Lucio Fulci's lone foray into the Euro-crime genre stars Fabio Testi as Luca Di Angelo, the brother of a slain mobster who must somehow survive the mafioso takeover of the sadistic Marsigliese(Marcel Bozzuffi)in Naples, Italy, also vowing revenge against him and his sleazy gun-toting henchman. The Marsigliese is targeting all the mob gangs who run illegal smuggling operations, wishing to take over the whole city as chief crime-lord, but the thorn in his side is Luca, who is willing to do whatever it takes to avenge his brother's murder(..which, adding to the agony, happened not far from him).
My very first Poliziotteschi was entertaining for it's graphic blood-letting and enthusiastic staging of gangsters and hoods being killed/beaten in ultra-violent ways(..I do wonder if the slow motion action set-pieces, where characters fall from great heights or through windows, was inspired by Bloody Sam). Bodies riddled by bullets, with lots of blood squibs. A woman's face is viciously scorched. Brains shot out the back of a mobster's skull. A spike stabbed into a hood's chest as blood slowly leaks out. A throat is blown apart. Even though Fulci wasn't directing a horror flick, he could still serve up the blood shed unrestrained within a serviceable plot dealing with a criminal world wrought with violence and corruption.
The cast and story are quite familiar to what you often associate with mafioso tales featuring betrayal, revenge, & violent methods at securing power, prestige, and wealth. A shared empire is desired by a mafioso boss with a grand scheme to run coke through Naples without the trouble of other mobs dealing in lesser "risky" criminal ventures. Interesting enough, we are taken right into the criminal underworld as investigators attempt to solve the string of murders occurring across the city. But, we see how crime doesn't always pay and if you are immersed in this culture, as Luca is(..pulled into assisting a smuggling empire with his slain brother and other capos), there's a possibility that you endanger those you love. In CONTRABAND, Luca's wife is kidnapped, badly beaten, and anally raped as the Marsigliese demands a partnership(..it's all a set-up to finish off the last, remaining capo left in the city)in his drug-running operation. Nifty climactic showdown with old retired dons helping out Luca against Marsigliese and his thugs with even Fulci getting to fire a machine gun! Composer Fabio Frizzi provides a rather disco-funkadelic type of score coexisting within a brutal crime story. Saverio Marconi has a memorable role as a trusted mobster, Luigi Perlante, who is in cahoots with the Marsigliese, Ajita Wilson(Macumba sexual)has a minor role as part of Luigi's entourage, and Romano Puppo is the Marsigliese's cold-blooded trigger man. Venantino Venantini is Captain Tarantino and Fabrizio Jovine is the Chief of Police, trying to end the smuggling operations plaguing their economy-deprived city. The film's bread-n-butter are the shoot-outs and assassinations, with Fulci trying to cover up the story's inadequacies with lots of action. The film does suffer some pacing issues with an on-going gag involving Guido Alberti, as the powerful Don Morrone, watching television, with only an appetite for spaghetti westerns. Photographed by the great Sergio Salvati, Fulci's long time cinematographer(..and a staple for Charles Band productions as well). Special effects from Germano Natali, a long time collaborator with Fulci and Argento, whose work here is satisfactory(..the stand-out, besides the brains exploding from a skull, being a henchman's stomach exploding from a shot-gun blast, with his intestines spilling out on the street;the weakest effect showing the obvious fake head of a mafioso being blown apart by a machine gun).
My very first Poliziotteschi was entertaining for it's graphic blood-letting and enthusiastic staging of gangsters and hoods being killed/beaten in ultra-violent ways(..I do wonder if the slow motion action set-pieces, where characters fall from great heights or through windows, was inspired by Bloody Sam). Bodies riddled by bullets, with lots of blood squibs. A woman's face is viciously scorched. Brains shot out the back of a mobster's skull. A spike stabbed into a hood's chest as blood slowly leaks out. A throat is blown apart. Even though Fulci wasn't directing a horror flick, he could still serve up the blood shed unrestrained within a serviceable plot dealing with a criminal world wrought with violence and corruption.
The cast and story are quite familiar to what you often associate with mafioso tales featuring betrayal, revenge, & violent methods at securing power, prestige, and wealth. A shared empire is desired by a mafioso boss with a grand scheme to run coke through Naples without the trouble of other mobs dealing in lesser "risky" criminal ventures. Interesting enough, we are taken right into the criminal underworld as investigators attempt to solve the string of murders occurring across the city. But, we see how crime doesn't always pay and if you are immersed in this culture, as Luca is(..pulled into assisting a smuggling empire with his slain brother and other capos), there's a possibility that you endanger those you love. In CONTRABAND, Luca's wife is kidnapped, badly beaten, and anally raped as the Marsigliese demands a partnership(..it's all a set-up to finish off the last, remaining capo left in the city)in his drug-running operation. Nifty climactic showdown with old retired dons helping out Luca against Marsigliese and his thugs with even Fulci getting to fire a machine gun! Composer Fabio Frizzi provides a rather disco-funkadelic type of score coexisting within a brutal crime story. Saverio Marconi has a memorable role as a trusted mobster, Luigi Perlante, who is in cahoots with the Marsigliese, Ajita Wilson(Macumba sexual)has a minor role as part of Luigi's entourage, and Romano Puppo is the Marsigliese's cold-blooded trigger man. Venantino Venantini is Captain Tarantino and Fabrizio Jovine is the Chief of Police, trying to end the smuggling operations plaguing their economy-deprived city. The film's bread-n-butter are the shoot-outs and assassinations, with Fulci trying to cover up the story's inadequacies with lots of action. The film does suffer some pacing issues with an on-going gag involving Guido Alberti, as the powerful Don Morrone, watching television, with only an appetite for spaghetti westerns. Photographed by the great Sergio Salvati, Fulci's long time cinematographer(..and a staple for Charles Band productions as well). Special effects from Germano Natali, a long time collaborator with Fulci and Argento, whose work here is satisfactory(..the stand-out, besides the brains exploding from a skull, being a henchman's stomach exploding from a shot-gun blast, with his intestines spilling out on the street;the weakest effect showing the obvious fake head of a mafioso being blown apart by a machine gun).