Arrow Video: Rogue Cops and Racketeers (1976 - 1977) - Reviewed
Images courtesy of Arrow VideoAside from being known as the director behind the most infamous unofficial Jaws knockoff The Last Shark (which is absolutely worth your time by the way), Italian director Enzo G. Castellari is also responsible for some of the best genre classics the film industry had to offer including but not limited to the original The Inglorious Bastards and Keoma. Another genre he displayed particular expertise in was the gritty and viciously violent poliziotteschi or Eurocrime subgenre also known as the Years of Lead so brilliantly curated and covered by Arrow Video’s still tremendous box set of films. While the Italian film industry was spitting out films reflecting the sociopolitical turmoil and renewed crimewave affecting the country, Castellari began carving out his own niche within the subgenre and wound up producing two of the most brutally violent action packed poliziotteschis ever produced: The Big Racket from 1976 and The Heroin Busters a year later. Curated by Arrow Video in two newly produced 2K restorations of the original 35mm camera negatives and prominently starring Fabio Testi in the lead role of both pictures as a ruthless cop gone rogue in 1970s Rome, the films are startling, shocking, mean and above all exhilarating. Replete with the tropes of the subgenre including cops going against the grain of political chicanery and criminality operating above the law with impunity, some very rough attacks on decency and finally death-defying action stunt work that dazzle and defies the eyes. Characterized by their uncompromising attitude towards the concepts of drug dealing, human trafficking, lawlessness and amid it all some small measure of hope someone will fight this crimewave, the two-film boxed set aptly named Rogue Cops and Racketeers represent the poliziotteschi, its realisateur Enzo G. Castellari and most importantly the leading man Fabio Testi in two of his most iconic crimefighting screen roles. The Big Racket (1976) Afflicting modern Rome is a group of ruthless thugs and gang members enforcing a city-wide extortionist protection racket who smash up and burn down businesses and/or homes while terrorizing the civilian population. On their tail is Inspector Nico Palmieri (Fabio Testi) who bites off more than he can chew one shift and finds himself outnumbered with his car pushed off a cliff in a spectacular stunt sequence. Surviving the attack, Palmieri picks up speed and begins raids and arrests but not before being rebuffed by his superiors including a slimy criminal defense attorney. After trying to shelter another racketeering robber named Uncle Pepe (Vincent Gardenia) in an effort to expose some of the criminals, he is taken off the case and thus quickly forms an underground rogue posse of assassins including a few incarcerated criminals in the hopes of toppling this illicit criminal empire themselves. Mean and mad, abrasive and unforgivingly rough including but not limited to two particularly tough gang rape and murder scenes which trigger the building revenge plot which proves to be a thoroughly satisfying form of poetic justice, The Big Racket is at present one of the hardest poliziotteschis on the slate. That’s not to say its all shock and awe, as it builds up to some spectacular action sequences including but not limited to some wild car chases and gun battles. Take for instance the aforementioned sequence of Fabio Testi being rolled around in his car down a cliff with the camera fixed on the window so the car doesn’t move but everything outside of it does such as broken glass and metal. Its an astounding technical feat and it looks like Fabio Testi did his own stunts for the scene. Lensed in slick, colorful 1.85:1 widescreen by No, the Case is Happily Resolved cinematographer Marcello Masciocchi, the world of The Big Racket jumps frequently between swanky neon lit nightclubs and squalid abandoned construction sites where a good number of the shootouts take place. The soundtrack by the Italian band Oliver Onions best known for their work on Torso and A Blade in the Dark is an especially effective, grungy noise heavy score that frequently breaks out into tense panicky shrieks during violent scenes. The film is primarily led by Fabio Testi and eventual Little Shop of Horrors star Vincent Gardenia who despite working on opposite sides of the law come together against a common enemy. The supporting cast of characters include Robowar actor Romano Puppo, How to Kill a Judge actor Renzo Palmer as a grieving father gone mad after losing his daughter to the gang, and an ensemble of icky goons including renowned Italian singer Marcella Michelangeli as an especially cruel femme fatale who eagerly helps her male comrades rape their victims. Naturally, the film was savaged by the critical establishment of the time who lobbied terms at it like ‘ugly’, ‘vile’ or even ‘fascist’ in describing the work but that didn’t stop it from becoming a prominent box office succ
Curated by Arrow Video in two newly produced 2K restorations
of the original 35mm camera negatives and prominently starring Fabio Testi in
the lead role of both pictures as a ruthless cop gone rogue in 1970s Rome, the
films are startling, shocking, mean and above all exhilarating. Replete with the tropes of the subgenre
including cops going against the grain of political chicanery and criminality
operating above the law with impunity, some very rough attacks on decency and
finally death-defying action stunt work that dazzle and defies the eyes. Characterized by their uncompromising
attitude towards the concepts of drug dealing, human trafficking, lawlessness
and amid it all some small measure of hope someone will fight this crimewave,
the two-film boxed set aptly named Rogue Cops and Racketeers represent
the poliziotteschi, its realisateur Enzo G. Castellari and most importantly the
leading man Fabio Testi in two of his most iconic crimefighting screen roles.
