday - 1972 - 6/10
AKA - Blutiger Freitag

 
The duo spring Heinz just before his sentencing.
Do they run?  Hide out?  No, they start planning another caper.
First they need guns, however.  Machine guns.
The bank heist is just the pretext for a high stakes ransom siege.
Euro-Crime has a mind-bending sequence intercutting the slaughter house with sopping carnality.
Foul language galore, sex scenes, blood and bullets.