The Big Racket (1976)
Afflicting modern Rome is a group of ruthless thugs and gang
members enforcing a city-wide extortionist protection racket who smash up and
burn down businesses and/or homes while terrorizing the civilian population. On their tail is Inspector Nico Palmieri
(Fabio Testi) who bites off more than he can chew one shift and finds himself
outnumbered with his car pushed off a cliff in a spectacular stunt sequence. Surviving the attack, Palmieri picks up speed
and begins raids and arrests but not before being rebuffed by his superiors
including a slimy criminal defense attorney.
After trying to shelter another racketeering robber named Uncle Pepe
(Vincent Gardenia) in an effort to expose some of the criminals, he is taken
off the case and thus quickly forms an underground rogue posse of assassins
including a few incarcerated criminals in the hopes of toppling this illicit
criminal empire themselves.
Mean and mad, abrasive and unforgivingly rough including but
not limited to two particularly tough gang rape and murder scenes which trigger
the building revenge plot which proves to be a thoroughly satisfying form of
poetic justice, The Big Racket is at present one of the hardest poliziotteschis
on the slate. That’s not to say its all
shock and awe, as it builds up to some spectacular action sequences including
but not limited to some wild car chases and gun battles. Take for instance the aforementioned sequence
of Fabio Testi being rolled around in his car down a cliff with the camera
fixed on the window so the car doesn’t move but everything outside of it does such
as broken glass and metal. Its an
astounding technical feat and it looks like Fabio Testi did his own stunts for
the scene.
Lensed in slick, colorful 1.85:1 widescreen by No, the
Case is Happily Resolved cinematographer Marcello Masciocchi, the world of The
Big Racket jumps frequently between swanky neon lit nightclubs and squalid
abandoned construction sites where a good number of the shootouts take
place. The soundtrack by the Italian
band Oliver Onions best known for their work on Torso and A
Blade in the Dark is an especially effective, grungy noise heavy score that
frequently breaks out into tense panicky shrieks during violent scenes.
Naturally, the film was savaged by the critical
establishment of the time who lobbied terms at it like ‘ugly’, ‘vile’ or even ‘fascist’
in describing the work but that didn’t stop it from becoming a prominent box
office success with audiences in a film that accurately reflected the criminal
worlds being operated and fought. Fabio
Testi and Vincent Gardenia bring a lot of screen presence to the proceedings,
the stunt and action sequences are exciting and thrilling and the brooding yet energizing
score by Oliver Onions help round out The Big Racket as one of
the quintessential poliziotteschis of the 1970s and one of the true highlights
of filmworker Enzo G. Castelleri’s growing resume.
The Heroin Busters (1977)
Featuring a rousingly funky and psychedelic experimental score
from prog-rock group Goblin and scenic globe-trotting cinematography from The
Inglorious Bastards cinematographer Giovanni Bergamini, The Heroin
Busters both revels in the griminess of the illegal drug trade underworld
with particular emphasis on the suffering of the addict and transcends the
expectations of the poliziotteschi subgenre with an astounding finale that
really speaks for itself.
Decidedly easier to take than The Big Racket and
therefore far more fun despite some gross details involving the aforementioned
needles and withdrawal symptoms, The Heroin Busters grows so action
packed it almost becomes escapist. Less
interested in the characterization and personal vendettas being worked out than
a mostly stylish and cool undercover cop thriller, the film became one of Italy’s
box office rulers of 1977 and further cemented Fabio Testi and Enzo G.
Castellari as a unique actor-director tag team.
What's Your Reaction?
